Apr28

Cloud and proud

Do you wanna know how long it took me to go from this:

 

image

(i.e. Exchange 2007)

 

to this?

 

image

(i.e. Exchange 2010)

 

A whole 10 seconds! How did I manage that? Simple, I have my Exchange server hosted in the cloud. Someone else worried about the hardware, someone else worried about the software, someone else worried about the migration. In short, SOMEONE ELSE worried about EVERYTHING! All I had to do was a choose a time at which I wanted the change over to occur.

 

After going through many onsite Exchange migrations over the years I have gotta say that I really don’t miss them and couldn’t be happier that I migrated to Exchange in the cloud over 2 years ago. I truly believe, going forward, that the ease with which such an upgrade was carried out is going to endear itself to more and more technology users as they now simply want just to USE the technology and not have to worry about MAINTAINING it.

 

During my 2 years so far with my emails in the cloud I have not had one outtage, not one! Sure I’m just one person using one single instance of hosted Exchange but baby let me tell you that not having to worry about all the usual dramas with emails such as viruses, spam, disk space and so on has been a boon for my productivity and my business.

 

It is exactly for reasons like this that I happily proclaim that I’m cloud and proud.

Published: Apr-28-10 | 0 Comments | Link to this post

Mar30

Cloud security

 

maistora

 

One of the biggest challenges that ‘cloud computing’ faces is the issue of data security. Many, many clients and IT Professionals are rightly worried about how secure information will be when it resides in the cloud. In thinking about a suitable answer to these concerns for people that I speak with I have come with an analogy that I’d ask you to give me some feedback on to see if it resonates with you.

 

I’d like to compare online security to the way we save our money with banks. Now it is certainly possible to take the money that you accumulate and stash it somewhere in your own home. This I would equate to having your own computers on site. Now, it is certainly possible to secure the money when in it is in you own house. You can buy a safe, you can store the money in an old shoebox pushed to the back of a cupboard and so on. You know exactly where it is and you generally feel secure knowing that the security of this asset is totally under your control.

 

Compare that with putting your money into a bank. You deposit your money and you get a statement in return acknowledging your deposit. You can then leave the bank in the generally secure knowledge that your money is ‘safe’. Obviously you are, along with lots of other people, ‘trusting’ the bank to keep it secure, however they do generally and means you also don’t have to worry about the security of your funds.

 

So let’s look at the benefits a ‘shared’ security system like the bank offers. You can walk into any branch of that bank and withdraw your funds. You don’t need to go back to your place to get cash when you run out. In most cases you can also get access to your funds from any ATM in the world. Also in general the bank will pay to some interest on the funds you have left in their safe keeping.

 

We all know that the world is far from a perfect system. We also know that depositing your money with a bank has costs in the form of fees and taxes, yet the bottom line is that the banking system has been utilized for a long time and still works today. In fact, it has become so ubiquitous that I would content that not having a bank account these days actually counts against you. I don’t know many jobs that pay via cash or cheque these days, even though I’m sure there are still some.

 

What I’m trying to demonstrate with this analogy is the fact that we consider money pretty valuable and most people ‘give’ that money to another business to ‘mind’ for them. Isn’t that the same sort of thing that would happen with cloud computing? Again, I readily accept that banks are not perfect but then again neither is stashing your money under you pillow.

 

Perhaps this leads me to the other issues that’s been rattling around my head of late. It seems to me that people ‘think’ that cloud computing should be prefect. That is without issues, downtime, flaws etc. Maybe the reasons for this kind of thinking have been some cloud computing advocates that have testified that cloud computing is indeed without fault. They may have done this as a method of differentiation against the status quo or whatever. The problem is that they have created an expectation that is simply unattainable, as this is technology after all. This has now meant that cloud computing has has to live up to an unrealistic expectation of 100% trouble free operations 24 hours a day seven days a week. This has made it extremely easy for a critic to point to any failure as a systemic failure of the whole concept of cloud computing.

 

Again, back to the banking analogy. Sure it isn’t prefect but it is an accepted and widely used system. The average person tolerates the problems because they receive benefits that the system outweighs in their minds. We have all heard the media and politician ‘bank bashing’ but how many people actually change banks I wonder (I don’t know). Then again they don’t stop using the banking system do they? They simply use another bank.

 

In some ways that’s the beauty of the banking system (and potentially cloud computing). You can choose a provider who suits your needs and you can still change if you want. Sure it is a pain to do that but can’t the same be said about changing banks as well?

 

As you can see I do like my little banking/cloud computing analogy but I’d be interested to hear what people think as I appreciate that it is far from perfect and I’m sure I’ve overlooked something. As always feel free to send me your feedback via director@ciaops.com.

