Custom Cloud Solutions
If you’re a business owner or manager and you’re baffled by cloud computing (also known as ‘on-demand’ computing), we can help. Read on. If your company develops cloud-based apps and you’re looking to staff up for a project, skip down to the ‘Cloud consulting services’section to find out what Boomcycle offers.
What is cloud computing?
If you own or manage a company that specializes in products or services unrelated to technology, this article will introduce you to some basic concepts and terminology. Here’s a very simple illustration of computing on the cloud: If you use Hotmail or Gmail (Google’s free email service), you’re computing via ‘the cloud’. You’re using a ‘thin client’ (your web browser) that’s stored on your computer to read your email. But your address book and email are stored on Google’s cloud. And if you create filters or send email to the trash, that processing is done on the cloud — not on your computer’s local hard drive.
Types of clouds
Small and midsized businesses often have their first encounters with on-demand computingvia the public cloud. But there are four types of clouds:
- Private clouds are operated and used by one company or organization. They can be hosted on or off site, and self-managed or by a third party. Example: NASA’s Nebula IaaS, used for scientific data.
- Community clouds are shared by multiple organizations with similar goals, policies, security requirements or other concerns. Hosting can be on or off site, managed by the communities or a third party. Example: An academic cloud shared by public Universities in Michigan
- Public clouds are sold to the public as services by their owners. Examples: Amazon EC2, Rackspace , or Microsoft Azure clouds.
- Hybrid clouds use standardized technology that allows data and applications to be used across a combination of public, private or community cloud infrastructures. Example: A company may use a private cloud to store and process data that is security-sensitive, but use Rackspace (a public cloud) to store and process other data.
Benefits of cloud computing: scalability
- Successful and growing businesses can scale up or scale out easily by increasing their computing resources or storage capacity with the click of a few buttons.
- Application software can be run from the cloud. Adding new apps doesn’t slow down processing speed.
- Documents, records and pages on your website can be stored on the cloud, so adding more doesn’t create storage capacity problems.
Advantages of cloud computing: cost efficiency
- It’s easy to increase storage space without buying additional hard drives.
- Resource-hogging application software can be run without purchasing more RAM.
- Smart phones, iPads and other mobile devices can view word processor documents, accounting software records or training videos via low-cost apps.
- The need for large hardware investments can be reduced or eliminated when its time to upgrade the system.
Types of cloud services
Software as a Service (SaaS)
This aspect of cloud services (also known as on-demand services) is the most important for business owners and managers of non-technical companies to know about. It includes all of the pre-built, ready to use consumer and business apps that are being sold via as pay per use or monthly subscriptions such as SalesForce (to manage contact databases and for customer service) or Mail Chimp (for email marketing and list management). Businesses usually face these 3 major challenges when making the switch to Saas applications. Here are some examples of how Boomcycle can make them hassle-free for you:
1. Application migration – We can take your on-premise applications to the cloud.
2. Application integration – You might need your on-premise accounting software to work more effectively with a SaaS service like Sales Force. Or you may need to pass the invoices from Sales Force to Fresh Books. We can make that happen. 3. Application synchronization – When you update your contact information in Sales Force, we can make sure that it also updates Mail Chimp and Fresh Books
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Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Small non-tech businesses usually won’t have direct interaction with these services. These are the ‘virtual machine’ vendors, like Amazon EC2, Google App Engine and Rackspace Cloud . They’re like cloud wholesalers who sell cloud space to other companies who either develop software (PaaS) on it or host application software on it (SaaS).
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Your business may use this if your IT team or consultants (like us) build custom software for you, or customize SaaS applications for you. This is like a cross between renting cloud-space from the IaaS vendor, and the ‘developers’ version’ of a SaaS application. If that sounds confusing, don’t worry. Even programmers don’t agree — there are plenty of threads online where they debate about what exactly qualifies as Paas vs.SaaS. So unless you’re in the IT industry, you can safely ignore the nuances. It helps to understand that the cloud is an organic and evolving technological ecosystem. According to NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology – U.S. Department of Commerce) — which publishes the official definition of the cloud — it’s still under development, and will continue to be for many years to come. A year or two from now it will likely comprise technology and applications that we haven’t yet envisioned. That’s just one of the many reasons small and mid-sized businesses need to start learning now about how cloud services can help them gain and maintain market leadership. But you don’t need to become an expert in cloud computing– you just need to know some experts…like Boomcycle.
When to use cloud computing
If the following scenarios sound familiar to you, your business might benefit from a cloud implemented system. We can help you decide on the best approach:
- You need a faster system — more advanced — or need someone who knows how to get more performance out of your existing computer system.
- Your programmer built a website that’s working so well that you’re getting more customers…but now you’ve outgrown your server and it keeps crashing.
- No one on your IT staff knows how to take your business to the cloud.
- Your existing system is overloaded. You’ve added another server, but it isn’t helping.
- Your website now has so many pages and so much content that you can’t make the changes you want.
There are a lot more scenarios that could point to a small business cloud solution. Contact us to discuss the right solutions for you.
Cloud consulting services
The Boomcycle team includes some of the most talented and creative IT pros on the planet — and each custom software development projectis unique — so this list isn’t complete by any means. If you need a service that isn’t listed here, contact us and ask.
- Cloud migration
- Web application integration
- Software integration plans
- Cloud service integration
- Hybrid cloud development
- Private cloud development
- Parallel computing
- Grid computing
- Cluster computing
- Multi-threaded programming
- Sleuthing to improve software performance
- Software diagnostics
- discussions about cloud ontology
- other arcane tech services most people have never heard of, unless they too are programming geniuses
Okay, the last two items were jokes (kind of). But seriously…. The cloud is the new frontier. We’ll help guide you if your main business isn’t technology oriented. Or we’ll join your exploration party if you’re mapping out new territory. Contact us today to get started with cloud computing solutions for your business.