Before the internet, most businesses kept data on servers in their local network. The only threats to data security were those that employees brought into the office. However, today the internet connects your network to the rest of the world, increasing productivity but also increasing threats to your client information. If hackers can get into your servers, they can not only steal sensitive data, but they can also install viruses to reroute data or malware to block service. Taking advantage of cloud computing platforms is one way that businesses can keep their data safe and secure.
Protection from Denial of Service Attacks
Using cloud servers for data storage is a bit like renting out a safe deposit box for your valuables. Rather than keeping your data onsite where you are responsible for its protection, you pay the cloud computing platform to maintain your security. They are professionals in protecting data against threats. For example, a growing number of cyber-attacks are distributed denial of service attacks. A DDoS involves hackers using a network of computers to swamp your system, crowding out legitimate users. Cloud computing platforms can detect unusual activity and direct traffic in a different direction, keeping your system running smoothly.
Data Preservation
Especially with growing climate concerns, storing data in a single location carries significant risk. If all of your data is kept onsite, a building fire or natural disaster can lead to lost and unrecoverable data. Cloud computing platforms preserve your data by storing it on servers in several physical locations. You will have access to your data even in the midst of power failures and other unforeseen issues. Your client data is extremely valuable to your business. Investing in cloud computing for data storage is a wise investment in data safety.
Regulatory Compliance
Many businesses that deal with sensitive information are required to meet data security regulation standards. When you work with a cloud computing platform, they will already have those standards in place. Your IT department will not be responsible for maintaining the system or making sure it is in compliance. The third-party provider will have already done it. This is both a benefit to you and your customers. You can maintain regulatory compliance without a great investment of time and effort. Your customers can have peace of mind knowing that their data is kept under strict standards of security.
Third-party support
One of the challenges of technology is the amount of change that happens in a short period of time. Most programs need regular updates and patches to maintain safety. Working in the cloud computing world means that your provider is responsible for keeping things up-to-date. They close any detected gaps faster than your in-house IT department can get to them. This kind of preparation will prevent some of the most common hacking attacks from sneaking into your system. Defending your data against hackers is a constant battle and the sides are not always clear. For example, thehacker arrested for developing the Kronos program that attacks banking information is the same hacker credited for stopping the WannaCry malware attack. Partnering with a cloud computing platform is like hiring an extra IT department dedicated to protecting your data from attack.
Data Security for Mobile Employees
The internet has provided your employees with a great deal of mobile flexibility. You may have employees that work from home or access company data on the road. While these kinds of connections are convenient, they are often much less secure than connections made directly to your local network. Fortunately, cloud computing providers understand the need for data security in mobile connections. With most platforms, the connection to the cloud platform involves a high level of encryption. Only the people who need to see your data have access to it. So long as the device your employee is using is secure, the connection and the data traveling along it will be secure. It is important to instruct your mobile employees on basic security measures to keep their devices safe.
Cloud computing is a smart way to let your business take advantage of the expertise of computer professionals. Your sensitive data will be protected by trained and experienced experts dedicated to data security.
Microsoft’s shares have hit an all-time high after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly profits.
Its focus on cloud computing helped the software giant to post a $4.7 billion profit for Q3 of 2016.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has focused on building the company’s expertise in cloud-based services amid slowing PC sales.
Shares rose 6% to $60.73 in after-hours trading.
The previous high was $59.97 in December 1999, close to the peak of the dot-com boom, shortly before Steve Ballmer replaced Bill Gates as CEO.
When Satya Nadella succeeded Steve Ballmer in 2014, Microsoft’s shares were trading below $37.
Investor confidence in Microsoft has been restored by focusing on mobile and cloud computing rather than its traditional products such as the Windows operating system and Office software.
Individuals and businesses are increasingly accessing computing services such as servers, databases, software and storage that are provided over the internet (“the cloud”).
Satya Nadella said the changing business environment meant this was paying off.
“It’s not just the Silicon Valley startups anymore; it is the core enterprise that is also becoming a digital company. And we are well-positioned to serve them,” he said.
Revenue from Microsoft’s Office 365 cloud service increased 8% in the quarter while revenue from its Surface tablet – pitched as a rival to the iPad – rose 38%.
While revenue from its flagship Xbox – Microsoft’s games console – fell, the number of people playing online rose to 47 million from 39 million a year.
