According to a recent report, the first half of 2010 saw a significant increase in the number of SMEs taking up cloud computing as the answer to their burgeoning storage and access needs.

The study, which revealed that 14 percent of SMEs were using cloud computing services with a further 10 percent planning to utilise the technology, comes hot on the heels of a global survey of 1,500 small to medium business IT professionals, which found they were the more open to and likely to adopt cloud services, such as DesktopLive, than larger organisations.

The findings seem to suggest that it was the smaller, agile and flexible operating companies with little existing infrastructure or previously outsourced IT, who are moving most quickly to embrace the opportunity to increase competitive efficiency by utilising the benefits of the cloud. In addition, they can take advantage of a cloud service providers integration of straightforward hybrid on-premise systems, with guaranteed high quality IT support.

Conversely, larger businesses would traditionally take more cautious, measured steps, as a result of longer term strategy planning and investments into onsite IT technology.

However, it is the SMEs in emerging markets which are leading the way in cloud computing deployment, with between 35 to 41 percent of SMEs across Latin American and Asia/Pacific regions adopting cloud services. This is around double the 19 per cent figure for Europe and still above the 24 percent for SMEs in North America.

Adoption of cloud, seen as the next natural step towards streamlining company communications and data in a more virtualised business environment, is unsurprisingly, at a considerably faster pace by technology companies, with over a third in the planning phase. Companies operating in the services sector such as finance, HR and consulting, comprise the next fastest growing vertical segment, with around a quarter using or planning to deploy cloud solutions, whilst most other industries trail closely behind with 20 percent adoption rates.

The most stated reason for a reluctance to adopt cloud centres around the issues of security and technology operation, which may be only partially understood. There is still some misgiving and misapprehension focused on relinquishing traditional areas of storage control. Highlighted are the core sectors of manufacturing, aerospace, engineering and social services, e.g. government, education, healthcare and the typically, medium size companies employing 20 plus with one full-time IT staff.

It is the SMEs who show a forward thinking approach to virtualised system networking, that enables a pace of service delivery which so often seizes the competitive edge from the larger brands in their market niche.

Managed Networks provides IT support to 1,000’s of people across the country and one of the common issues new IT support clients want us to help with is the amount of information/spam they receive.  So, in order to help both our clients and ourselves here are some ways to reduce the amount of email you have to sort through each day:

1. Unsubscribe from all email lists that provide little useful information information.  If you are receiving less information, there is less for you to filter through
2. when e-mailing people, ask specific questions so that the answers received will be specific and therefore shorter
3. Store information logically.  Use Outlook’s folder structure and rules to move emails to relevant folders before or after reading
4. Put a cost to your time.  Are the emails you’re reading worth the time taken.  Be ruthless
5. Ensure you can make maximum use of your time. Can you read emails when moving between meetings or when commuting (assuming you are not driving of course).  Get a smart phone or other suitable device that will enable this.  Outlook Web Access/Apps will also improve your ability to work with your emails.

I hope these pointers are useful.  If they reduce the number of IT support calls you have to make we have done our job!

Virtualization is sometimes viewed by certain companies with deep suspicion, often not understood properly and perhaps, even simplistically misinterpreted as ‘unreal’ and therefore, easy to dismiss. It’s argued that if data cannot be physically seen to be safely secured in a server locked in a room on the company premises, then they don’t want to know, end of!

The obvious error with this argument of course, is that the security of the computer network infrastructure itself, should be the principal object of concern, not by which work station, or in which cupboard the server stands. The problem for many businesses has been the loss of data because an accident, disaster or emergency has compromised the security and continued use of the operating system. The time and cost often involved with disaster recovery is predominantly, a direct result of compromised client side servers.

The concept of virtualization, whereby, a server is virtually partitioned into several sections, allowing each section to work individually, is not a new concept. The increased security is a result of the partitioned servers being isolated from one another, so that a problem affecting the one does not affect the others. A virtual server can be used to trap viruses and other malicious programs.

The adoption of virtualization and the reduction of the number of servers needed, has demonstrably delivered tangible benefits to daily business operating in numerous industries of all sizes. They consistently point to improved server utilisation, application management and availability to data backup, network security and protection.

