highly secured IT infrastructures that are also environmentally friendly
and more business focused. Organizations are struggling to find the
competitive edge, turning to the bounty of opportunities technology
provides. Cautious to jump at the latest buzz phrases and hyped
solutions, many have cautiously investigated recent technology
breakthroughs, many of which have one thing in common: redistribution of
IT roles. There is no better time than the present to revamp technology
strategy focused on hosted solutions.
Clouds are gathering…
Cloud computing has emerged as one of the major ways to secure an upper
hand in today's highly competitive market. Minutes of downtime means the
loss of vital sales as businesses with prolonged data loss find
themselves in a real position of collapsing. Cloud computing changes the
traditional corporate data center structure that resides on company
premises. Instead, systems are moved to secure outsourced data centers,
either in a private or public configuration. Private clouds are
dedicated servers used exclusively for a single company, whereas public
clouds have multiple companies sharing the same resources. Additional
research is, therefore, essential in deciding which cloud configuration
best meets your needs, most importantly regarding legal and privacy
requirements.
Technology departments across all industries are met with similar issues
including budget cuts, personnel downsizing and mounting pressure for
technology to prove its worth in answering key business issues. A great
number of IT departments run with a vague, or possibly blind, vision
into the future, focusing on day-to-day network upkeep and expending
great amounts of money keeping core
systems operational. This approach leaves no time for innovation,
process improvements or meeting business strategic objectives.
Competitive advantage can be gained by moving day-to-day operations out,
allowing execution of strategic initiatives.
The diverse and seemingly endless potential of cloud computing make it a
very attractive solution to some of today's most important business
issues. Whether it's upgrading data entry applications, launching new
collaboration portals or overhauling demanding e-mail systems, all is
possible and occurring today within the cloud. Historically, engineers
of all sorts, including database, security, applications and
integrations were needed on staff in order to begin new initiatives.
Hosted solutions provide all that information without the heavy staffing
costs. Building a partnership with a reliable IT solutions provider will
deeply impact the success of your initiatives. A good hosting provider
will act as a direct extension of your IT department, offering solutions
to the business issues you discover in the renewed IT strategic
approach. Your success has a direct effect on their success.
E-mail is the number one communication medium used in the 21st century
workplace, and it grows more complex on a daily basis. It is an integral
workflow component and is an excellent means for automating
communication, increasing information flow to customers and employees,
without the need to drain employee time sending reports and updates. An
increased number of applications have been developed specifically to
integrate with the company messaging system, some of which automatically
generate bills, and others send out vital project warnings and
notifications. Without expertise for each one of its many parts,
integration opportunities may be lost, leaving businesses in danger of
lost internal and external communication, which translates into poor
customer service and decreased profit.
Overwhelmingly, the cloud has been a proven success for replacing
traditional business e-mail environments. Software costs, server
replacements and constant applications training make it an expensive
system to maintain. Again, time spent tending to IT infrastructure takes
away from valuable time streamlining old and costly systems. If you
don't become more efficient, your competition will.
One mid-sized organization was faced with a difficult situation.
Operating on an aging Microsoft Exchange platform, the mailbox database
had grown to its maximum size without the possibility of adding
additional message stores. Three servers that were the backbone of the
Exchange system were approaching 10 years in age and experiencing
hardware malfunctions. An expensive investment in hardware and software
seemed like the only answer. However, IT management realized the
benefits of a Microsoft Exchange hosting solution, and therefore sought
out a reputable hosting provider to address their growth issues. After
careful planning and execution, local servers were migrated to the
outsourced data center, and the results were nothing short of impressive.
Within the first month of the transition, help desk calls dropped by
more than 10 percent, and e-mail availability became higher than ever,
greatly attributed to the team of systems experts at their disposal.
Critical systems updates and maintenance were performed regularly by the
new Exchange hosting team, and key performance indicators were actively
monitored. Discrepancies were resolved immediately. Such dedication and
proactive response time would have been impossible to do with the
previous e-mail infrastructure and company IT staff.
Transitioning to the Microsoft Exchange hosted service eliminated the
need to purchase brand new servers or invest in the latest software
upgrades. No longer will the company be faced with huge, unexpected
hardware replacement costs. Instead, the fixed monthly hosting costs
help keep the IT budget balanced and funds spent more wisely. Packaged
with the Microsoft Exchange hosted solution was an e-compliant archiving
system and a leading anti-spam solution; one more way the company saved
money.
All the technology endeavors translated into better service for the
customer. Now, the business stands strong with a robust, adaptive e-mail
system and comprehensive electronic audit trail. The tier four data
center where the e-mail service resides has been a welcome addition to
the company disaster recovery plan. Capping out the many benefits is the
approximately $50,000 saved annually along with lower carbon emissions
through retirement of old servers.
As technology leaders and innovators, we must avoid the trap of judging
success on traditional measurements, such as network uptime and backup
reliability. Instead, creating an IT strategic plan with input from
company executives opens our eyes to new possibilities. Technology can
be a true business enabler, and cloud computing is one way to yield
measurable business results, molding information technology into
business technology.
my motto is "Keep it simple" and "don't leave anything for tomorrow that
can be done today."
If you have any questions or comments please contact me.
Regards Gerald
Website: http://www.webcraft.ws
E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws
Twitter: WebcraftGuru
Facebook: Webcraft Guru
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