Computing for a Changeable World

What are the advantages of the Cloud?

• The Cloud enables organisations to access a robust computing environment, with the potential to expand their consumption of resources as their business grows (or reduce if business takes a down-turn).
• Your business can be flexible and meet changing customer needs rapidly, without the outlay on capital and human resources associated with maintaining and growing an internal server infrastructure.
• Cloud providers have the business scale to invest in first class systems and staff, and keep their software and infrastructure up to date.

What are the potential pitfalls?
A number of issues need to be addressed to succeed in a Cloud computing environment:

• Connectivity - if all your computing resources are located on the internet, you must have a reliable, well managed connection to the internet
• Vendor lock in - Cloud providers allow access to their services through API (Application Programming Interface). These are usually vendor specific, if you want to move from one vendor's Cloud to a better deal elsewhere, you may need to re-write your application.
• Vendor reliability and relationship - trusting an external company to provide a major part your computing environment is not something to be taken lightly. Careful selection of a provider who has both a proven track record of reliability, evidence of financial stability and with whom you can build a good relationship is a must.

How can I use the Cloud to help my business?
We can help you assess whether a Cloud solution is best for you. We'll help you answer questions such as "Is my current provision at the right level?", "Can I save money by moving my existing applications/infrastructure to the Cloud?", "Is my data suited to being hosted on the Cloud?"

Our careful analysis will help you answer these questions, and our many years of software experience will help you to achieve success - whether you choose to utilise the Cloud or an internally hosted application. Why not contact us now to discuss your requirements?