We plan, migrate, and implement Microsoft and Google platforms so they support management, staff, constituents, and customers. How is your organization handling cloud options for maximizing features and support?
Nonprofit organizations and commercial enterprises are moving to “the cloud” to increase resilience, scalability, and user access anywhere/anytime.
Cloud services planning, migration, and maintenance can be simple, but poor and incomplete planning is disruptive.
Communication services, storage, and database management systems have moved to the cloud where they can be managed and maintained more strategically.
Cloud Services Not “Rocket Science”
A cloud service is any service made available to users on demand via the Internet from a cloud computing provider’s servers as opposed to being provided from a company’s own on-premises servers. Simple, right? Maybe. What’s a cloud computing provider? A few of them include: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, SharePoint, Office365 (Microsoft), Dropbox, Salesforce. Blackbaud, Box, Quickbooks online, and most new services. These are also known as Software As A Service (SAAS).
The internet beyond the local network has been depicted as a “cloud” in diagrams for years. Web services, hosted services, and ASP – Application Service Provider, didn’t catch on as buzz words but cloud is sticking around longer than the usual 15 minutes.
Well known cloud applications are QuickBooks Online, SharePoint, Salesforce, Google apps, Facebook, and many others.
If you are confused about how the term “cloud” is used, you are not alone. Cloud terminology has both technical and marketing usage. We help our clients get the most flexible, scalable, and reliable services. We configure them for the best security and performance.
Not all “cloud” services are considered equal or even authentic. A server in a network operations center running a web server might be in the Internet cloud, but may not be considered a true cloud application because doesn’t live in a scalable “cluster.” The most extreme, or cloudiest, applications are those that can be run from any system (including mobile devices) without any other software being installed. They work from a standard web browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Firefox). This “back end” cloud service that provides web browser access could be moved around the world from one server cluster to another without anyone knowing the difference.