by Aurelien Parment | Jun 30, 2015 | Small Business
Small businesses are always looking to find better ways to collaborate and adopt new technologies for their day-to-day efforts. Collaboration technologies as a whole take one of the top 5 spots for IT priorities on a year to year basis. Over two-thirds of businesses also report that leveraging collaboration tools does drive better collaboration and customer responsiveness as well.
For the small business looking to jump on the technology trends to help them become more collaborative and productive, there are a few trends to keep in mind as we head into the second half of 2015. In today’s blog post, we’ll examine some of these trends that can positively impact small businesses, and keep them humming for the years ahead.
1. The Emergence of Cloud
We’ve spoken about cloud many times on this blog, and for small businesses that have yet to convert, the window of opportunity is still available. Recent data from Odin, a business insights company, suggests that 78% of United States small businesses will be fully adapted to cloud computing by 2020. Cloud is great for small business collaboration since the technology empowers businesses to collaborate remotely, store files in a central location, and be secure while saving costs on an IT team.
(more…)
by Aurelien Parment | Jun 26, 2015 | Tech News
Information moves quickly and you don’t always have time to keep abreast of what’s happening in the world. We’ve put together five news items to help keep you in the know. Read on!
Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Cloud A ‘Much Better Business.’ Here’s Why.
By Chris Murphy
“When an industry is being disrupted, the way that cloud computing is upending the technology business today, established companies like Oracle are supposed to hedge their bets and cling to their old ways.
Instead, what was striking about Oracle’s Q4 FY2015 earnings call last week was the unequivocal way Oracle’s top three executives described the company’s cloud computing shift, as well as how fast its customers are adopting Oracle’s broad cloud software, platform, and infrastructure products.”
(more…)
by Aurelien Parment | Jun 23, 2015 | Web Hosting
We are now down to a month to go before Microsoft shuts off Windows Server 2003 forever. There are many options on the market, and those who want to stay with Microsoft can upgrade to 2008 or 2012 R2 by Microsoft’s July 14th deadline.
For IT professionals still sitting on the fence and have yet to consider upgrading, there’s no better time than now to explore what needs to be done. We wrote a few blog posts back in April and May looking at the new features of Windows Server 2012 R2 and how someone can facilitate a successful upgrade.
On the other hand, if the reluctance to upgrade has to do with money, it’s been shown that a Windows Server 2012 R2 has the capability to provide organizations with a 270% return on investment (ROI) according to a Total Economic Impact (TEI) study conducted by research firm Forrester. In the report, business leaders mentioned that switching to Windows Server 2012 R2 helped reduce overall costs, streamline storage, and deliver better services to customers and employees.
The question however still remains – what exactly constitutes Windows Server 2012 R2 ROI? According to Forrester, its smarter cloud optimization, security enhancements, and business optimization. In today’s blog post, we’ll explore each element and see how they contribute to such a rewarding ROI and why the modern company should consider an upgrade.
1. Windows Server 2012 R2 is Built for Cloud Optimization
We know about the cost savings that cloud brings, and Windows Server 2012 R2 has built-in virtualization, which is satisfying for the bottom line. The portability and flexibility gives administrators the ability to decide who has access and who doesn’t, while maintaining balanced workloads and a constant flow of data, no matter if the cloud is public, private, or hybrid.
2. Security Enhancements Increase Productivity
Security is top of mind in technology news as of late, and an upgrade to Windows Server 2012 is not without such considerations. With the upgrade, users can have peace of mind with secure data and administrators can feel confident that their server will follow service level agreements (SLAs) to a tee. Additionally, employees will be connected to each other and can access internal websites without fear of getting hacked while Workplace Join allows for registration of personal devices, giving an organization a leg up on their bring your own device (BYOD) and mobile device management (MDM) strategies.
3. Business Agility Remains at Top of Mind
Networking has evolved a long way from 2003, so Windows Server 2012 took care of that and introduced capabilities for software-defined networking (SDN), like the ability to control traffic in a granular way. Coupled with BYOD and MDM implementations, employees can work remotely and business can move forward even more consistently than before.
What’s next for you?
With the deadline to upgrade just a month away, don’t leave your employees or your business behind. The benefits of upgrading from Windows 2003 to Windows Server 2012 R2 don’t only make technology sense, but prepare you for the future ahead in networking, mobile and cloud.
by Aurelien Parment | Jun 16, 2015 | Small Business
For many of us, Skype is the communications software platform that brought video chat into the mainstream and allowed us to keep in touch with family and friends who were far away. Acquired by Microsoft in May of 2011 for $8.5 billion, Skype can also be the communications software platform relied upon by businesses due to its integration with Office 365.
As a business owner you have many options in how you communicate and collaborate with clients or colleagues. However, with Skype replacing Lync as the de facto communications tool as of November 2014, not only can you communicate effectively, but also leverage the integration with Office 365 for seamless productivity. In today’s blog post, we’ll share five tips you can use to get the most out of Skype for Business to get more done.
(more…)
by Aurelien Parment | Jun 4, 2015 | Small Business, Web Hosting
Selecting a web hosting provider was difficult back when the web was new. Nowadays with so many services and review websites, finding a provider is easier than ever. However, many of these reviews only cover shared hosting services, which is just a small slice of the web development pie. For those who want to explore how a virtual private server, or VPS server, can help, reviews are more difficult to come by.
You might be asking, what is a VPS server? A VPS server is a virtualized server which mimics a dedicated server within a shared hosting environment. It’s different from dedicated and shared hosting because it optimizes for high traffic, quickens recovery times in case of a crash or security breach, provides more opportunity to customize server applications, as well as dedicated resources so you can utilize everything you need for your website at any given time without worry that someone else needs it to.
The next question you might be asking is how to find good VPS hosting, especially with reviews far and few in between. In today’s blog post, we’ll look at four key characteristics to look for when choosing a VPS for your business.
(more…)
