#CloudMechanism Archives

10 Benefits of Cloud Computing for Businesses

Posted on 22/10/202113/11/2021 by Tushar

Cloud computing is where data is stored, managed and processed on a network of servers hosted remotely on the internet. It has become highly popular with businesses because it offers considerable savings together with high security, enormous capacity and a host of managed services. Cloud hosting provides businesses with many advantages and in this post, we’ll take a look at ten of the most important ones.

1. Cloud hosting saves you money

The bottom line for any business looking to adopt a new technology is whether it offers value for money and a good return on investment. What’s great about cloud computing is that you don’t need your own hardware as everything is hosted on your providers’ servers. This means savings can be made on the cost of hardware and, in addition, you can dispense with the costs of running your own data centre. You won’t need to pay for space, power, physical security, insurance and air-conditioning or need to cover the costs of ongoing maintenance.

2. Instantly scalable resources and pay as you go pricing

If you have your own data centre and need to increase computing resources, you’ll need to buy, install and configure an expensive new server. If you only need that capacity to cover a short-term demand, it leaves you with two problems. Firstly, you’re buying something that may lay redundant for most of the time and, secondly, if that demand comes unexpectedly, you might not get the server up and running in time to deal with it.

With cloud computing, scalability comes built in. If you need extra resources because of an unexpected peak in website traffic, you can increase your computing capacity instantly. If that peak only lasts for a day or two you can scale down as demand decreases. And, as you are charged on a pay as you go basis, you only pay for the extra resources you have used. There is no need to upgrade permanently to a bigger package or hire a new server. In this way, cloud provides increased agility and cost-effective resourcing.

3. Strategic competitive advantage

Deployment time in cloud computing is virtually zero and applications that are critical for growth and success can be online almost instantly, giving you a strategic competitive advantage over competitors who have not yet adopted cloud technology.

In addition, the scalability mentioned above means that smaller companies who would normally be at a disadvantage against larger companies with greater in-house capacity, now find themselves on a level playing field without the need to invest heavily in their own data centres.

4. High Availability

As businesses become reliant on applications to run their critical operations, downtime can be disastrous. Server failure can result in companies coming to a complete standstill and getting back online can be a challenging and sometimes long-winded process. Losses can be significant.

Cloud hosting, however, removes the possibility of server failure causing downtime. A cloud environment is engineered to deliver predictable and consistent performance with guaranteed 100% up-time. This is because clients are hosted on virtual machines that, in the event of an issue, can be migrated between the clustered server. The cloudâ€™s hyper-converged design guards against everything from hard disk failure to an entire server failure, enabling mission-critical applications to be available all the time.

5. Lightning fast performance

In order to stay competitive, cloud service providers need to continually update their technology to meet the demands of their customers. As a result, cloud computing offers high-performance servers with technology such as powerful CPUs and super fast SSD drives.

In addition, load balancing is used to route client requests in a way that maximises speed and capacity utilisation. In this way, when servers are busy, the load is distributed so that no single server suffers from performance problems â€“ and with so many servers at their disposal, a cloud provider can always ensure that performance is consistently optimised.

6. Get new apps running quicker

Before the advent of cloud computing, it could take a long time to get new applications running smoothly. Cloud-based applications, however, have significantly reduced the time required for successful execution. Most cloud-based applications can be used instantly after signup.

This offers many advantages to businesses. One, in particular, is that businesses who migrate to the cloud can be benefiting from AI and machine learning applications within hours of signing up.

7. Increased security

With cloud hosting, your business is protected against hacking, infection and internal data theft. Cloud providers are required to comply with a range of stringent security regulations in order to protect their customersâ€™ data. This includes the use of robust firewall technology that features intrusion prevention systems and in-flow virus protection. These detect and isolate threats before they reach your server. You can even extend your office into the cloud with extensive VPN features.

8. More flexible working

Cloud computing provides greater flexibility in how employees work. As it is internet based, staff can access files both in and out of the workplace, enabling them to work remotely or in the office. Many companies are using this to give employees more flexible working conditions and to cut down on the amount of office space they need. In order to cut costs, many local councils have massively reduced office space expenditure by allowing staff to work from home and by using a hot-desking system on the days they come into the office.

Staff can access the companyâ€™s system using web-enabled devices such as smartphones and laptops and can collaborate in real-time with others by sharing synchronised files and using online conferencing. Many businesses now have a â€˜bring your own device (BYOD)â€™ policy which is backed up by the use of a logical access authentication protocol to ensure security.

9. Environmental friendly

Moving your system to the cloud means that you won’t need your own data centre and can reduce your own carbon footprint significantly. You wonâ€™t need to power the servers or keep them cool. You wonâ€™t even need data centre space which needs to be lit.

However, there are more environmental benefits than simply offloading your carbon footprint to your provider. Once you have migrated to the cloud, youâ€™ll find that economies of scale mean that your provider can use energy in a much more efficient way and that the energy needed to run your systems is much less than it would be on-site. In this way, cloud computing reduces the overall impact on the environment.

10. The cloud is future enabled

We’ve already mentioned that cloudâ€™s scalability puts smaller companies on a level playing field with bigger ones. In the future, this is going to be even more important. With the growth of the Internet of Things, the amount of big data that businesses are collecting and processing is going to increase exponentially.

Big data analytics provides vital information for driving business development and those companies who have the resources to carry it out are the ones who will gain most. Cloud computing is by far the most cost-effective option for storing and processing enormous quantities of data. In addition, it provides the easy deployment of the applications needed to carry out this processing.