In addition to reducing the amount of physical hardware, there is a corresponding reduction of energy consumption and generated heat in server rooms, and the opening up of valuable server rack space.

Of paramount concern always, is the ability for companies to significantly reduce the time spent daily on routine IT administrative tasks, including the ongoing development and launch of new applications. In today’s competitive, economic environment, outsourcing IT releases and refocuses valuable company resources to prioritise their other areas of urgent business needs.

Lack of budget and resources are often the most stated reasons given for companies holding back on implementing much needed IT streamlining, yet the reality of virtualization is you buy less hardware, which means saving on the costs of hardware purchase and maintenance.

Individualised local region IT support for virtual servers optimises multiple location business continuity because of partitioned server processing.

There are a great many perceived benefits from recruiting an internal IT Manager:

• is there whenever you need assistance
• will get to know your systems intimately
• will do things the way you want them done

As Managed Networks is an IT support company, you would naturally expect us to say that our service would be better and your IT support would be better.  Naturally we believe that outsourced IT support is better for SMEs than internal IT support but let’s put some simple maths around this.

Let’s assume, for a moment, a salary of £39,000 per annum for a new IT manager.  This is the average excluding London at the moment (http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/management%20information%20system.do).  Add to that employer’s costs of £4,992.  You might like to provide them with a desk, PC and mobile phone and then you will have to give them some holiday (it’s the law I’m afraid) and they are likely to have at least a couple of days off sick per year.

You then need to take into consideration the cost of employing them.  Most people use a recruitment consultant and their average commission rate is 20% - £7,800 for the pleasure of finding you a member of staff

You could have an IT support contract with Managed Networks - for a year - for less than that

Very useful meeting with the TMA this morning - thank you Seamus - so that I understand more about what they do within the theatre industry.

Managed Networks has a great deal of experience working with a significant chunk of the West End’s theatres so it is definitely a market for our IT support services.  IT support for theatres is an interesting area of work.  Not only are there the usual requirements for Office and email, there is a significant amount of work needed to ensure that they box offices can constantly sell tickets.  Ticket sales are the life blood of the theatres and so any impact of their ability to sell can have consequences.

The purchasing pattern varies dependent upon the show and the stars involved in the show; let me explain.

Shows that are more serious or have an older generation of actors taking part attract, generally, an older audience.  Ticket sales are therefore more likely to be through the box office window or over the phone.  Shows that attract a younger audience have a higher %age of online sales. 

Imagine the impact of losing the box office on the day a new show launches!

Liaison with the ticketing system providers such as Enta, AudienceView and Blackbaud is a key part of our role as IT support providers to theatres.  It is vital that we maintain a good working relationship with them

The Cloud is the biggest thing in IT at the moment, with everyone from Microsoft down talking about “cloud computing” and cloud-based IT.

The iPad is the latest device from Apple to stir up the consumer market and drive a whole new way of working.  What would happen if they were combined?

Would it provide the ultimate way to work from anywhere (assuming you have a SIM card and data tariff), moving between music and spreadsheets, electronic books and Outlook-based emails?  Would staff love their bosses for giving them the latest and greatest gadget of the age?

Let’s find out shall we?

It is often assumed that Cloud computing technology is complicated, and therefore, expensive and only the ‘big boys’ can afford to play. However, in the decade or more since the cloud became commercially available, much has changed, and so called barriers to entry, say, for a startup or SME have simply evaporated as the online landscape has evolved.

The necessity for companies of all sizes to be able to have unlimited web access and be able to readily store and process ever larger and faster quantities of information in order just to remain competitive within their market niche has become ever more acute. The socially engaged web and the mobile internet is rapidly forcing the pace of change with inter communications running across multiple, integrated platforms and channels.

It may well have been that formerly, the multinational corporates had an advantage over more modest operations. Access to capital and command of existing human, software, and hardware resources all helped to retain their global edge by supporting new technological and strategic initiatives.

In today’s superspeed, geographically dispersed workplace environments, the balance of strategic advantage may have indeed tipped away from the large, established corporations towards the more nimble, small business service. The costs benefits of operating in the cloud vary depending upon the size of the enterprise, its existing IT resources/infrastructure and technical skill base. Leading cloud providers recognise a proactive IT policy across all work sector sizes is a key integral service component.

