FEBRUARY 2012 |
www.opp.org.uk WORDS | Neil Whittaker
OPP DIGITAL
THE CLOUD | 49
ccording to the US National Institute of Standards and Technology: ”Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand access to a shared pool of confi gurable resources (eg networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.” Well ... that’s that explained then!
What is in that cloud? A
from the offi ce, from home and even when you’re on holiday. You can access anywhere that you have an Internet connection. This is especially suitable for a business with external users such as a property distribution network. 5. Speed – most cloud services work
on a ‘plug and play’ basis, meaning they are ready to use pretty much instantly. 6. Green – instead of companies
Instead, how about we say… “The Cloud is accessing and sharing external resources and hiring applications when you need them.” It means that people don’t have to invest in powerful computers and software to store their data. It is effectively IT as a service. A good example of a cloud-based service is Google’s email application. This is stored (hosted) on Google’s own powerful servers and you, the client, simply log on to the gmail website to access your email. This is opposed to having your own server, purchasing email software (such as Microsoft Outlook) and paying for the upkeep and servicing of the server and software. The vast majority of us will already be using cloud software: if it’s not our Gmail or Hotmail it could be our Facebook or LinkedIn accounts. So, what is all the fuss about? Why is everyone now talking about it? The BBC reported that spending on cloud computing would double to £1 billion during 2012. Why are businesses now looking to the cloud?
1. Cost – you contribute to the cost of a server and/or software, which is considerably cheaper than purchasing and maintaining them.
2. Up-to-date – most providers will update the software on a regular basis, adding new features free of charge. 3. Scalable – as you are paying for your technology as a service you can very quickly scale up or down depending on your growth. 4. Access anytime anywhere – its online… you can access your service
purchasing large power-sapping servers and running them at only 15% to 25% of their capacity, using cloud services is a much more energy effi cient way to operate. Companies like Rackspace and Amazon run their cloud servers at 75% to 90% of capacity making them a lot greener. For example: Rentokil Initial. They had an email system across 50 countries for 20,000 staff. Setting up a global server infrastructure would have meant huge capital expenditure. Instead, they settled on a cloud solution and rolled out Google’s enterprise email across the company. This subsequently saved them 70% in expenditure and lowered support costs in addition. But how safe is the data? Who can access it? Where is it backed up? They’re all relevant questions. You know that when you’re using Microsoft Excel, for example, that you can save your spreadsheet to your laptop and that is where the data is stored. Firstly, make sure you’re
backing this up to an external disk: what if your laptop crashes and gives up? What if it gets stolen? What if there is a fi re in your offi ce? Before you get too hung up on security in the cloud, you should fi rst ask yourself if your current business processes are secure. You need to make sure that if you’re going to use cloud services that you’re happy with the security offered. If you own the data, you still need to be registered with Data Protection. and
“Most cloud services work on a ‘plug and play’ basis: they are ready to use pretty much instantly”
you may well want to know where and how it is backed up. Here at GMP, we use a UK-based data centre that concurrently backs up the data to different centres throughout the country in case of catastrophe. As a rule, cloud based software systems do not share your data with anyone. It’s certainly in our user agreements and this is something you should check to ensure that your business contacts and customers are safe, secure and not going to be harvested or sold. If there was a concern over cloud
security, Spanish banking giant BBVA is certainly not showing any fear.
The cloud has been an IT buzzword for years and now seems to be everywhere in the mainstream press, but does anyone know what it actually means? We asked OPP columnist Neil Whittaker, proposition manager at expert software house Global Management Platform, to give you an easy-to-understand explanation.
In what is expected to become an increasing trend, the bank is switching its 110,000 staff to use Google’s range of enterprise software. This deal has been viewed in places as a breakthrough in corporate cloud adoption. It is the biggest that the search giant has signed with one company for its cloud computing services. Indeed, it would appear that the cloud is the way forward for business. Gartner have even predicted that 20% of all businesses will own no IT infrastructure of their own by 2012. Even Apple is getting in on the act, launching its ‘iCloud’ service that lets users back up their iPhones, iPods and iPads through the cloud. Instead of having to plug your phone into a PC each day to back up those contacts, photos and other important data the phone automatically backs up to the cloud whenever you are plugged into a power source and have a Wi-fi connection.
Greener | cleaner, quicker and safer - start looking into the cloud and save money
Our industry can benefi t if you, as agents and developers, give real- time access to your stock / product availability - a list that keeps itself up to date IT automatically. Imagine having a pipeline that keeps everyone up to date – a pipeline that even sends emails to clients automatically. Pick the right solution for your business, you will save money. You will become more effi cient and you can choose to concentrate on tasks that can make money for you and your business. I spoke to a partner in an overseas property company a few months ago and he was explaining that his issues include calculating commissions and analysing performance of his agents. He told me that he spends approximately one day each week calculating and double-checking his fi gures. I explained to him that our software would give him that time back as it automates sales, commission calculations and statistics. However, he couldn’t accept that there is software that can could do this. Take the plunge and leap into the cloud. It’s not a cost, it’s an investment.
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