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10 Cloud Resolutions for 2013

Thursday, January 3rd, 2013 by

It’s the New Year! Have you resolved to get in better shape? How about the shape of your business? Are you going to keep trudging along at the same pace with the same old hardware clogging up your data center? Don’t you think it’s time to look to the future and get a head start on your competition by moving to cloud computing?

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In case you’re still shaking the cobwebs out of your head from the holiday celebrations, I’ve put together a list of 10 cloud resolutions for 2013. Just pick a few of these to help you and your business start 2013 right!

  1. I resolve to spend less time in the data center and get my hearing back. Have you ever walked around a data center? You can’t talk without shouting, and you can easily catch a cold from the refrigeration needed to keep all those machines running cool. Besides, if you spend too long in there, you’ll tend to speak a lot louder in the regular world.
  2. I resolve to ensure other people understand that clouds aren’t just those fluffy things in the sky. It seems that many people still think clouds are what produce rain or sometimes block the sun. But more and more companies are turning to the cloud to solve real business problems.
  3. I resolve to donate my unused hardware to charity instead of letting it gather cobwebs in my data center. When you use cloud computing, you can control your spend and use of server resources at a much finer level. And because you “lease” the virtual resources, you can afford to give up the physical ones.
  4. I resolve to understand the difference between SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS so I don’t sound like an “aaS.” There’s a difference between software vs. platforms vs. infrastructure as a service. Think varying levels of control and capabilities.
  5. I resolve to better forecast my infrastructure use instead of just rolling the dice. You wouldn’t build a house without a budget, and you shouldn’t build out infrastructure without knowing how much you’re going to use it.
  6. I resolve to take more vacations while managing my infrastructure remotely. With the cloud, you can get out of that loud data center and into the real world. The nice thing about having scalable, controllable infrastructure is being able to manage it remotely from a web browser using an API or a mobile application.
  7. I resolve to scale my flexible infrastructure much the same way my tummy scales after the holiday (thank goodness for sweatpants)! Programmatic control of your infrastructure and IT spend means you now have the flexibility to adapt your business to market conditions and customer demands.
  8. I resolve to convince my IT department to get their heads out of the clouds and invest in the cloud. If your IT department is still manually provisioning out-of-date physical servers that take weeks or months to deploy, it’s high time they look into cloud computing so they can focus on other stuff.
  9. I resolve to stop throwing my cash out the window by spending it on physical hardware. The cloud lets you to control your costs and requisition virtual environments on-demand.
  10. I resolve to test out GoGrid’s high-performing cloud infrastructure. It’s the start of a new year, and time to start a new cloud project! Contact a GoGrid cloud specialist for a $100 service credit to help you get started, and be sure to mention this cloud resolutions blog post!

Happy 2013! May our clouds help produce success for your business this year!

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Posted in Cloud Computing, General, GoGrid, Hosting, Public Cloud | No Comments »

Cloud Worries Dissolving with Service Provider Assistance

Monday, December 31st, 2012 by

Today’s cloud computing world is rapidly maturing, especially as more users migrate mission-critical resources to the hosted environment. As the cloud continues to evolve, many decision-makers will become increasingly confident in the technology’s ability to keep sensitive assets protected, enabling vendors to watch their services reach full-scale adoption.

A recent study by KPMG International highlighted this ongoing phenomenon, noting that cloud computing revenue will double in size during the next two years, largely because companies are moving more mission-critical, data-rich applications to hosted environments.

Cloud worries dissolving with service provider assistance

Cloud worries dissolving with service provider assistance

In the past, decision-makers were somewhat intimidated by the cloud. In today’s world, executives are less worried about falsified security concerns and more interested in saving money, as roughly 60 percent of service providers said cost savings was the primary driver behind the adoption of their offerings, KPMG reported.

“While providers are seeing the challenges of a maturing, yet still relatively young, market, we are at a pivotal point in the evolution of the cloud ecosystem as users become more comfortable with a variety of cloud applications,” said Gary Matuszak, an executive at KPMG’s technology, media and telecommunications practice. “Leading cloud providers know they must evolve to provide a new level of scale, capacity and capability.”

Addressing challenges in the industry
The primary difficulty most service providers are having is supplying evidence to users about real cost-saving opportunities, as only 39 percent of vendors believe cloud users have a realistic idea of the cost-reducing capability of the cloud, KPMG noted.

(more…) «Cloud Worries Dissolving with Service Provider Assistance»

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Posted in Cloud Computing, Cloud Security, General, GoGrid, Industry, News, Public Cloud | No Comments »

SMB Decision-Makers Have Varying Cloud Demands

Friday, December 14th, 2012 by

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are doing everything in their power to gain a competitive advantage over rival enterprises that often have more exhaustible resources. In many cases, SMBs are adopting cloud computing services to achieve these goals, as the technology is now well known for its ability to reduce costs and drive innovation.

A recent report by Spiceworks highlighted the growing trend among SMBs to migrate to the cloud, noting that 36 percent of SMBs are already using cloud servers. Another 9 percent said they plan to be using the cloud within a year, while another 28 percent of SMB decision-makers are actively looking for the right provider and services to cater to specific needs.