Conclusion

As you can see from this post, cloud hosting provides many benefits to businesses. It’s cost-effective, can save you money, itâ€™s highly reliable and it provides the scalability, flexibility, agility, high performance and security businesses need from their IT systems.

Cloud computing in construction industry: Benefits

Posted on 23/04/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

The cloud is already widely adopted within the construction industry; however, for companies that are still considering it and for those whose use is limited, here, we look at seven important benefits it provides.

1. Cost savings

Every penny matters in the construction industry, so the cloud’s ability to help companies work more efficiently and effectively is one of its chief attractions. Savings come in multiple forms. From an IT perspective, the move to the cloud and to a vendor’s infrastructure reduces the company’s need to run in-house datacentres that require expensive cap-ex investment in hardware and the ongoing datacentre costs. The scalability of the cloud, together with its pay-as-you-go charging model provides further opportunities for efficient usage.

Additional savings also come from using the cloud to monitor operations. Combining data analytics with artificial intelligence yields insights into business processes that invariably throw up more efficient ways to run businesses and thus reduce costs without affecting quality.

2. Access information from anywhere at anytime

In the cloud, all your data is stored centrally and is available online, regardless of where your teams are or what time. This makes it incredibly easy for employees to collaborate and access the most up-to-date, synchronised files.

This is highly beneficial for construction companies as the very nature of their projects means they are working on sites away from the office. It also makes it much easier for employees working on large sites or projects with multiple sites to get hold of the information they need.

3. More competitive bidding

While cost savings help improve the bottom line, they also help construction companies to be more competitive when bidding for new projects. By using cloud-based business intelligence, they will have a more detailed prediction of the project’s costs, a better understanding of component availability and can give a more accurate indication of other influential factors, such as the environmental impact of their work or how energy efficient the completed project will be. All these can help make the bid more attractive to potential customers.

4. Manage growth better

Opportunities are everywhere in the construction industry, but the nature of the sector means companies need to be clear about those which are right for their business. Today, when researching new market segments or territories, organisations are increasingly making use of cloud-based analytics to evaluate a wide range of internal and external indicators that give them a clearer picture of the challenges and advantages of these potential expansions.

5. Building Information Modelling (BIM)

Today, the construction industry is making far greater use of Building Information Modelling – a process that results in the development of a centrally stored project model that can be accessed, shared and updated by all parties. Based in the cloud, the BIM enables the company to collaborate with all stakeholders, including planners, designers, suppliers, those from other disciplines and other construction companies taking part in the project. By clarifying the exact project for everyone, this removes uncertainty and thus helps overcome budget, timescale and supply challenges while reducing the potential for conflict between the different parties.

6. Improve employee safety

Construction sites and the materials and machines used can be inherently hazardous and this makes employee safety one of the chief concerns of any company. Increasingly, organisations are looking at how cloud-based solutions can help minimise risk even further. Using the cloud enables companies to simplify and centralise the reporting of incidents over the internet, share data with collaborators and suppliers and then analyse that data to provide safety insights and develop new safety procedures and equipment more speedily for use on sites.

When predictive tools are used, this can then help companies better understand the safety risks of each new project, enabling them to put improved measures into place during the planning stage rather than as a reaction to an incident that happens once construction work has begun. It also helps factor safety into the price and timescale of the project.

7. More effective communications

The number of people involved in a construction project can be vast and includes not just the company but the customer, architects and planners, suppliers, sub-contractors and other construction companies. Keeping everyone in the loop and up to speed is vital to keep the project on schedule and budget, and to ensure that issues are dealt with swiftly and effectively.

Cloud-based communication systems make this far easier and quicker to do and ensure that communications can be accessed and traced more effectively. What’s more, rather than having to send copies of files in email attachments that can quickly go out of date, attaching links to files stored centrally in the cloud means information accessed will always be synchronised and up to date.

Conclusion

Construction companies have a lot to gain from using the cloud and there are many ways in which it can benefit. The biggest advantage, however, for those who have yet to adopt, is that doing so will put you on par with the majority that have already begun to make the leap as part of their digital transformation.

8 Reasons Why Cloud Hosting Helps Businesses Compete

Posted on 23/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

Organisations are flocking to cloud computing in greater numbers than ever before and many are expanding their use of it. This comes as no surprise, given the many advantages that cloud migration brings. In this post, we’ll look at how the cloud hosting enables its users to outperform their competitors.

1. Cloud users save money

One of the primary reasons that organisations migrate to the cloud is to cut costs. By using the hardware and services of your cloud provider you’ll no longer need to spend enormous sums on purchasing your own hardware. And that’s just the start of your savings. As you won’t need a data centre any longer, you can eliminate the expenses of running one. The money spent on maintenance, management, space, security, air-conditioning, power, insurance, etc. can all be put to better purposes.

2. Instant scalability

Being competitive means being able to adapt at speed to market demands. One of the drawbacks for businesses running their own data centre is that scaling up can be a slow and expensive process. If you are getting increased traffic to your website and you need additional resources to cope, scaling up can involve purchasing a new server, setting it up and getting it online. This can take quite some time to do. When you use the cloud hosting, your service provider’s vast data centres mean that you can have all the resources you need instantly.

