by Dave Moorman

For several years, I’ve been hearing from customers who liked the idea of cloud computing but were worried about the security, privacy or accessibility of their applications and data. Some had a hard time envisioning what the cloud is, or how it works. How can their data and programs be segregated from those of other businesses if they are on the same server? How can a solution used by so many companies offer better delivery speeds than a pipeline used by just one?

Interestingly, once company questions or objections regarding cloud computing are addressed (by us or others), we often get a phone call from an executive or decision maker saying, “We’re ready to go to the cloud.” With the reliability and security of cloud computing established and its promise explained, some companies are ready to embrace it like a new best friend. With objections resolved, they are ready to start reaping the benefits, pronto.

In reality, just because a company’s management is conceptually and psychologically “ready” for the cloud doesn’t mean the business is. As much as we support cloud computing and the dramatic advantage it can provide to most firms, not all business models transition well to it.

Don’t get me wrong—nearly all companies can benefit from some form of cloud computing, even if it’s just hosted email and disaster recovery. But to leverage the cloud to greatest benefit, companies need to draw a parallel between their business goals, challenges and opportunities and the technologies available in the cloud. They also need to explore their current IT state and determine their “readiness” for the move. Things such as are my applications compatible, do we have enough bandwidth or have i maximized my depreciation on our existing hardware not only can minimize cloud benefits, they can increase the risks of running your business there.

That’s where cloud assessment solutions come in. Whether it’s a purpose-built program implemented by an IT services firm like DynaSis or a brief, self-administered test from a cloud hardware or software provider, a preparedness assessment is an integral component of moving to the cloud. And, if the assessment results indicate your firm isn’t as ready as you thought, the insights you’ll gain can help you refine your plans and realign your goals.

by Dave Moorman

Unified Communication (UC)—the convergence and integration of communications technologies to optimize business processes—is a concept that has been making the rounds in technology circles since the mid-1990s. However, today’s UC is light years ahead of the original definition.

UC got its impetus during the transition of business telephone systems from landline-based PBX systems to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol—phone calls over the Internet). The idea was that since email and instant messaging (IM) traveled over the Internet, those communications could be integrated with telephony. This would enable someone in a company to reach another staffer, either in real-time or at a later date, by whatever means—email, IM or voice—was most expedient given that person’s location and availability (this function is called presence). In reality, some of these solutions worked well; others barely worked.

Today, the core concept is basically the same, but the way it is implemented has changed dramatically for the better. Companies now have UC systems that integrate voice, email, instant messaging and video very successfully. These location- and task-aware systems deliver communications based on a recipient’s location and designated method of delivery based on the situation and communication type. For example, assume the system knows the recipient is in a meeting, If a message is non-urgent; it will deliver it via email. Urgent issues generate a text message or desktop pop-up.

UC platforms incorporate video conferencing and other collaboration tools and, perhaps most importantly for productivity, business process integration. In other words, UC is no longer about finding a particular person. It can also be about finding any of several people who has knowledge of a particular issue, feature, product, etc.

The search can be database driven as well. For example, a customer calls into the company’s phone system and is identified by the integrated CRM (customer relations management) platform as a repeat purchaser of bulk widgets. If the customer’s representative isn’t available, the system could send that customer to email or voicemail—or it could refer him to another representative in the bulk widgets department, based on the likelihood that the customer is low on widgets; his total billing with the company over the last year, or any other criteria the firm establishes.

From connecting company personnel with subject matter experts to finding a last-minute presenter for a Webinar, UC can be an incredible driver of business productivity. To learn more about UC and what it can do for your firm, please give us a call.

by Dave Moorman

The recent devastation wrought by "Superstorm Sandy" has reminded us all that no one is invulnerable to disaster. New York City saw an unprecedented (nearly 14-foot) storm surge, and businesses from North Carolina to Connecticut found themselves with sand and water pushed into their buildings—and power to their businesses disrupted.

It doesn't take a disaster of this magnitude to suspend business operations, and groups such as the Institute for Business   Safety (IBHS; ibhs.org) are making news daily with pronouncements about the detrimental impact of even minor disasters. So great is the concern that the federal government, working through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has expanded considerable effort (and tax dollars) developing powerful tutorials and tools to help companies engineer disaster recovery and business resiliency plans.

Yet, even though most firms have some form of business continuity/disaster recovery (BC/DR) plan in place, statistics show the majority aren't sure how to implement it and/or don’t run test scenarios. A majority also have not taken advantage of the benefits that cloud computing and virtualization offer for BC/DR.

A complete BC/DR plan incorporates many elements, starting with a business impact analysis and followed by policy/goal statements, recovery strategies, and development of not only a BC/DR plan, but also a program for maintaining and testing the plan on a regular basis. (The FEMA tutorials mentioned above are an excellent start along this journey. The IBHS has some great templates as well.)

As FEMA points out and DynaSis has long maintained, an IT recovery plan and program is an integral component of any business continuity and disaster recovery plan (BC/DR). Although it may take months, or even years, for businesses to develop an enterprise-wide BC/DR plan that addresses operations at every level, BC/DR programs for the technology side have become easier, more affordable and more self-sustaining than ever before.

Cloud-connected backup hardware, preloaded with management, testing and recovery software, makes it effortless for companies to protect their technology assets and access them on-premise or remotely. For many firms, data archives are the single most important business asset—and the foundation of the BC/DR plan.

If you’d like to learn more about the newest technologies in data backup and recovery, as well as end-to-end programs that can have you and your employees and colleagues up and running in minutes, call DynaSis for a no-obligation, no-pressure consultation.

If your office is located in Atlanta, Georgia, there is absolutely no reason you can’t work from Paris, or perhaps a beach in Cabo. After years of going to the same place, at the same time, just to sit at your desk, the habit becomes second nature. We get comfortable with a routine. But there are downsides of these strict habits. For example, even if you get sick, would you think twice about coming into the office to accomplish your daily to-do’s?

We go to great lengths to protect our office environments, even if it can pose a risk to our health and our coworker’s health. These risks aren’t just unhealthy, these routines can become stale and result in loss of time and money. There are better, affordable alternatives to a strict office-only work environment.

Remote Working

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work away from the office. Normally, all it takes is a username and password. If you can login to your e-mail. You can remotely login to your desktop and work on any device, like your iPad, and work anywhere there is an Internet connection.

The benefits of being able to access your work environment, untethered to your desktop, are staggering. Suddenly, you will be able to make your kid’s dance rehearsal, take a sick day without risking the office’s health, and travel to the destinations that were too far to justify the time off. With the ability to work remotely, geography becomes much less of a barrier to action.

Increased Productivity

Traditional office environments are an expensive luxury. Rent, equipment, IT management, and all of the bells and whistles that are required to maintain a healthy work space are extremely costly. Remote work environments are much more affordable in comparison and you don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Maintaining a smaller office space while having the ability to work remotely offers employees the best of both worlds.

Not only will a remote desktop environment save you money, it will also make employees more productive. Gone are the days of writing ideas down in a notepad. Why bother with that extra step when you can just login and get to work on it? At any time in the day, employees have the ability to be productive. That’s why Microsoft doesn’t think remote working is a nice add-on, they call remote working a, “business imperative.”