business guide

The Evolution
of
Cloud Computing
10 Reasons to Take Your Business to the Cloud
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The Revolution of Cloud Computing10 Reasons to Take Your Business to the Cloud
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Evolution to Revolution...
Evolution is dened as the gradual development of something. What started out
as a simple idea back in the days of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects
Agency Network) has culminated in the adoption of the revolutionary trend of cloud
computing.
Revolution is dened as a sudden, complete or marked change in something. Cloud
computing has certainly made its mark in todays business and technical world, which
is evident from the following:
Key Concepts and Statistics
By 2013 the cloud computing market will be $150 Billion.
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57% feel that cloud computing has increased their security.
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60% of server workloads will be virtualized by 2014 (in 2008 this was only 12%).
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80% of new commercial enterprise apps will be deployed on cloud platforms.
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50% of Global 1000 companies will have stored customer-sensitive data in the cloud, by 2016.
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A new server is added to the cloud for every 600 smartphones or 120 tablets.
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Cloud computing spending will account for 25% of annual IT expenditure growth.
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Cloud Hypermarket research shows:
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70% of companies say cloud has simplied their IT management process.
72% say it has improved end-user experience.
63% say it has decreased IT performance challenges.
73% say it has reduced infrastructure costs.
74% have said the cloud has alleviated internal resource pressure.
56% of internet users use webmail services such as Gmail.
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29% of internet users use online applications such as Google Docs.
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10 Reasons to go Cloud
Is your company contemplating the idea of moving some or all of its computing to
the cloud? Like many others before you, there are many questions to be answered
and considerations to be weighed for your organization. What is most important?
Will it work for me? Is it too difcult? Will our employees like it? No matter what
the questions are, going to the cloud is quickly becoming non-optional for businesses
of all sizesthere are just too many compelling features to take advantage of.
This business guide presents 10 clear reasons to take your business to the cloud.
You can use these points for justication and to formulate the migration of your
applications and data to the virtual world. It is recommended that you seek
guidance from a professional organization with expertise in cloud migrations so
that you can be sure of a smooth transition and to maximize the benets that are
specic to your operations. There can be many operational considerations when
implementing a migration project, so it is important to have a comprehensive audit
and implementation plan conceived in advance of moving to the cloud.
Save on Software Costs
Buying software licenses for all of your employees can be quite costly,
whether you are buying for one individual or a whole department.
Often, a manager is faced with the decision to make do with what you
have or pay for the latest upgrades. Businesses have no option but to
keep their licenses currentor face the wrath of piracy challenges or the
lack of technical support for non-legitimate software installs. The cost
to deploy a full suite of standard ofce/business applications for one
employee is quite substantial, and if you are dealing with mobility the
cost only escalates. A cloud solution can greatly reduce the costs of software and
makes it easy when scaling resources up or down.
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Save on Hardware Costs
Maintenance issues and advances in software technology often inuence
the need for hardware upgrades. New software versions usually require
more computing horsepower, requiring hardware upgrades to follow the
same path as software upgrades. It also is inevitable that operating
system advances, too, will put pressure on the needs for upgraded
hardware. These types of changes are difcult to plan for, budget-wise,
since not all software changes are known in advance. Cloud computing
requires internet access and a browser, thus making even mobile
computing (tablets, laptops, etc.) costs much lower. The trend today is that hardware
manufacturers are making computing options with cloud-only computing needsat
signicantly less cost. Hardware costs for many roles within an organization can be
reduced by moving to the cloud.
Save on Infrastructure Costs
Infrastructure costs can become a huge operational concern within a
scaling organization. As a business grows, previous technical decisions
can often impact the decision-making process regarding IT projects.
Today, new start-ups have a signicant advantage by immediately
implementing a cloud solution. Mature organizations too can benet,
but often a phased approach is needed to handle custom and complex
IT infrastructure. By moving a business to the cloud, the complexity and
volume of infrastructure can be reduced. The number of and constant
upgrading of servers, operating systems, and applications can be reducedsaving
both time and valuable capital funds. Performing ROI estimates for an organization
can often make it easy to justify moving to the cloudthe key however is not to limit
the ROI analysis only to costs, as youll see in the upcoming reasons.
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Deploy Valuable IT Resources to Key Business Functions
Most IT departments are lled with talented resources. Typically these
resources spend a considerable amount of time dealing with upgrades,
crashes, bugs, back-ups, data recovery and other maintenance-related
issues. With a cloud solution, these valuable IT resources can be freed-
up and redeployed to key core business projects, functions and activities.
IT should not be thought of a simply a necessary cost, they too can
be deployed to revenue-generating tasks. These resources are more
valuable than what they are typically doing on a daily basis, they are
much more than just trouble-shooters. A cloud solution can give IT resources new
found time for other important tasks.
Increase Collaboration and Gain Efciency
This is one of the most signicant advantages that organizations realize,
after implementing a cloud solution. With almost of third of individuals
using cloud-based applications personally, organizations can quickly
realize the inherent advantages of data being stored in the cloud. With
documents and data stored in the cloud, rather than on an employee
computers, multiple users can access and contribute to documents and
projects simultaneously without the need for manual revision control. How many
times does your organization email a document back-and-forth for comments or
contribution? Implementing a cloud solution solves this challenge without the worry
of different operating systems, software, or browsers. For example, instead of
collaborating on a document by sending back and forth revision after revision as
attachments, documents that are stored in the cloud can be modied simultaneously
by all people that have been granted rights to the document.