Another issue faced by organisations scaling up in-house is that the additional resources they acquire aren’t fully utilised. For example, your company may get high traffic for certain periods but for the rest of the time, the new server sits idle. This doesn’t make it the wisest investment. Cloud services, however, are charged on a pay as you go basis. You only pay for what you use, so during quieter times, the costs are minimised.

3. Speedy application deployment

It’s not just scaling up that can be done quickly in the cloud hosting , the deployment of the critical applications needed to give you the edge in a competitive market can also be done instantaneously. This can be particularly advantageous for smaller enterprises as it gives them the same speed of deployment as larger competitors who have superior in-house capacities.

Cloud-based apps require far less time for successful execution, most of them being available immediately on signup, giving you instant access to game-changing technologies such as AI and machine learning.

4. 100% uptime

Today’s organisations rely on critical applications to run their operations. The disruption caused by downtime is a major issue, as events such as server failures can cause operations to grind to a halt. Fixing the problem can be difficult and time-consuming and the resulting losses and reputational damage can be substantial.

In a cloud environment, server failure cannot cause downtime. As clients are hosting on virtual machines, when a physical server error occurs, the virtual machine is simply moved to another part of the server cluster. This hyper-converged infrastructure protects organisations against everything from hard disk issues to entire server failures, guaranteeing 100% uptime for critical applications.

5. Latest technologies, exceptional performance

Another problem with in-house data centres is that the technology organisations purchase or lease soon become less competitive than the newer, high-performance products that are regularly released onto the market. Continually updating is both expensive and disruptive and this often puts companies at a disadvantage.

For cloud service providers, investment in these new technologies is a necessity in order for them to remain competitive and meet the growing expectations of their clients. The advantage for cloud users is that they will see their applications running on the latest, high-performance servers without the need to invest in the technology themselves. These are servers where performance is consistently optimised, using powerful processors, blisteringly fast SSD drives and load balancing to maximise speed and capacity utilisation.

6. Increased security

Every organisation has concerns about security, so it’s good to know that cloud providers are obliged to comply with stringent security regulations to safeguard customer data. Your provider will protect you against hacking, malware and internal data theft. Using state of the art firewalls that feature intrusion prevention and in-flow virus protection, threats will be detected and isolated long before they reach your server. Other security features include data encryption, remote backups and VPN.

7. Organisational transformation from working online

As a cloud user, your employees can access your system from anywhere with an internet connection and this has helped many organisations to reap the benefits of remote working. It enables companies to employ highly skilled members, no matter where they live, and bring about more flexible working hours. It also means they can save on the amount of office space needed as staff can collaborate in real-time using online conferencing and through the sharing of synchronised files.

Furthermore, as employees can access the company’s system using connected devices such as smartphones and laptops, many companies have dispensed with these costs by introducing a ‘bring your own device (BYOD)’ policy that uses authentication to maintain security.

8. Do more with technology

Perhaps the biggest benefit of the cloud is that it is a technology that enables you to do more with other technologies. With Big Data analysis, machine learning and AI all rapidly deployable, just imagine what potential cloud brings: personalised marketing and communications, improved customer services, discovering new development opportunities and much more. Cloud is also the ideal place for companies wanting to take advantage of the Internet of Things, augmented reality and the other ground-breaking innovations that are helping to reshape the way the world works.

Conclusion

Cloud hosting enables even the smallest of companies to take advantage of the technologies that are transforming today’s marketplace and working environments. In doing so, it makes them far more competitive, while enabling them to spend less and do more. At the same time, these organisations can also benefit from the cloud’s high-performance and reliability, its scalability and flexibility and its highly secure environment.

Cloud Computing : 6 Most Common Applications

Posted on 20/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

Cloud computing has become very popular for businesses. As of 2018, over three-quarters of enterprises were already using it and more are adopting it every day. If you haven’t considered it yet, that’s possibly because you’re not sure what you can use it for. To give you an idea, here we’ll show you the six main ways it is being put to good use.

1. Big Data analytics

Today’s businesses collect vast amounts of data on all manner of things: customers, operational processes, logistics, machinery health, product condition and much more. The value of that data comes from making sense of it, using it to come up with solutions to problems or discovering new opportunities. To do this, however, you’ll need to conduct Big Data analytics and this requires the use of substantial computing resources, often over short periods.

Those resources would be incredibly expensive if you had to purchase them and for much of the time would stand unused. Convincing the finance director this was the wisest use of the company’s money would be a difficult challenge. The advantage of cloud computing is that its pay-as-you-go pricing means you can access all those resources for the times you do need them but not pay for them when you don’t. This way you can carry out Big Data analytics whenever you need but do so affordably.

2. File storage

While it’s true that you can store your files in many places, what makes the cloud so appealing is that files can be accessed, edited and shared anywhere with an internet connection and this opens up a variety of opportunities for mobile working, collaboration and even improved security.

What’s more, the cloud provides high-speed, high-availability access as well as offering scalability to increase or decrease storage as demand requires – again paid for on a per-use basis.

3. Testing and development

Developing a new application or platform in-house can be an expensive and long-winded process. It involves significant spending, time and staff involvement and requires the procurement, installation and configuration of hardware. This means it takes longer to complete a project and can put your company at a disadvantage with competitors.

Cloud computing can make testing and development quicker, less expensive and less complicated. This is because there are various pre-existing and perfectly suitable cloud environments already built and ready to use out of the box.