Cloud computing is quickly becoming really important for businesses from all around the world. This is because it offers the programs and the tools that are necessary to have access to true competition reliability. By that we mean that it is so easy to remain competitive. According to Charles Phillips of Infor, companies from all around the world can now compete with the giants thanks to the development of cloud technology.
At the moment there are so many cloud services and tools that are widely used by users from all around the world. This includes Unleashed Online Inventory, Google Apps and Microsoft 365. Businesses need to choose what will work best for them and the services that they have at the moment.
The truth is that migrating to cloud computing technology is something that most companies need to take into account, especially for those that are small to medium sized. The big problem is that there are normally lacks of knowledge about the topic. It is really important that you always focus on making a correct choice. This is where technological support steps in. Always consider this because of some simple reasons to understand.
Migrating To New Ways Of Doing Things
Whenever you move the business towards something that is completely new, cloud computing cannot be considered without the help of an experienced professional. It is very important that you receive support services since the transition is going to be difficult. You want it to be painless and as fast as possible. Loss of time often leads towards many problems so you can avoid that.
Integrating Many Changes Into Work
Assistance is also necessary when you get cloud based solutions and you are going to integrate various different changes into how work is done. For instance, the companies that are now offering similar apps to Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps will give you package solutions so that only partial switches can happen. It is not always a necessity to move everything so support is always needed in order to be able to make the partial transition a success.
Questions That Often Appear
This basically means that people in the business do not really know much about cloud computing in general. Although the information that is needed is already available on the internet, staff members will not have the necessary time to learn. The consulting services help out a lot in the event that the employees often have questions about cloud computing and the new applications that are going to be utilized.
Cloud computing technology does involve a learning curve. It is not as simple as you may think. In many cases we are faced with basically learning a new program. That can be daunting. You will need to be careful and you need to always focus on something that will help you to do everything properly.
The bottom line is that you need to be 100% sure that you receive all the help that you need in the event that you want to transition towards cloud computing. Never make a choice in the event that you do not know much about cloud computing technology.
Cloud hosting has supported the development of industry standards for the last decade. In doing so, it’s become essential to keeping up with many industry developments in a number of different markets. The tools provided and low impact of cloud based solutions to company space budgets and technical support have ingratiated it to companies the world over. When looking to branch out your cloud based services or looking to adopt them for the first time into your company, it can be difficult to know what to look for. There are many host providers that claim to be in the top tier of the cloud industry, but what exactly puts them there? The honest answer is that the top tier for services you need may be completely different than what the market is currently advertising, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find what you’re looking for.
Understanding the Stack
If you’re perusing cloud based hosting for solutions that apply to your business, you may already know about the cloud computing stack and if not directly, it’s likely you’ve seen it or one of its components. The ‘stack’ refers to the general different types of cloud services and how they are implemented and utilized to accomplish different goals. The stack is usually referred to be one of four acronyms: SPI or Software, Platform, Infrastructure and then further broken down into SaaS, PaaS and Iaas (Software as a Service, Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service). How these different stacks work is the key to which one you should be looking for when searching for top cloud hosting providers at a comparison engine like Cloud Kompare.
Software as a Service
Companies like Google, Facebook, WordPress and more are all examples of the SaaS model of cloud based computing. These recognizable brands all offer software that is available without installation or exactly system requirements, often launched through the browser and easy to access just about anywhere you have an internet connection. Software as a Service has become more popular as mobile phones have begun to rival desktop and laptop PCs in terms of computing power. Many SaaS providers have jumped on the mobile bandwagon, offering apps and options for access their software through mobile phone screens, which are connected even more often than PCs today. SaaS doesn’t make sense as a solution for every company, but companies where there’s a lot of interaction between partners and the public or where partners and employees are often out of the office on business can benefit from mobile access to applications that SaaS provides.
Platform as a Service
Platform as a service takes cloud computing in a new direction, offering an environment where developers and programmers can ply their skills online to develop services and applications for a company without the need of specialized tools and software of their own. There are many benefits to a PaaS stack including a reduction in cost because specialized tools and software aren’t required for developers to work in, and it allows for non-expert individuals to gain experience working with the tools, protocols and structures your company requires for the development of their applications. Tools like Operating Systems, Storage solutions and hosting can all be packaged in a PaaS stack, which allows for flexibility for accessing and working with tools even when outside the office.