In the cloud, coworkers can access the web-based document simultaneously in their
browsers, and even make changes that other authorized users can see in real-time.
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Eliminating attachment round-trips by storing data in the cloud saves time and
reduces frustrations for teams who need to work together efciently.
Easy Mobility solution
When your data is in the cloud, mobile devices can access
the information just like other computing devices. This is a
tremendous benet to organizations who work beyond the
desktop. Whether its presentations, sales orders, technical
information, documents, spreadsheets or business information, the
cloud eliminates the hassles of uploading/downloading at the
ofce prior to travelling or keeping track of portable storage
devices (like USB sticks).
There is a large consumer and corporate trend associated with mobility (hardware
and applications) and taking advantage of these advances is enhanced further
when your information always accessible. You can access your information any
time, any where, on any devicethis is what makes a business agile and employees
efcient.
Save on Utilities and go Green
On average, individual employee computers are only used at
approximately 10 to 20 percent of their capacity. Similarly, computers
are left idle for hours at a times soaking up energy. Pooling resources
into a cloud consolidates energy use, for both the users and the servers.
When you are in the cloud, you essentially save on costs by paying only
for what you use. This advantage also extends the life of your hardware.
In todays world of going green awareness, cloud solutions will not
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only provide the potential of utilities savings, but can also bring consistency with
corporate green initiatives.
Increased Business Agility
A cloud-based business can adapt to changes and opportunities quickly
since its not limited by technology or infrastructure. Cloud applications
and their features can come to market much quicker than conventional
software, thus bringing efciencies to your business sooner. So whether it
is changes in the industry or economy, keeping your organization agile is
the key to sustainability and longevity.
The next signicant phase of the cloud will embrace social media for business
applications, and with cloud computing deployed in your business, youll be able to
access these revolutionary changes quickly and efciently. Are you ready?
Better Security Solution
When your data is in the cloud, less business data is kept in vulnerable
locations. It is much easier to eliminate troublesome risks at one point,
rather than at multiple pointsa good example would be cloud email,
such as Gmail, versus email on individual computers/clients. Top quality
cloud solutions, such as Google, utilize signicant numbers of the highest
qualied resources to maintain the integrity of their server farms, keeping
them constantly updated with the latest security measures.
Security is increased in the cloud and multi-geographical redundancy secures your
data back-up and archives.
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Less Glitches
Applications serviced through cloud computing require fewer versions
(revisions/updates). Upgrades are needed less frequently and are
typically managed by data centerseliminating the need for individual
computer updates. Too often, businesses experience problems with
software upgrades, sometimes its due to hardware, other times it
may be software conicts. Organizations sometimes face the issue of
departments not being able to share data because they use different
applications. Cloud computing enables users to integrate various types of
applications including management systems, word processors, and e-mail. The fewer
the glitches, the more productivity expected from employeesand as previously
outlined, IT staff can focus on more important things.
The Cloud Just Makes Sense
It is quite clear that the evolution of technology has yielded
the revolution of cloud computing solutions. The growth to
date and the anticipated growth in the coming years is just
too signicant to be ignored.
Organizations of all sizes can benet from many aspects of
cloud solutions. Which factors are the most relevant to your
organization? Is it simple nancial justications or is it the future that is causing you
to consider the cloud?
As previously recommended, seek out a professional organization to help you with a
cloud solution that specically addresses the needs of your business. Get ready to
enjoy the freedom and exibility of the cloud!
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The Revolution of Cloud Computing10 Reasons to Take Your Business to the Cloud
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Sources, Unless Cited:
1
Lauren Toomey and Gartner, http://cloudcomputingtopics.com/2011/11/5-cloud-computing-statistics-
you-may-nd-surprising/
2
ITC and Gartner, http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/cloud-computing-statistics-and-predictions-
for-2012/
3
http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/5-cloud-computing-statistics-infograph/
4
http://www.infographicsshowcase.com/cloud-computing-stats-infographic/
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About Us
VizzEco is the premier global Google cloud computing solutions implementer.
Whether you need custom IT solutions or are looking to apply the advantages of cloud computing to
your organizationVizzeco is ready to help you.
The impact on savings and the increased security that cloud computing solutions offer, are just too
much for established and start-up companies to ignore. It simply has too signicant of an impact,
whether its IT savings (allowing those valuable resources to be re-tasked on more important business
issues), asset security, reduced infrastructure costs, lower employee computing costs, simpler and
more cost effective mobile communications/informationtake your pick of which advantage has
the greatest impact for your organization.
Get out of the fog and into the cloud!
VizzEco has a proven track record and has been a leader in Green Computingbefore most had
even heard of it. Our customer base spans both large and small clients. Our team of seasoned
professionals has hundreds of years of IT business and management experience, and we remain
client focused and success driven!
Have you heard?
We are helping many companies to:
Reduce email costs up to 70%
Increase their security
Decrease IT costs
Eliminate costly software upgrades and patches
Increase efciency, productivity and collaboration
Seemless integration of mobile computing and operating systems
Anytime Anywhere Any Deviceaccess to your information!
VizzEco provides the services that connect your IT and mobile devices, including Smartphones (iPhone,
Android, Blackberry and more), netbooks, Thin Client Computers, etc. We can Setup, Migrate, Train
& Support your move into the Google Apps cloud to start realizing signicant savings and competitive
advantages.
We can get you there, contact us today1.877.214.1827 | www.vizzeco.com