4. Disaster recovery

Lots of companies use the cloud as the solution for their disaster recovery needs. Continuous backups of your servers in the cloud mean that you’ll no longer need to pay for a separate, redundant DR site of your own. Not only is recovery much cheaper, it’s also far quicker, ensuring your business is back online in no time at all.

5. Data backups

Traditional methods of backing up data have tended to be complicated and time-consuming, often requiring portable drives or even tapes being shipped to remote sites for storage. This is also a technique that can back-fire if the drives are too small for the data or are discovered to be defective.

Cloud-based backup is far easier to carry out and more secure. You can schedule backups to meet your needs; store them remotely on virtual servers, knowing that if the physical hardware hits a problem the data is still available; they can be encrypted for increased security and checked to make sure the data is not corrupt. And as with all cloud storage, you can have as much space as you need without fear of running out.

6. The Internet of Things

The internet of Things is beginning to transform the way we live our lives and increasing numbers of enterprises are making use of it. An IoT system works by collecting data from large numbers of connected sensors and uses this to make intelligent decisions – often using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

To take advantage of the IoT, the cloud is needed to analyse that data and make insights from it. A smart traffic system, for example, can monitor traffic conditions across an entire area, discovering where issues arise and using AI to quickly reroute or slow down vehicles in order to prevent a hold up. This kind of intervention would be almost impossible to gather without the capabilities of cloud.

Cloud’s scalability is also important for IoT. As a company grows, so might the number of IoT devices it sends and receives information from. More devices mean it will need larger computing resources and this can be achieved quickly and easily in the cloud without the need for significant capital investment.

Conclusion

Cloud enables businesses to do many things that, without it, they would find more expensive, overly time-consuming or beyond their in-house IT capabilities. From basic solutions, like storing files and backing up data, to highly sophisticated processes, such as Big Data analytics and IoT data processing, the potential of the cloud is enormous. Indeed, what we have discussed here barely scratches the surface and there are even more developments yet to come.

Cloud Computing Advancing, According to New Statistics

Posted on 11/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

The annual round-up of statistics about cloud computing has now been published by the major research companies and these have provided a wealth of valuable insights into how the cloud landscape is changing. In this post, we’ve chosen some of the more relevant statistics which highlight the areas where cloud computing is developing and where companies are spending their IT budgets. Hopefully, you’ll find these informative.

1. Vast majority of companies using cloud

The latest statistics figures from the 451 Research Group show that 90% of companies are now using cloud computing for some of their services. Indeed, the number of workloads running on cloud-hosted servers rose from 48% in 2018 to 60% in 2019. According to Cisco, this will rise to over 90% within the next two years.

2. UK is a major investor in the cloud

The UK is the world’s third-biggest investor in cloud computing, with companies spending £7.6 billion in 2019. This is just short of the £8 billion invested in China. Both countries, however, are well behind first placed US, which spent almost £100 billion on cloud computing last year.

3. Private vs public cloud

Though more expensive, the average company runs more workloads, 41%, in the private cloud compared to 38% in the public cloud. There is, however, a disparity between how larger businesses and SMEs use these forms of computing. Bigger organisations carry out 46% of workloads in the private cloud and 33% in the public cloud whereas SMEs do almost the opposite: 43% in public cloud and 35% in private. The fact that the spending on public cloud is increasing three times faster than that of private cloud indicates that more small and mid-sized companies are migrating and opting for the public solution when they do.

4. Popular cloud services on the rise

According to tech media giant, IDG, almost 90% of companies use Software as a Service (SaaS) which enables them to access and make use of software, such as Microsoft 365, over the internet. Cisco predicts that, by 2021, SaaS will handle three-quarters of all cloud workloads.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) has also become very popular with over 80% of companies now using it to provide them with resources, such as servers, virtualisation, data storage and networking, that they need to run apps and carry out workloads.

5. Clear reasons for cloud migration

The cloud’s ability to give access to data from anywhere with a connection is the driving force behind over 40% of cloud migrations. The opportunities it provides for collaboration, global networking, BYOD environments and flexible, work-from-home working conditions, together with all the benefits these bring, has made this the primary reason for cloud adoption.

Other major factors to have influenced companies’ decisions include using the cloud for disaster recovery and for reducing the burden on IT staff so that they can concentrate on more business-oriented tasks.

6. Cloud more secure than in-house data centres

According to Gartner, this year will see workloads carried out in public cloud, IaaS environments experience 60% fewer security events than in-house data centres. The main reason for this is that the expense and complexities of maintaining secure in-house systems is difficult for most businesses to achieve. Public cloud providers, on the other hand, have the resources and the income to develop first-class security that uses a multi-faceted approach. As this security comes as part of the cloud service, customers who opt for IaaS can often forgo the issues of developing their own, in-house solution.

While there are still risks when using the cloud, Garner believes that within 2 years over 95% of problems will be caused by customers. Problems resulting from employee errors will be much reduced due to the increasing use of automation.

7. Main uses of cloud

Analysis of companies’ cloud spend gives a clear indication about how companies are using it. Currently, large businesses spend a quarter of their IT budgets on cloud services compared to a fifth for SMEs. The biggest spend goes on remote, online backups and disaster recovery solutions, which account for 15% of all cloud expenditure. Web and email hosting, together with online productivity, each account for around 10% of overall spend. 2019 saw companies that had already adopted cloud increase their spending by a quarter. Much of this was to help them better manage the increasing number of workloads they were migrating to the cloud.

