Cloud Solutions

Can we start with our favourite t-shirt saying - “there is no cloud; it’s just somebody else’s computer”!

In layman’s terms, being “in the Cloud” means your data is not physically located with you, but rather in multiple, secure, offsite locations. It can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection using a variety of solutions, including, but not limited to:

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• A web-based application. Company data is stored in the datacentre(s) of the application Vendor. Your IT platform simply needs to have a web interface to access the data, while the Application Vendor is responsible for securing and protecting that data. For example: Xero accounting software, or Gmail which you access through a web browser.

• A local application connected to a remote datacentre. This is a local application which has been installed on your company’s workstations, but the data is being pulled from the application Vendor’s datacentre.  This data is backed up and secured by the Vendor, but you may also have access to local data.  For example: Microsoft Outlook is your local application, but the Microsoft 365 Email Exchange is where the data is generated from and backed up to.

• A datacentre of your choice. This is a datacentre owned by another party where you effectively ‘rent’ space to host your applications and store your data. This is great for applications that do not have a “cloud version” from the Vendor, so you need to host an instance of the application yourself.  You’re responsible for securing and protecting your data; while the datacentre is responsible for providing and securing the hardware platform you are “renting”.  

• A datacentre of your choice, plus hardware. In this instance you own your own hardware but it is located in a datacentre owned by another party. They are responsible for the space (power, maintenance, etc.) in which your hardware is located but you are responsible for everything else.

• Your own datacentre. This is a datacentre within your own company premises but your users may be located around the region, state, or the world, so it operates as if it was a cloud solution. Your employees can access it either through a web-based application, or a local application connected remotely (see above).

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So what are the benefits of being “in the Cloud”?  While each solution detailed above will have its own unique pros and cons, in general being in the cloud allows you better peace of mind. There’s far less risk of losing or corrupting your data and preventing potential costly downtimes. Additionally:

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• Datacentres are usually responsible for hardware refreshes, removing the need for you to refresh your server hardware every 4-5 years.
• Datacentre hardware has a high redundancy against hardware failure through spare capacity at a volume that may not be practical to do yourself.
• Datacentres are highly scaleable – if you deploy more applications or need more data storage, that can be provided in minutes. Equally, if your operations downsize, you can scale back your needs from the datacentre just as easily.
• Physical security at datacentres is significantly more effective than securing your local premises.
• Large datacentre providers, such as Microsoft Azure, have multiple datacentres providing redundancy in the event one is impacted by a major outage.
• Your data is not locked to your local office, so working remotely or moving addresses does not affect your systems or users.
• Costs are billed monthly, reducing impact on cash flow.
• The space used to host server infrastructure, along with the heating, cooling and power requirements is freed up for other needs.