The trend towards the availability of open source software in nearly every software category has been a valuable aid to SMEs, the self-employed, and start-ups, whilst the larger enterprise are often dissuaded by licensing issues and feature considerations.

Cloud providers can today supply a software development dimension that include the requisite tools, code repositories, test environments, and access to a highly scalable production space on many attractive low cost and pay as you go options. A leading UK supplier should be able to offer 24/7 national IT support on a local level which translates to personalised problem solving, whether you need IT support Manchester or IT support Midlands as well as an IT support London.

The flexible advantage of cloud means that when data traffic volumes increase, operating on a cloud provider’s infrastructure can be attenuated and cost advantage maintained by adopting a mixed-use strategy, in which some of the applications and services are brought in-house and others continue to be hosted in the cloud.

I went to a networking event run by Business Junction on Thursday last week.  Admittedly it was because the event was at a driving range that finally tempted me to go (I have been getting emails from them for yonks) but it turned out to be pretty good.

It did seem that every IT company in London was there but that does that mean this is a bad thing? Let me explain:

I only spoke to about four IT companies but one has asked me if Managed Networks can assist with some SQL server installation work and the other I deliberately sought out to say thank you.  Managed Networks won a new client and so we needed a handover document completed.  The handover from Lucidica was one of the best we have ever had and so it was only right to let them know and to thank them.  That conversation led to a discussion about a client of theres that we may be able to help them with!

As I said, are London IT support companies purely competition or should we be promoting more collaboration between each other?

Living in the Cloud is the future of computer technology, with a lucrative, revenue potential for savvy, forward-thinking companies who plan to keep ahead of their competitors.

Increasingly, businesses and organisations are being warned that if they do not recognise and embrace the evolving online landscape where “cloud computing” will ultimately reign, they would fail to keep up and be left behind.

The Cloud, unlike traditional computing, is free from the confines of desktop-based software. Computer terminals run and store programmes from a third-party server connected to the web, eliminating the risk of a total loss of data if the system crashes.

No longer requiring expensive in house software, a DesktopLive set up of a server automatically allocated web based applications, and the benefits of a significantly reduced running cost with full IT Support, should be immediately apparent to end user clients.

According to a recent study at Merrill Lynch, the global financial management and advisory analysts, cloud technology is “seen as a $160-billion addressable market opportunity, including $95-billion in business and productivity applications, and another $65-billion in online advertising”.

Merrill Lynch also suggest that roughly $2-billion of software segment will switch over to ‘OnDemand’ programmes, adding that Cloud equivalents exist today for most business and personal productivity applications, with e-mail and word processing now equivalent to traditional software.

For some companies, migrating from the old world to the new world, would entail adopting an entirely different way to think about computing functions and the ‘letting go’ of habitual attitudes to onsite retention of company data, applications and servers.

The rapidity of today’s responsive communication environment and the critical need to have joined up information access is inevitably reaching tipping point. Organisations struggling with an increasing burden of data management, storage and access will concede at least, they might finally have to address their concerns of how they can communicate b2b and b2c more effectively and efficiently.

Microsoft has changed the rules.

As I am sure you know it used to be the case that licensing for Microsoft Exchange was based on the number of outgoing mail boxes you had within the business.  What I mean by this is that firstname.surname@managednetworks.co.uk needs an Exchange CAL as does info@managednetworks.co.uk - if you want to send emails from info@.

For Microsoft Exchange 2010 this is no longer the case.

If you use a lot of generic email addresses and wish to reply from them, you only need to provide CALs for the number of users you have.  This does not mean that the 3^rd party software vendors have followed the same model. Sophos for instance is licenced on the basis of highest number of user or workstation/server or email user i.e. 40 users, 42 workstations, 4 servers with 75 outbound email addresses will need a 75 user license to be compliant. GFi works exclusively on unique out bound email addresses, the preceding example would require 75 licenses.

Another change is that Microsoft Exchange 2010 no longer provides an Outlook Licence as part of the User CAL.  You will need to buy an extra license, either separately or as part of Microsoft Office.

I hope this helps your licensing calculations