Conclusion

As these statistics show, cloud computing is now an integral part of almost every company’s IT strategy. With IaaS helping to drive down IT costs and increase security, SaaS opening the doors to access-anywhere data and flexible working conditions and the ability of the cloud to help with disaster recovery, it is not surprising that 90% of businesses now use it. And these figures don’t even take into consideration the cloud’s ability to provide companies with artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analysis and all the other powerful technologies available.

The 5 ways cloud computing will change in 2020

Posted on 06/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

Cloud computing is set to continue its remarkable development this year with technologies like 5G, Kubernetes, AI and machine learning increasing the scope and scale of the operational uses it can be put to. In this post, we’ll look at these technologies and see how they will change the face of cloud computing and how businesses use it.

1. IoT boosted by 5G

The long wait for 5G is finally over and, with its introduction, we’re set to see it play a critical role in the connectivity of IoT devices, extending that connectivity way beyond the limitations of wi-fi and enabling the development of edge computing.

The exponential growth in the number of IoT devices is coupled with an equally gargantuan collection of data. As the value of that data for delivering rich insights prevents enterprises from deleting it, companies are left to find a way to store and process it all. They need massive data storage capacity and vast compute capabilities. At the same time, some of the new technologies being developed for IoT use, self-driving vehicles being a prime example, require network latency to be almost eradicated.

5G can help with all these issues. It can connect devices where wi-fi and cabled connections are not available and at exceptional speed, it enables storage and compute services to be installed at the edge of 5G networks, shrinking latency to less than a millisecond while reducing the type and volume of data being stored in datacentres.

2. More stringent security standards for public cloud

Security is a critical concern for all enterprises and one new area to consider is the issue around 5G as it becomes part of the cloud network. The UK’s decision to use Huawei technology for its 5G network has already become a political hot potato. This, together with other concerns, is likely to lead to more stringent security standards, particularly over endpoint security, for cloud providers.

It is expected that tighter regulations will be introduced for the architecture of hybrid clouds requiring full data separation between on-site and public cloud environments. Brexit will also play a part, as the UK goes its own way in implementing standards regarding data protection.

3. More users adopting hybrid cloud

While many companies have considered hybrid cloud computing , its technological challenges have led to most of them adopting a purely public cloud model. And while there are workloads which are better suited to a hybrid solution, the lack of flexibility to deploy both on-site and cloud infrastructures is a hurdle which many enterprises are not equipped to overcome.

In 2020 and beyond, we’ll start to see new tools that can overcome these management and migration challenges. These tools will split migration into two separate processes where companies can first become familiar with their new programming and management models on-site before finally moving their infrastructure to the cloud. This is particularly helpful for those organisations that want to move to the cloud but don’t want to abandon the investments they have made in their datacentres and hardware.

4. Kubernetes to become the standard container

Containers have become widely used by companies that need to run multi-cloud workloads. By providing a platform-agnostic solution for the packaging and management of applications, they have simplified the process of cloud adoption and migration.

Of all the container solutions available, Kubernetes has become the most widely adopted. The primary reason for this is that, aside from housing an application, it also specifies the app’s required infrastructure, including load balancing, networking and scaling. What’s more, the standardised way in which it does this means those specifications can be more easily transferred across providers. When it comes to deploying infrastructure for container-based workloads, Kubernetes is today’s go-to solution. Additionally, its popularity means there are also a growing number of tools being developed to support its use.

5. AI and machine learning used in networking

AI and machine learning are now being deployed to carry out a wide range of operations and this means companies are reorganising their IT services to enable them to make deployment easier. One area where AI is beginning to bring developments is in networking, helping with such things as reducing energy consumption and in automating maintenance tasks. Expect to see even more examples of its uses coming into the spotlight in the next few years.

Conclusion

It is an exciting time for the cloud with technologies like 5G, containers, AI and machine learning enabling its users to undertake more operations and enhance their capabilities. However, with expanding uses comes an even greater need for security and higher standards in how data is used. Hopefully, the information given here will have shown you what developments are in store and how your company can benefit from them.

Data Warehouse Benefits and Drawbacks

Posted on 02/02/201921/06/2021 by Tushar

As businesses gather and store ever greater quantities of data, managing it becomes increasingly challenging. To get the maximum value from it, it needs to be easily accessed and compiled so that it can be analysed. However, when it is stored in separate silos across numerous departments, this is hard to achieve. The solution that many companies are opting for in order to overcome these issues is data warehousing. In this post, we’ll look at the pros and cons of setting up a data warehouse.

What is a data warehouse?

A data warehouse is a centralised storage space used by companies to securely house all their data. As such, it becomes a core resource from which the company can easily find and analyse the datasets it needs to generate timely reports and gain the meaningful insights needed to make important business decisions.

The pros of data warehousing

The growing popularity of data warehousing is down to the benefits it provides business. Key, here, is that a unified data storage solution enhances decision making, enabling businesses to perform better in the marketplace and thus improve their bottom line. As a data warehouse also means data can be analysed faster, another advantage is that it puts the company in a better position to react to opportunities and threats that come their way.

With the entire array of the company’s data available to them, data managers can make more accurate market forecasts and do so quicker, helping them implement data-driven strategies swiftly and before their competitors. The accuracy of market forecasts is improved due to the warehouse’s ability to store huge amounts of historical data that can highlight patterns in market trends and shifting consumer behaviours over time.

