Directive Blogs

The server is the heart and brain of a business’ computing infrastructure. So much so that a failure can cause catastrophic effects on your business. If you are at a point where you are thinking about adding a server to your infrastructure, or replacing one that is a little long in the tooth, you now have less of a dilemma than you may have had previously. This doesn’t mean that it is not a serious decision, but today you have options on how you want to go about deploying your new server. This month, we thought we would go over some of the pros and cons that come with adding new infrastructure and whether purchasing a new server outright is the right decision for your business.

Since it first entered the mainstream in the mid-2000s, cloud computing has become a cornerstone of businesses of every size and shape. The big question that remains, however, is what your business could lean on the cloud to do. Let’s go over the multitude of options that the cloud opens up for a business.

Your business depends on software for many of its day-to-day operations, whether it’s an email system, productivity suite, or other specialized software. When it comes to acquiring software, you have two options: the traditional method of acquisition, i.e. buying it from a vendor, or subscribing to a Software as a Service solution. What are the differences and how can you make sure your organization is getting value out of its investment?

Cloud computing has been touted as one of the most innovative and important technologies for smaller businesses as they look to compete with larger organizations. How it makes this possible is by offering the dynamic computing environments that can help bring these smaller businesses into the information age without saddling them with massive infrastructure costs while doing so. That’s not to say that the cloud is cheap by any means, and this month we will discuss how cloud computing is a great option and how if it isn’t managed properly, it can be problematic for the businesses that rely on it. 

The cloud is far and away one of the most beneficial technologies that a modern business has at its disposal. Unfortunately, the same can be said for modern cybercriminals. The cloud has given cybercriminals new opportunities that are important to acknowledge—as well, of course, to protect your business against.

When you think of the government, you don’t immediately think of an organization that is at the forefront of innovation. Sure, they have all that money at their disposal, but most of it goes here and there to try to help the people of a constituency; and, frankly it isn’t terribly efficient. What may surprise you is that governments are embracing cloud services and it tends to benefit everyone. Let’s see how governments are taking advantage of cloud computing.

The cloud is one way that businesses are changing their operations for the better. Not only does the cloud enable organizations to function in drastically different ways from the status quo, it also gives businesses countless opportunities to reduce costs. Here are just a few ways you can expect the cloud to reduce your expenses and improve your return on investment for IT resources.

Look, we are big fans of the cloud, especially for data storage, but you shouldn’t implement the cloud without a solid security strategy. Whether you are using it for your business’ data storage needs or just to take backups of your infrastructure, you’ll still need to keep various facets of security in mind for your cloud storage. It all starts with figuring out how secure your cloud provider really is.

Disasters are more common in the business world than you might think, be they natural disasters that level your office or simple electrical problems that spark a structural fire. A business-threatening disaster could occur at any moment, and it is your responsibility to ensure that it doesn’t put your business’ future at risk. To this end, we recommend you have plans for off-site operations, even if only temporary.

Cloud computing has been a hot topic in IT circles for a few years. First because of the skepticism that many IT professionals had for the practice, and now that it is a mainstream business technology, ways to boost security to protect the organization who has embraced this computing strategy. We’re here to tell you that while cloud computing is convenient, flexible, and seemingly affordable, there are instances where having physical machines makes more sense for a business. 

Most everyone uses the cloud in some capacity, even if it’s not a professional one. Simply put, the value it provides even on a consumer level is astounding, and this is even more so with business applications. The cloud makes it much easier for organizations to manage their resources compared to hosting them in-house, but a problem has surfaced with some companies suffering due to what’s called “cloud sprawl.”

Cloud computing is being used by nearly everyone nowadays, and most of the time it presents a lot of value that can’t be found with purchasing, managing, and maintaining an in-house computing infrastructure. As an organization begins moving more and more of their computing to the cloud, there is a situation that arises that industry professionals call “cloud sprawl”. 

Smart devices have brought about unprecedented amounts of connectivity in aspects of running a business or owning a home that never could have been dreamed of in the past. People can now unlock their front doors, turn up their thermostats, and even switch the lights on and off through their smartphone. Unfortunately, the part that people don’t like to talk about with these applications and devices is security—big surprise, right?

The cloud is undeniably an invaluable business tool, so long as you maintain control over your business’ usage of it. This centralized authority over your cloud’s access controls is key to its successful utilization. Let’s briefly discuss what this means, and the ways that this can be established.

Cloud computing is a monster of a topic in and of itself, perhaps more so than most people might expect. Let’s define what cloud management is and take a closer look at what goes into properly managing your cloud-based resources.

The cloud is a great opportunity for businesses to increase accessibility of data and enhance productivity, especially while remote, but for those who do not know how to approach it, the cloud can be intimidating. Today, we are going to make the case for a private cloud solution and why you should consider it as a viable option for your business, even if it does not seem like it at the moment. You might be surprised by what you learn!

The major difference between an enterprise and a small or medium-sized business is just its size. As a result, many of the tools that the enterprise takes advantage of can easily be used by their smaller counterparts. Let’s review just a few of these processes and technologies.

Data backup is something that some organizations think they can do without, simply because they believe that it’s only valuable to have in the event that something wrong happens. Well, we’re here to break the bad news that if something can go wrong, it most likely will go wrong… at least at some point. With automated cloud backups, however, the chances of some unexpected emergency ending your business are drastically reduced.

Remote work carries with it a different set of risks than does a traditional workplace setup. Being forced to move in that direction only exacerbates the issue of figuring out how to operate under what people are calling the “new normal”. This month we thought we would go through a couple of the risks that come with having your staff working remotely, and what to do about them. 

After the past few years, the hybrid workplace has risen in its perceived value, the benefits of allowing employees flexibility in where they work from becoming very clear. That said, while the hybrid workplace is much closer to a reality than ever before, there are a few hurdles that must be cleared first.