Virtual Business Solutions Blog

The following story and events are true, however, to protect the families of the innocent, all names have been changed. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or businesses, is purely coincidental. Enjoy and happy Halloween!

Rarely is there a problem that a cloud solution cannot fix, and as such, businesses are more often turning to the cloud to find ways to handle the many challenges presented to them on a daily basis. Is this reliance on the cloud a good thing, or does it hold businesses back? Let’s take a look at what can happen as a result of overreliance on the cloud.

Since it first entered the mainstream in the mid-2000s, cloud computing has become a cornerstone of businesses of every size and shape. The big question that remains, however, is what your business could lean on the cloud to do. Let’s go over the multitude of options that the cloud opens up for a business.

Your business depends on software for many of its day-to-day operations, whether it’s an email system, productivity suite, or other specialized software. When it comes to acquiring software, you have two options: the traditional method of acquisition, i.e. buying it from a vendor, or subscribing to a Software as a Service solution. What are the differences and how can you make sure your organization is getting value out of its investment?

Cloud computing has been touted as one of the most innovative and important technologies for smaller businesses as they look to compete with larger organizations. How it makes this possible is by offering the dynamic computing environments that can help bring these smaller businesses into the information age without saddling them with massive infrastructure costs while doing so. That’s not to say that the cloud is cheap by any means, and this month we will discuss how cloud computing is a great option and how if it isn’t managed properly, it can be problematic for the businesses that rely on it. 

When you think of the government, you don’t immediately think of an organization that is at the forefront of innovation. Sure, they have all that money at their disposal, but most of it goes here and there to try to help the people of a constituency; and, frankly it isn’t terribly efficient. What may surprise you is that governments are embracing cloud services and it tends to benefit everyone. Let’s see how governments are taking advantage of cloud computing.

Most everyone uses the cloud in some capacity, even if it’s not a professional one. Simply put, the value it provides even on a consumer level is astounding, and this is even more so with business applications. The cloud makes it much easier for organizations to manage their resources compared to hosting them in-house, but a problem has surfaced with some companies suffering due to what’s called “cloud sprawl.”

Cloud computing is being used by nearly everyone nowadays, and most of the time it presents a lot of value that can’t be found with purchasing, managing, and maintaining an in-house computing infrastructure. As an organization begins moving more and more of their computing to the cloud, there is a situation that arises that industry professionals call “cloud sprawl”. 

Smart devices have brought about unprecedented amounts of connectivity in aspects of running a business or owning a home that never could have been dreamed of in the past. People can now unlock their front doors, turn up their thermostats, and even switch the lights on and off through their smartphone. Unfortunately, the part that people don’t like to talk about with these applications and devices is security—big surprise, right?

Cloud computing is a monster of a topic in and of itself, perhaps more so than most people might expect. Let’s define what cloud management is and take a closer look at what goes into properly managing your cloud-based resources.

The cloud is a great tool to improve the accessibility of applications and data, but with so many options available to businesses, it can be a bit intimidating to get started with it. Let’s go over some of the various types of cloud solutions available, as well as some of the more well-known services that you might find helpful.

When you are looking to implement new technology solutions for your business, the last thing you should do is skip the planning process. You need to carefully consider all of your options, your business’ specific needs, and the various benefits that can come from all of these options. Today we will discuss how your business can choose the best technology that suits your organization and its operations.

Businesses use cloud resources all the time; and, they use them for many different reasons. Some use them because they have to support a remote workforce, some use them so they don’t have to come up with large swaths of capital or don’t want to pay interest rates for financing their central hardware. Some only use them sparingly to fill in the gaps created by product and service demand.

When we talk about the cloud, what springs to your mind? The cloud might sound like a business buzzword, but in reality it’s one of the most important components of a technology infrastructure, especially in today’s online environment. Considering the ongoing pandemic and unpredictability that the situation brings, you don’t want to wait any longer; you should have started thinking about implementing the cloud yesterday.

Hardware is expensive, this much is certain. When a small or medium-sized business is looking to get the most bang for buck from their technology investments, they have to consider hardware to be the most crucial part of the equation. One option that businesses can take advantage of today is to use virtualized environments. Whether these computing environments are hosted onsite or in the cloud, a business can extend the usefulness of their IT budget by utilizing them. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of virtualization on your business.

Profitability is less the measure of being able to turn a profit, and more the measure of how much profit you can make. For the successful small business, the integration of technology can dictate what kind of annual margins you are looking at. For the new company, however, it can be something even more critical: the difference between setting a course for success, or wallowing in failure. Today we analyze the cost difference between hosting your IT in-house, or choosing to host it in the cloud.

The cloud has proven to be an extremely useful tool for the modern business. Not only does it provide anywhere-anytime access to applications, processing, storage, et al; it also delivers those products as a service, allowing you to budget for recurring costs rather than major upfront ones. This provides your organization with functional, supported, and secure computing environments that eliminate a lot of the support costs that traditional computing environments require. It sounds like a perfect scenario for small and large businesses alike, but things aren’t always what they seem, as a lot of cloud users have found that they have incurred several hidden costs by using cloud platforms. Today, we take a look at these hidden costs.