Cloud Computing (Hosting & Colocation) Archive

Archive for the ‘Cloud Computing (Hosting & Colocation)’ Category

Should You Backup Your Critical Business Data in “the Cloud”? Can you afford a cheap solution?

Posted on: March 20th, 2012 by admin

As a telecom consultant and “VAR” (value added reseller) for my clients, I’m always on the lookout for new technology solutions I can offer my business customers.

By examining everything that comes along, I’m also in a position to consult with my customers when they get an offer from someone else that seems way too good to be true — like what appears to be an almost unlimited amount of cloud backup storage for next to nothing.

Who Does the Backup & How It’s Tested is More Important than Price

I recently ran across an interesting opportunity to resell “unlimited” cloud backup storage to my business customers for just $59 per month. Now this seems like a pretty killer deal at face value. For just $59 per month I could give all my telecom consulting business clients “free data backup”.

Or could I?

Hardrives “in the cloud” must be pretty cheap. I know this because big companies like Google sell me an extra 20 Gigs of storage a year for my Google Apps email storage for just $5 per year.

I’m pretty happy having 6 years and 60,000 old emails stored with Google because Google’s a pretty big company and I’m fairly confident they know how to build and manage a data server farm. (And on top of that, backing up one user’s email is fairly simple.)

But what about backing up “all the data” for “all your users”?

The biggest expense in cloud backup is not the cost of the actual hardrive sitting in a cloud somewhere. The biggest expense is making sure a human that knows what they’re doing is backing up your critical business data properly (and not overwriting good backups with bad backups) so that when you need to restore your data, your backup data set is not corrupted.

So Who Are You Going to Trust?

While it appears that I can do it for you for practically free as we learned above, I’m thinking that maybe your best bet is to let me introduce you to the technology partners that have made proper cloud data storage backup part of their business.

Back in 2010, Bandwave Systems, a technology partner we do business with rolled out an online data backup solution after evaluating most of the “almost free” cloud backup solutions on the market like Mozy, Livedrive and others.

After analyzing all the possible solutions they came to the conclusion that the “human interface” part of the data backup solution was the key to success. Does the person doing the backup know what they’re doing, do they have access to competent live human support and are they interfacing with the solution using online displays that make the job easier to do right (and harder to do wrong)?

Since first looking into which vendors are best suited to manage our clients’ cloud backup, we’ve met others who can do a competent job as well and are trusted and recommended by us.

Call ATEL for a “Cloud Storage” Solution Review for Your Company

Thinking cloud storage for your critical business data? Give us a call so we can get you connected to the right cloud data backup providers – at a low price you can actually afford!

Will “Desktop-as-a-Service” or the “Virtual Desktop” Eliminate Your Need to Ever Buy Another Server?

Posted on: March 20th, 2012 by admin

For over the past twenty years I’ve been a business consultant helping my clients with their telecom decisions. For the majority of these two decades that’s meant choosing the best business phone system or the right local phone service provider.

For the past decade I’ve focused on helping my clients choose the right wide area data networks (WANs) like MPLS or metro Ethernet to connect multiple office locations across the country.

Now that many of my clients have robust data networks in place they are discovering that they no longer need to keep all their computer network servers in their own office spaces – often the most dangerous place for them to be.

With ample bandwidth and network security in place, many of my clients are looking to place their application critical servers in a public or private colocation or data center facility that better protects the servers from a multitude of dangers.

Still other clients are looking to entirely eliminate their need to even own servers. For them, computing is seen as a utility much in the same way as their electric lights or dial-tone. They don’t need to own a phone company to make a phone call, nor do they need to own a power plant to illuminate their office. So many are now asking, “Why am I owning and maintaining all these servers when all I want to do is ‘compute’”? (more…)

What are the Benefits of Connecting Your Business to “the Cloud”? How do you choose a business cloud consultant?

Posted on: March 20th, 2012 by admin

Should-your-business-be-connected-to-the-cloud

In all the years I’ve been helping business customers choose telecom and technology solutions I’ve never had a customer call and say, “I need some cloud” or “Connect me to the cloud” or simply, “Cloud me, baby!”

When I have suggested to clients that their next technology solution can be provided to them from “the cloud” though some have asked, “What the heck are you talking about!”

Following is the simplest answer that I’ve ever come up with for the question “what’s the cloud?”

“The cloud is actually a windowless building someplace that’s built for the comfort of computers instead of people. One of the comfortable computers in the cloud is the computer that makes the ‘call waiting’ feature on your phone work. The cloud can accommodate almost any business computer that can help your business do almost anything.”

What Parts of Your Business Benefit from a “Cloud Connection”?

Maybe some, maybe none, maybe all. The decision really boils down to your your thoughts as a business owner around “convenience, cost and security”.

Convenience – Can you conveniently access your business email account from any computer or smartphone? How about your accounting software or customer records? Would your salespeople be able to sell more prospects or would your customers service people be able to serve more clients if accessing your critical business information was more convenient? (more…)

Wondering About “the Cloud” for Your Critical Business Applications? Check out this San Diego conference…

Posted on: June 21st, 2011 by admin

By Dan Baldwin, Editor

Interested in rubbing shoulders with your C-levels and senior IT manager end-user businesses peers who are also interested in migrating their critical business applications to the cloud?

If so, you should consider attending and sponsoring this cloud conference in September that’s being produced by the San Diego chapter of the AITP (Association of Information Technology Professionals) with Microsoft as a platinum sponsor.

One of the key organizers is a fellow named Marc Clark who used to be one of Qwest’s top sales managers in San Diego. Today he’s working with a cloud solution provider named ScaleMatrix.

Following is the event flyer:

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