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Cloud is a business reality – not a fashion

“Cloud” now feels as though it is here to stay, even for businesses. Unlike the previous false dawns such as “ASP”, the cloud really is delivering efficiencies today for consumers and businesses alike. The whole world of mobile devices is now wholly architected around cloud services, and seems unimaginable that this trend will reverse.

As consumers, we have been using “cloud” unwittingly for years. Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail are all cloud services, in which the user doesn’t need to manage any physical infrastructure at all in order to consume the service. Those service hum away in the cloud, and the user can access them through multiple devices at once, can change devices with minimal hassle, and consume from anywhere in the world.

Businesses have been slower to catch up. Data privacy and security requirements mean that we have stuck to Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes and the like. We have needed to have private infrastructure to run specialist business apps for our users. Of course, all if this required us to buy, run & manage dedicated hardware. We needed to invest our capital in that, and have the specialist skills to specify, procure and maintain it. These customised architectures were required to enable all of the smart backup and disaster recovery processes which you, your industry regulator and your customers expect.

You probably already know that you have better choices already available for businesses today. Perhaps you didn’t know quite how much progress has been made. Suppliers like Colt can offer you hosted versions of the most popular business platforms such as Exchange, Sharepoint and Lync. We can also offer you modern cloud replacements for those servers you used to have to buy for your special applications. All if this now comes with transactional backup and disaster recovery built-in.

“So what”? Broadly speaking, all of these innovations mean that medium sized businesses can now have IT platforms with levels of resilience and reliability which were utterly unaffordable a few years ago. The commercial models also mean that it is much easier to flex up and down as your needs change.

Let a Colt partner help you understand the fit these new possibilities to your business today. You will be impressed by the cost effectiveness as well as the business agility which you can gain.

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