Data warehousing can also help companies reduce expenditure by enabling them to make more cost-effective decisions, whether that’s in procurement, operations, logistics, communications or marketing. It can also massively improve the customer experience, with end to end customer journey mapping helping the company personalise product recommendations, issue timely and relevant communications, deliver better quality customer service and much more.

The cons of data warehousing

While the centralised storage of data brings many benefits, it does have some drawbacks that companies need to consider. For example, with such vast amounts of data in one place, finding and compiling the datasets needed for analyses can take time. However, not as long as would be needed if they were all kept in different silos.

Another potential issue is that when data is stored centrally, all the company’s data queries have to go through the warehouse. If the company’s system lacks the resources to deal with so many queries, this can slow down the speed at which data is processed. However, using a scalable cloud solution for data warehousing, where additional resources, charged on a pay per use basis, can be added as and when needed, eradicates this issue.

For many companies, the biggest obstacle for setting up a data warehouse is the cost. When undertaken in-house, there is often significant capital expenditure required for the purchase of hardware and software, together with the overheads of running the infrastructure. Additionally, there are ongoing staffing costs for experienced IT professionals. Again, the solution comes in the form of managed cloud services, like Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), where the hardware and operating systems are provided without the need for capital expenditure and where software licencing can be significantly less expensive. What’s more, the service provider manages the infrastructure on your behalf, reducing staffing requirements. Even where specialised IT knowledge is required in-house, such as with integrating different systems, the 24/7 technical support from your provider will be there to offer expertise when needed.

Conclusion

Any company undergoing the process of digital transformation needs to consider the benefits of data warehousing. The centralised storage of all the company’s data is essential for companies that wish to integrate their existing business processes with today’s advanced digital technologies. Doing this means you can fully benefit from big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and all the crucial insights they offer to drive the company forward.

Setting up a data warehouse in-house, however, presents several major challenges. There is significant capital expenditure required at the outset, together with on-going overheads. In addition, integrating a diverse set of company systems so that data can be centralised is not without its technical challenges. By opting for a cloud solution, however, cap-ex is removed, costs are lowered and many of the technical challenges are managed on your behalf.

Predictions for the Cloud service in 2019

Posted on 25/01/201919/06/2021 by Tushar

2018 saw important technological advances in cloud computing that made businesses take a fresh look at how it could help them achieve their goals. In 2019, we are likely to see a further shift towards the collection and use of data, including that gathered from business processes and external data sets.

To enable businesses to make the most of this, weâ€™ll see organisations move from standard infrastructure as a service (IaaS) solutions to cloud services with more advanced features, such as AI, machine learning, blockchain and analytics. Hand in hand with this, we are also going to see more organisations adopt hybrid and multi-cloud environments which provide them with a more effective infrastructure and a better set of tools to achieve their aims. As a result, here at Anteelo, we believe the cloud trends mentioned below will become increasingly widespread as more businesses continue to develop their use of cloud technology.

A shift to hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures

While many businesses have adopted cloud technology in some form or other, performance concerns and compliance requirement mean the majority of companies still run mission-critical applications and handle sensitive data in-house. In order to continue their move towards a cloud environment, companies will look at using a wider range of cloud options.

Public cloud will still be used as a cost-effective way to handle many processes, however, rather than rely on a single provider, many organisations will opt for a multi-cloud approach using a variety of hosting solutions for different purposes. At the same time, some workloads are more suited to private cloud networks and this means weâ€™ll see an increase in the use of hybrid cloud infrastructures being developed.

While this mix of in-house, private cloud and public cloud architecture is obviously more complex, their integration will give enterprises the opportunity to build the most effective infrastructure it needs to drive the business forward.

A move towards open cloud technology

The shift to hybrid, multi-cloud environments naturally leads to the adoption of open cloud technologies. Doing so helps companies avoid vendor lock-in and gives them greater freedom to choose the right solution providers. Indeed, using open cloud technology improves the interoperability of platforms, apps and data which is ideal for businesses looking to create diversely hosted infrastructures.

Increased adoption of containers

Another consequence of companies moving towards a multi-cloud strategy is that they will want to deploy their apps across their multiple cloud platforms. This will lead to the increasing adoption of containers which will enable migration between various IT environments to take place easily and quickly. Key to this will be the use of the open source tool, Kubernetes, which enables the deployment and management of container-based applications.

An emphasis on security

Any move to a hybrid cloud setup means enterprises will need a more sophisticated approach to security. Using the services of multiple cloud providers means they will need to consistently manage all the threats to their applications and data across all vendors. An important aspect of this will be the need to get developers to integrate security features into their apps during development in order to ensure better app visibility, protection and control.

Skilling up

Adopting a hybrid, multi-cloud approach means IT teams will need to develop new skills and practices in the way they operate. While relying on managed services may still be appropriate in some situations, there will be an increased need for staff with skills in using cross-platform tools, automation and data integration. The training up or recruitment of specialists, such as cloud architects, service brokers and automation engineers may be a necessity.

Rapid growth in edge computing

The huge rise in the numbers of connected devices and the emergence of 5G networks means that 2019 will see edge computing grow rapidly. Its use will enable companies to significantly benefit from the analysis of all the valuable data being harvested from sensors and other IoT devices in operation. Whether to gain customer insights, improve operation efficiency or for real-time condition monitoring, the use of interoperable technologies enables edge locations to remain synced with the companyâ€™s system to ensure it has a consistent overview of the wider network.