SMB decision-makers have varying cloud demands

To complicate matters for cloud vendors, not all SMBs are looking for the same thing. While the majority of companies require a highly scalable environment that is capable of supporting high-volume and long-term storage at an affordable cost, each executive has his or her own specific demands. As a result, Spiceworks narrowed down the list to five specific categories that most cloud users fall into.

The ‘nuts and bolts’ buyer
These individuals are usually the nitty gritty decision-makers that ensure the cloud solutions are functional and within a specific budget, Spiceworks noted. In many cases, these executives will ask questions about monthly expenses, maintenance costs and other practical financial questions in regard to specific services and applications.

The defensive purchaser
While getting down to the fine financial points is important, many organizations need to ensure cloud environments support a firm’s ability to meet compliance requirements. For this reason, some decision-makers are classified as the “CYA” buyers, as they are more focused on asking providers questions regarding data protection, audit support and other security aspects, Spiceworks noted. In general, cloud computing environments are highly secure, as this is a major competitive point for vendors, InfoWorld said in another report.

(more…) «SMB Decision-Makers Have Varying Cloud Demands»

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Riding the Gartner Hype Cycle Roller Coaster: Hang on to your Magic Quadrants!

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012 by

Every year, vendors and companies watch to see how providers are positioned in Gartner’s Magic Quadrants. Gartner has been providing Magic Quadrant analysis for many years in different industry verticals, and although the analysis isn’t necessarily the gold standard, it does help those making buying decisions understand each industry a little more clearly.

Since 2009, GoGrid has been in a Gartner Magic Quadrant, and this year we’re happy to announce our inclusion in the 2012 Cloud IaaS Magic Quadrant. Instead of analyzing the comments and positioning of the cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) providers, I wanted to take a different approach by focusing on how the Magic Quadrant has evolved over the years in relation to cloud computing, hosting, and IaaS in general.

What’s all the “hype” about?

Many of you may be familiar with another Gartner graphic and report called the “Hype Cycle.” The Hype Cycle graphically represents the evolution of a new technology from its introduction through its maturity. The Cycle is broken into five distinct “slopes,” and looks like this:

Gartner_Hype_Cycle.svg

  • The Technology Trigger phase is where a breakthrough or new technology first begins to garner interest.
  • The Peak of Inflated Expectations is the phase where a technology is seen as the solution to all ills. At this point, the technology is pushed to the limit, with some successes and plenty of failures. There’s a lot of media, marketing, and PR hype during this phase, as its name implies.
  • Once reality sets in, the technology enters the Trough of Disillusionment. In this phase, there isn’t as much media interest and there’s possibly more criticism than praise.
  • As the technology begins to mature and users continue to experiment and innovate, we reach a level of clairvoyance where potential risks and benefits are clearer and there are more solutions that use the technology. This phase is the Slope of Enlightenment.
  • When real-world applications appear and are accepted and the value proposition gains traction, the technology hits the Plateau of Productivity, where more widespread adoption occurs. Once the technology reaches this level, it has become established and viable.

Like many transforming technologies before it, cloud computing is working its way through this Hype Cycle roller coaster. Five years ago, the cloud was chugging up the hill to get ready for the ride, and more recently, it’s sped down the descent as the technology gained momentum. Where does it stand currently? There are many opinions, of course, but I believe we’re enjoying the ride to the Plateau of Productivity. (more…) «Riding the Gartner Hype Cycle Roller Coaster: Hang on to your Magic Quadrants!»

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Posted in Cloud Computing, General, GoGrid, Hosting, Industry, Public Cloud | No Comments »

Got Growing Pains? 3 Ways to Painlessly Scale your Cloud

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 by

Everybody wants to be successful. Although we can often learn from our mistakes, we can also avoid pitfalls and hurdles by doing a little bit of research and even some trial and error in advance. Part of being successful is choosing the right team, the right tools, and the right partner for your project. And when it comes to building out your company’s infrastructure, any solution or partner you choose should be cost-effective and helpful so you absolutely don’t compromise on reliability or performance.

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In order to be successful, your infrastructure should be ready for this success. Here are three things to think about when scaling your business and its infrastructure:

  1. Plan for success – Don’t think about just 1 week or 1 month down the road. Look at your historical information. Look at your competitor’s traffic. Is your industry seasonal? Figure out where those peaks and valleys are and plan for them.
  2. Do some testing – Don’t just hypothesize on how well your infrastructure will perform. Do some real world testing. There are many 3rd party software and SaaS solutions that can simulate load on your site. Test some various scenarios with and without extra infrastructure. Test your scaling, manual or automated.
  3. Plan also for failure – What if something doesn’t go as expected, are you ready for that? Part of developing a scalability strategy is also working on those less-than-positive scenarios. Planning for success is fun, but planning for failures is just as important.

How GoGrid can help

For more than 10 years, GoGrid has been delivering compelling infrastructure solutions worldwide. We believe in a consultative approach because we understand that every business needs solutions that fit their unique requirements. When it comes to success, cookie-cutter approaches simply don’t work.

(more…) «Got Growing Pains? 3 Ways to Painlessly Scale your Cloud»

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Posted in Cloud Computing, Cloud Server, General, GoGrid, Hosting, How To, Public Cloud | No Comments »

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