Cloud computing has become a massive benefit for modern businesses, but every company has unique needs that require tailored technology solutions. A one-size-fits-all approach can be detrimental and leave you wasting money or worse—not getting the value out of your investments. In this month's newsletter, we offer five key tips for effectively deploying cloud services in your business.

The cloud has become a go-to resource when businesses are trying to find and consistently depend on digital tools that otherwise would be out of their price range. One cloud issue that isn’t often mentioned in the course of choosing computing resources is cloud waste. Cloud waste refers to the inefficient or unnecessary consumption of cloud computing resources, leading to higher costs without delivering corresponding value. This month, we will look at some of the impacts of cloud waste and how to avoid it as much as possible. 

Software is an important part of any business’ toolset, and for small businesses, Software as a Service, or SaaS, is the most cost-effective way to take advantage of it. The most profitable companies in the world run on SaaS, and so too can your business. Let’s go over some of the most powerful solutions your organization can implement in the realm of software and how they can benefit your success.

Finding affordable data storage isn’t the challenge it used to be. In fact, some sources say the costs are dropping by 20-to-30 percent annually. This means that businesses that thought cost was a roadblock to using the cloud for their data storage needs, can rest assured that they can confidently go on and secure the amount of secure cloud storage they need. 

The telephone cemented itself as a valuable tool of business long ago, but the ways that businesses use these devices have changed over the years. Thanks to advancements in technology, telephones can still be used by businesses even today, albeit with some modern adjustments to stay competitive and useful. One of these telephony solutions is Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP for short.

The cloud has been a good resource for business for quite a while. Just how good? Currently, nine-out-of-ten businesses operate with some type of cloud-hosted solution. In fact, by the figures, we’re definitely looking at a cloud-hosted future. We thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the cloud computing stats and trends to paint a picture of just how the cloud has grown up. 

Servers are the brains of your business insofar that is where most of the critical information is stored, and a server failure (with no contingency plan in place) could spell the end-times for your business. With that information, you should be looking for the most reliable option that works for you. Today, we’re going to look at the differences between using hosted servers vs. paying for your own in-house server.

Cloud computing is turning into a tool that is universally used by businesses to enhance remote access and provide the scalability for tools that allows a business to get the best bang for their buck. This month, we’ll describe how modern cloud computing works and why it is such a huge potential benefit for your business.

Businesses must often store documents for the purposes of compliance, but anyone who has managed a document storage system that uses physical documents, like filing cabinets or otherwise, knows that it can get a little complicated and messy. Technology offers better alternatives that make things easier, efficient, and most important of all, more secure.

There is no denying the versatility that technology like the cloud can provide, but it often comes with hidden costs that might affect its cost-to-benefit ratio for your organization. Here are some of these hidden costs, as well as what you can do to minimize the impact they have on your bottom line.

Email is a solution that your business uses just about every single day, and as one of your central methods of communication, you need to consider how it’s managed and maintained. Thankfully, modern businesses have more choices available to them than ever before, some of which are so hands-off and easy that they can completely change how a business views their email.

You may already be familiar with the concept of hosting your business’ technology on your own in-house network, like a server unit, but some businesses struggle to manage hardware like this effectively. In all honesty, you can get largely the same benefits of an in-house server through a hosted solution. Nowadays, the cloud makes utilizing cloud services easier than ever.

The cloud is a popular choice for businesses that need access to tools to sustain operations, but there is an innate flaw that comes from hosting anything in an online environment: security. Do not pretend that security is not an issue for your cloud-based resources—failing to acknowledge the importance of security could be a fatal mistake for organizations that leverage cloud-based technology resources.

The cloud is a great tool that lets businesses of all industries and sizes revisit the way operations are handled, but it’s not always clear what the best approach is for your specific business. What are some ways that you can utilize the cloud, and why is it so important that you start thinking about these benefits now?

When you reach the limits of what your existing server can do, it used to mean purchasing another expensive server or maybe pouring a lot of money in upgrading what you have. Either way, it’s a wealth of additional expenses. Then there is the cloud option, which tends to eliminate the huge upfront expense and instead involves a contract. There are other virtual and hybrid models to choose from as well. You need to be asking, “what would really work for my business?”

For all the communication services and tools available to businesses nowadays, the telephone remains a staple in everyday processes—despite it often being difficult to manage and expensive to maintain. This is largely because today’s technology enables businesses to use a telephone system that exceeds the capabilities once provided by telephony, for a far more manageable investment.

With cloud computing being utilized by a majority of businesses nowadays, it’s not as big of a surprise when one wants to move files from a locally-hosted server to a cloud server; or, from a cloud server to a new cloud server. This presents a fair amount of problems that you have to be mindful of if you want to move the data and applications over properly. Today, we’ll take a look at some problems you may face, and how to make sure they don’t weigh down your next cloud migration. 

Traditionally, if a business needed a solution to a problem, they would research which technology is the best for the problem they had and go out and buy it. If a company didn’t have the money to buy that solution, they would borrow to buy it so that their business wouldn’t stagnate and fail. In today’s tech-driven business environment there is a much better option than mortgaging your business just to save it.

As businesses have been allowed access to more advanced tools, the cloud and its capabilities have been shown to be among the most useful to operations. Let’s examine some practical applications of the cloud to see why this is.

The cloud has long demonstrated its many benefits to a business’ operations, but perhaps never so much as it has now. With so many people remaining in their homes, the only way that any business (essential or not) can get anything done is to adjust to remote operations—something the cloud is especially useful in. If ever there was a time to take advantage of the cloud’s capabilities, it would be now.