Published: Mar-30-10 | 0 Comments | Link to this post

Feb22

Cloud wars

Here are some interesting videos from both Microsoft and Google on their cloud based solutions:

 

Why Microsoft: Microsoft compared to Google - Total Value Overview

 

Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook product demo

 

Why Microsoft: Exchange vs. Gmail

 

Gone Google - Companies share their Gone Google stories

 

If you notice nothing else have a look at the ratings of each video and draw your own conclusions.

Published: Feb-22-10 | 0 Comments | Link to this post

Jan01

Two more points

An interesting read over on Dave Overaton’s blog ”Server line-up for small businesses (and home) is increasing in options (or complexity for some) - SBS 2008, Home, Foundation, Windows Standard Server or BPOS - how do you choose?” where he attempts to discern the best option in IT for a small business.

 

Interestingly he rates a Windows PC network at the top and SBS and Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite last. I also especially liked these charts he has come up with:

 

image

 

and

 

image

 

Now I am generally in agreement with the conclusions that he reaches but I think that he has overlooked two important facts.

 

1. It is unlikely that a single IT solution is going to be adopted by most businesses these days.

 

As I noted in my recent blog post “Up in the sky”, in relation to cloud services at least

 

“data also shows that only 16% of those who have adopted cloud computing, or will within 12 months, will go solely with an off-premises model. But 50% of those respondents will go with a mixture on both on-premises and off premises.”

 

So what about the combination of a Windows PC network and BPOS? What about Windows Foundation server combined with BPOS? These are certainly going to provide far more options and flexibility than just the single product on its own.

 

2. Do not overlook the impact of Google Apps

 

If there ever an elephant in the room that most Microsoft types constantly neglect, ignore, dismiss over overlook it’s Google. Using their cloud based solution of Google Apps works extremely well for businesses in this target market (much like BPOS does). Again, it will provide its strongest appeal when used in conjunction with a Windows network or Windows Foundation server say.

 

I understand where Dave is coming from in his analysis but I’d like to contend that he is thinking about SMB customers in terms of the ‘old world’. Today’s SMB customers want the flexibility to work anywhere, with unlimited access to their data and the ability to share it will all the members of their team easily and quickly. They don’t want to shell out thousands of dollars for a server based solution (read SBS) when they can achieve something almost identical with online services on a per month per user basis. As I have said many time before, cloud computing not only changes the technology side of the argument but it also changes the economic argument for a customer. This economic model is far more important to a customer generally.

 

Dave has done a remarkable job with his analysis however he has perhaps unwittingly confirmed again, in my mind at least, the way technology people look at technology is not the way that customers do. Secondly, it highlights the fact that resellers face a herculean task trying to support the huge variety of possible solutions for a customer. That is sure fire way to burn people out in the end. Finally, I still see that online services, from Goggle, Microsoft or whomever, are going to have a major impact in the SMB space.

Published: Jan-01-10 | 3 Comments | Link to this post

Dec30

Up in the sky

Seattle Miles

 

A few posts ago (I smell fear) I was lamenting the fact that Microsoft seemed to be getting pretty desperate about getting resellers on board to sell its Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). I pointed out that in my opinion existing resellers and their inertia when moving to this new platform was going to be a millstone around Microsoft’s neck that it needed to address.

 

Now the following article ‘Microsoft must sell the cloud to IT Pros in 2010’ covers similar ground. The article points confirms a number points that I have been speaking about for quite a while, such that if IT Pros

 

"don't get in line to compete [with online services], they put themselves at a significant risk of being not there when real money starts to get spent in this space."

 

and the fact that a majority of businesses are going to be dipping their toes into the world of online services:

 

“data also shows that only 16% of those who have adopted cloud computing, or will within 12 months, will go solely with an off-premises model. But 50% of those respondents will go with a mixture on both on-premises and off premises.”

 

and that BPOS is the best opportunity for IT resellers:

 

“The most popular is software-as-a-service, represented for Microsoft by BPOS, and infrastructure as a service, represented by SQL Azure and integration technology.”

 

and finally Microsoft has a major challenge on its hands but only a limited time frame in which to achieve it:

 

EMA's Mann says couple all that with the fact that "IT never gets rid of anything" and you have a situation where "IT is not going to move to the cloud, they are going to add the cloud to what they have."

And how IT can go about doing that will be Microsoft's challenge. The clock begins ticking louder in 2010.

 

The reality is that most businesses are considering the adoption of some form of cloud technology in their business. It is certainly, not in the short term at least, going to replace on premise infrastructure it will supplement it. However the majority of IT Pros that I know have no online strategy at all, they like Microsoft, are focusing on the wrong aspects of changes online services are going to usher in. It is not about selling a per month service, it is about what opportunities become available with the wide spread availability of these tools.