Conclusion

As you can see, the big development in 2019 is the move towards a hybrid, multi-cloud strategy where enterprises create bespoke IT solutions that combine public and private cloud service with in-house IT. Hand in hand with this will be a move to open source cloud technology, the increased adoption of containers, a stronger emphasis on security, the skilling up of IT teams and a rapid growth in the use of edge computing.

Ways cloud hosting is similar to Santa

Posted on 21/01/201918/06/2021 by Tushar

You might think it Christmas crackers to believe a beardy, old sleigh driver donning a red hat, has anything remotely in common with an internet-based hosting solution â€“ but youâ€™d be wrong. Both of them, in their own unique ways, can bring us many benefits. So, as Christmas approaches and we begin to let our minds wander away from work and towards the festivities, hereâ€™s a more seasonal and humorous post for you to enjoy. Here are the reasons why cloud hosting is like Santa Claus.

When it comes to running critical operations, Santa relies on his sleigh just as much as businesses need their applications. Downtime for either can be disastrous. Sleigh failure can result in millions of unhappy children waking up to empty stockings – an unimaginable reputational disaster for the worldâ€™s most trusted brand. For others, the standstill caused by server failure not only damages reputations but can also result in significant losses.

Neither Santa nor businesses like downtime

While Santa relies on magic reindeer dust to keep his sleigh in action, for businesses, the best option is to migrate to cloud hosting where the possibility of downtime due to server failure is non-existent. The virtual nature of a cloud environment means that it delivers consistent performance with guaranteed 100% uptime. This is because its hyper-converged design protects against everything from hard disk failure to an entire server failure, enabling critical apps to be always available.

Reindeer fast performance

Speed is essential for both Santa and modern businesses. For Santa, dropping off presents to the worldâ€™s 2 billion children in a single night means he has to work fast. Itâ€™s been scientifically calculated that he needs to travel at approximately 650 miles per second to get everything done in time and to achieve this, he needs more than your average reindeer. Indeed, the average reindeer can only manage 15mph and most of those would be flagging after half an hour of pulling all that weight.

What makes everything possible for Santa is that he uses the cloud. Rather than taking the sleigh over rugged terra firma, riding high in the cloud provides an almost friction less environment to travel and where gravity has less of an impact. This massively improves his speed.

That same cloud, or one very similar to it, can also help boost the speed of your data. Indeed, as data is weightless, it can travel even faster through the cloud than reindeer, almost at the speed of light. And with high-performance servers featuring powerful Intel Xeon CPUs and super-fast SSD drives you can perform critical tasks quicker than an elf can say â€˜Merry Christmasâ€™.

Santa has been so impressed with cloud technology, heâ€™s now adopted load balancing to prevent his sleigh tipping over on tight corners. For cloud hosting users, load balancing maximises speed and capacity utilisation so that when servers are busy, the load is distributed. This ensures that no server suffers from performance problems and, with multiple data centres at their disposal, cloud providers can always ensure optimised performance.

Both Santa and cloud hosting save you money

Whether you are buying presents for your children or cloud hosting for your business, it is important that what you buy offers you value for money. Whatâ€™s great about the cloud is that you can save on the costs of running a data centre and the capital expenditure needed to pay for hardware. Everything you need is provided by the host. There will be no need to pay for premises, electricity, physical security, maintenance or insurance.

Similarly, with Santa, those who have well-behaved children can save on the cost of buying presents. Instead of spending a fortune on Amazon, simply get your â€˜nice listâ€™ kids to write a letter to Santa and put it in the nearest post box. Doing this automates the process of putting presents in stockings and under the tree on Christmas Eve. Although a small delivery fee of a mince pie and a shot of something warming is required, the savings are dramatic, especially when your child has an eye for expensive electronic gadgetry.

Unfortunately. If you have naughty kids, youâ€™ll have to supply your own presents or make do with the small bag of coal that â€˜bad listâ€™ children get left.

Both come with expert little helpers

When you have significant workloads, it pays to have experts on hand to help you get things done. Santa, for example, has an army of elves who spend their days creating the presents, wrapping them up and loading them onto the sleigh. Theyâ€™ll also manage the naughty and nice list and organise the presents in a way that enables delivery to be done with awe-inspiring efficiency.

If Santa has a technical problem, Mrs Clause offers 24/7 support, together with tea and biscuits, to help him find an effective solution. Last year, for example,Rudolphâ€™s nose was a bit dim and Mrs Clause provided the right type of carrot to add to Rudolphâ€™s food â€˜til the luminous glow was restored.

Users of cloud hosting also benefit from expert little helpers. Working away behind the scenes is an army of engineers and technicians who ensure that your hosting is expertly managed. Theyâ€™ll monitor and maintain the servers, update the software, scan for intruders and malware,and generally make sure your hosting is working as effectively as possible.

At the same time, should you have any issues, a good cloud host will provide their own 24/7technical support. While they may not know one end of a reindeer from the other, they will have expert skills in helping you with all your hosting needs and will be available by phone, live chat or ticket.

Wrapping up

So, as you can see, it is possible to compare Santa with cloud hosting. Comparing,however, doesnâ€™t mean you have to choose between them. If youâ€™re clever and have been good all year, you can have both. Now, that is good tidings.

