'The Cloud' Explained

We've all heard an increasing amount about 'The Cloud' and 'Cloud Computing' but for many, the question remains: 'what is the Cloud' and what does it mean for New Zealand and Australian SMEs?

Essentially 'The Cloud' turns computing as we've come to know it over many years on its head and it operates at three key levels.

At its simplest level, the Cloud can simply be an off-site, secure managed server, where company and individual PC files are stored, backed up and remain fully accessible just as they would be from your own office server, via a secure internet connection.  The files are in 'the Cloud' simply because they are not in your office. This is the Cloud at its best, with little downtime and a fully inclusive price covering maintenance and back-ups all included.

At the next level, many companies, especially SMEs, have also moved applications such as their Outlook Exchange Server into the Cloud. Onsite problems and maintenance are reduced as, like the file server, it is a hosted off-site solution, residing in a secure data centre.  As most people who have used Outlook Web Access will tell you, there's rarely a problem and it doesn't feel any different to an internally hosted Exchange Server.

At the higher level, the Cloud brings together the above two levels with all your server hardware systems and software applications hosted off-site. Many larger companies are taking steps to move in this direction with great success and significant savings in terms of internal IT staffing.

As with any 'new' way of doing things, if you are thinking of moving some of your resources into the Cloud, SMEs who have enjoyed the least disruption have taken a stepped approach. Wholesale change requires a large initial budget while 'first level' and 'second level' change can be achieved relatively pain-free while serving up the cost-savings many businesses are looking for. 

 

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