Infrastructure as a Service
The third cloud computing stack is Infrastructure. IaaS may be considered two tier of cloud computing services because the idea behind this stack is to create a virtual machine with which companies, partners, employees and potentially even the public can interact. Like a virtual desktop or a virtual data center, IaaS focuses on creating an infrastructure that is stored completely in the cloud. This particular stack is a good failsafe when put into place because it offers support over multiple cloud servers and often comes with a downtime guarantee because if one server or center fails, others are able to distribute the load and keep your access and applicable stable. IaaS is a scalable solution for hosting a multitude of virtual environments, from technical support centers to virtual file sharing and teleconferencing and because it’s hosted in the cloud, access isn’t dependent on location
Cloud Computing as a Solution
Whatever stack of cloud computing works best for your company, this expansive and ultimately accessible service can be designed to fit into many different budgets, industries and scenarios. Because cloud computing encompasses a variety of different methodology where it comes to service solutions, it’s becoming an industry standard. When looking for the top cloud hosting providers, be sure you understand which stack will best suit your company or be prepared to look at a great many host providers before you find the one that will work best for the solutions you are looking to implement. While the process may be long, the cloud offers a wide variety of services and access and can be made to fit nearly anywhere.
Microsoft reported net profit of $5.66 billion for 2014 Q1, a decline from the same period last year but better than market estimates.
Microsoft’s efforts to move further into cloud computing – a move championed by new chief executive Satya Nadella – seem to be paying off.
Azure, a cloud computing product, saw revenue grow 150%, Microsoft said.
Microsoft reported net profit of $5.66 billion for 2014 Q1, a decline from the same period last year but better than market estimates
The company also said it added 1 million users to its subscription-based Office program for personal users.
Microsoft sold in 2 million Xbox consoles, including 1.2 million Xbox Ones during the period.
“We are making good progress in our consumer services like Bing and Office 365 Home, and our commercial customers continue to embrace our cloud solutions,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who replaced Steve Ballmer in February.
However, Microsoft was hurt by declining personal computer sales, as users continue to shift to other technologies.
Overall, profits declined by 6.5% compared to the same period last year.
Microsoft shares rose close to 3% in after-hours trading.
From an interesting concept just a few years ago, cloud software has now been adopted by many businesses looking to reap the benefits of the many advantages offered by the medium of computing.
How it works Cloud software is a major development in computing that allows for on demand services and applications. The term cloud is basically a metaphor for the internet, a virtual world with almost limitless possibilities. Cloud software is hosted on the internet, allowing it to be supplied and used instantaneously. Cloud software is offered by some of the biggest names in computing, including McLaren Softwareand IBM.
Cloud computing
Here are five ways that you can use cloud software in your business:
1. Increase Flexibility
Cloud computing doesn’t require the installation of software with discs, all the data is hosted on the internet. Once it has been developed by the provider, the cloud software is ready to be used by a business. This makes cloud software available on demand, meaning that a company using the variety of computing can be more flexible and able to react quicker to a given situation.
2. Reduce Costs
Cloud technology mitigates the need for developers to write endless data onto discs.
This cuts down on time, an advantage that is passed onto the customer in the form of reduced costs. In this way, cloud software can be used to cut out a significant area of expenditure for a business, and there are economic benefits too.
3. Easily send large files
Owing to the boundlessness of the internet, cloud software can be used to exponentially increase the space that a business has in which to keep files. This extra space can also be used to increase the ease with which large files can be sent. With traditional computing, a large file is generally sent via email, however, many services have limits relating the maximum file size that can be handled. Cloud software, such as a cloud drive, allows for large files to simply be placed on the internet, where they wait to be picked up by the recipient, cutting out the complications of sending a large file.
4. File Backup
A major risk when using traditional computing is the potential for hardware to malfunction. This can cause large amounts of data to be lost. Even if the data is retrieved, this can be a very long and drawn out process, and some data may still be missing. With data stored using cloud software, the potential for lost data is greatly reduced. When using cloud software, the process of backing up data is scheduled and completed automatically. Moreover, the recovery process is cheaper and around four times faster than the process required for data recovery of physical memory.
5. Accessible from anywhere
Perhaps the biggest advantage of cloud software is that it is available wherever there is wireless connectivity, which can be almost anywhere these days. Whether working from home or working in the field, employees and clients of a business can get to the data they need instantly and hassle free.
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