5 Advantages of Using the Cloud with a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) Policy

Posted on 21/01/201919/06/2021 by Tushar

If you have not come across BYOD before, it stands for Bring Your Own Device and is when businesses allow their employees to use their own laptops, tablets and smartphones for work, instead of supplying them themselves. When BYOD is used in conjunction with a cloud-based system, it brings many benefits. In this post, weâ€™ll look at what these are.

Greater flexibility.

When businesses with cloud-based systems begin to offer BYOD, it enables employees to work away from the office whilst still being able to access the system over the internet. This means that where ever an employee is, theyâ€™ll still be able to access the data and files they need.

As a result, it offers companies a great deal of flexibility. For example, if there is no need for an employee to be physically in the office to carry out their work, they can work from home, using their own laptop. If this applies to enough staff, it is possible to use smaller office premises cutting the cost of business rents, rates, utility bills, maintenance and insurance.

It also enables companies to offer more flexible working conditions which are better suited to those who need to work around things like childcare. As a result, talented individuals who would have been put off by rigid 9-5 routines may be willing to work for you.

Keep employees happy and reduce training costs

We all have our preferred devices for work; some like to use Windows computers, while others prefer to work with Apple Macs. When you supply your own devices, it is easier for a company to lease these in bulk and as a result, everyone gets the same thing.

It can, however, be difficult for those who have always used Windows to work with a Mac and vice versa. It can take them time to learn the new skills and even require training to take place. Until they are up to scratch, their productivity levels will be less than expected. Giving them the chance to use their own device removes these obstacles and leads to higher morale and improved job satisfaction.

App compatibility and employee collaboration

If you think that application compatibility may be an issue with BYOD, youâ€™ll be relieved to know that many apps can be used across a range of different operating systems and devices. For example, Office 365, perhaps the most widely used business suite, works with Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, enabling your employees to work anywhere, any time with its email and other applications. In addition, with Team Sites, which is included with Office 365, employees can improve collaboration while in different locations, editing documents simultaneously and taking part in online conferences.

Cuts the cost of device leasing

The obvious advantage of BYOD is that if employees are using their own devices to work, you donâ€™t have to buy or lease them. Developments in computer technology mean that whether purchased or leased, hardware will become dated and even obsolete within a few years. As a result, there is the constant cost of replacing it. BYOD gets rid of this cost.

In addition, if your IT department provides maintenance for BYOD devices (itâ€™s worth doing as your staff will still have IT issues which might affect their work) itâ€™s unlikely this will need as much input as it would with hardware provided internally. Staff generally take care of their own devices better than they do company devices and they are more likely to understand how to sort out minor errors themselves.

BYOD is compatible with data security

With the introduction of GDPR, one concern about BYOD is whether its use could ensure that confidential information and customer data remained secure. The answer is yes, provided that itâ€™s properly regulated and monitored and that only those employees who need to use the data are given access to it.

Key to ensuring data is secure is having sound password management, including making sure that employees are trained on password safety and that strong passwords are used when connecting to business systems.

At the same time, employees must agree to regularly back up their systems and update software to more secure versions when they are released. This will prevent any security holes in older versions being exploited by hackers. If using software such as Office 365, these apps will be updated automatically.

Conclusion

For companies that use cloud computing, the option to allow employees to bring their own devices offers a number of advantages. It increases their flexibility, it keeps employees happier, it enables them to continue to use the same apps, it saves money and, if implemented wisely, is compatible with GDPR and other regulations.

1. Cloud hosting saves you money

2. Instantly scalable resources and pay as you go pricing

3. Strategic competitive advantage

4. High Availability

5. Lightning fast performance

6. Get new apps running quicker

7. Increased security

8. More flexible working

9. Environmental friendly

10. The cloud is future enabled

Conclusion

1. Cost savings

2. Access information from anywhere at anytime

3. More competitive bidding

4. Manage growth better

5. Building Information Modelling (BIM)

6. Improve employee safety

7. More effective communications

Conclusion

1. Cloud users save money

2. Instant scalability

3. Speedy application deployment

4. 100% uptime

5. Latest technologies, exceptional performance

6. Increased security

7. Organisational transformation from working online

8. Do more with technology

Conclusion

1. Big Data analytics

2. File storage

3. Testing and development

4. Disaster recovery

5. Data backups

6. The Internet of Things

Conclusion

1. Vast majority of companies using cloud

2. UK is a major investor in the cloud

3. Private vs public cloud

4. Popular cloud services on the rise

5. Clear reasons for cloud migration

6. Cloud more secure than in-house data centres

7. Main uses of cloud

Conclusion

1. IoT boosted by 5G

2. More stringent security standards for public cloud

3. More users adopting hybrid cloud

4. Kubernetes to become the standard container

5. AI and machine learning used in networking

Conclusion

What is a data warehouse?

The pros of data warehousing

The cons of data warehousing

Conclusion

A shift to hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures

A move towards open cloud technology

Increased adoption of containers

An emphasis on security

Skilling up

Rapid growth in edge computing

Conclusion

Neither Santa nor businesses like downtime

Reindeer fast performance

Both Santa and cloud hosting save you money

Both come with expert little helpers

Wrapping up

Greater flexibility.

Keep employees happy and reduce training costs

App compatibility and employee collaboration

Cuts the cost of device leasing

BYOD is compatible with data security

Conclusion

Delivering excellence, collaborating across time zones.

Take a look at our global hideouts.​

Contact

India (HQ)

Atlanta, USA

London, UK

Dubai, UAE

Melbourne, Australia

Surabaya, Indonesia

Take a look at our global hideouts.