 

To survive in this new environment you are either going to make money by volume (many sales at low margin) or specialization (fewer sales at much higher margins). It seems to me the option with the least effort required is simply moving up the food chain (i.e. the second option) but this appears to put the fear of God into so many IT Pros. Why? Because in past they became comfortable selling their IT knowledge. The reality is that Google has changed that landscape FOREVER. As evolution has taught us, now is the time to adapt or perish, because the window of opportunity will not remain open forever.

Published: Dec-30-09 | 0 Comments | Link to this post

Dec10

BPOS Technical School live meeting recording

Although this webinar comes from the UK it provides a pretty good overview of what BPOS is and how resellers can go about incorporating it into their suite of products. You’ll find the download at:

 

https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastRegistrationConfirmation.aspx?culture=en-GB&RegistrationID=1304293125&Validate=false

 

it runs for about an hour and is particularly worthwhile if you are considering Microsoft Business Online Productivity Suite (BPOS).

Published: Dec-10-09 | 0 Comments | Link to this post

Sep19

Game changer

For those who aren’t aware, the next version of Microsoft Office (Office 2010) will come with a free web version. It will be known as Office Web Apps and will integrate with Microsoft Skydrive for file storage (Yeah!) as this blog post details. Here’s a video demo of Office Web Apps that is well worth a look:

 

 

If you are someone who makes a living selling PC’s then the most common application you sell with every PC is probably a version of Microsoft Office. If you’re a smart cookie then you’ll also make money from installing the software as well as continually patching it. I hate to tell you that the majority of all this is going away when Office Web Apps goes live. Why? Simply because most users are not only stingy with their money (especially at the moment) but they also generally use less than 20% of Microsoft Office functionality. This means that a free online version of their favourite Microsoft Office apps is going to be very appealing. In short, why would they buy a version of Microsoft Office with their workstation when they can get for free online?

 

I think that if Microsoft provided a ‘paid for’ version of Office Web Apps that included more functionality people would pay but as I have said for quite a while now this is the way it is going – to the ‘cloud’. I agree that everyone isn’t going to go ‘virtual’ overnight but the trend is very evident and more importantly the business and economic reasons are also very powerful. As the economy recovers and businesses get back on their feet they are going to look at upgrading their technology. I reckon that many are going to start asking serious questions about whether they should be utilizing more applications from the ‘cloud’.

 

To a large extent by Microsoft moving applications like Office to the ‘cloud’ provides a significant amount of legitimacy in the minds users for this style of technology, making it a self fulfilling prophecy in some ways. Failing to ignore these trends is going to have ramifications down the line no matter what sort of business you are. The great things about Microsoft apps moving to the ‘cloud’ is that they still provide the ability to host the same applications on site if desired (unlike Google). It also allows the implementation of hybrid approach as well (i.e. some offsite and some onsite).

 

Office Web Apps has now gone into limited beta testing and is expected to open up to more soon. Personally, I can’t wait to get my teeth into it because I can see the huge potential it offers around the thing that has always been the most profitable part of technology – assisting users with their implementation. If you are a reseller who doesn’t believe in the potential of ‘cloud’ apps like Office Web Apps I say GREAT because sooner or later customers are going to come looking for someone to help them implement a ‘cloud strategy’ and I’m ready willing and able.

Published: Sep-19-09 | 0 Comments | Link to this post

Sep11

Finally available

 

Microsoft and Telstra have finally made the Microsoft Business Productivity Suite (BPOS) available in Australia. This means that people can now obtain Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, Live Meeting and Office Communicator as hosted applications. It also means that providers like myself can sell the suite to customers and earn some commission. Gotta say this has been a long time coming but I can’t tell you how glad I am that it has finally arrived.

 

I see BPOS as being the early days of the way things are now heading. Most encouraging is that it allows me to sell solutions to customers without the constraints of geography anymore. In a few recent presentations I’ve given I’ve told other resellers they should be afraid of something like BPOS because it means that I’m coming to their market and their customers. I say this with the full knowledge that exactly the same is possible in my market space because this is what the new world order of cloud computing brings. It means a completely new business model. It means you face a greater number of competitors but it also provides you with greater opportunities to reach new markets as well. The only question is whether you will exploit the opportunities presented or simply react when the competition arrives on your shores.

 

As I have said before I believe the killer app for BPOS will be Live Meeting, simply because it is something that is going to provide real benefits for most customers who have never had access to technology like this. They will be able to conduct remote meetings, present sales demonstrations and importantly record them for repeat use. How powerful is that going to be to a business to provide a video presentation of their products and allow people to view it on demand?

 


Antony Pranata

 

Of course the other huge potential I see is for SharePoint, given that so few people are aware of the benefits it can provide. Another great opportunity will be the ability of SharePoint to provide templated solutions, that can be developed and then resold many times over. Combine that with something like OneNote and you have a really great collaboration solution as the Pfizer case study demonstrates.

 

Perhaps another benefit that BPOS provides resellers is environment standardization. This means that every BPOS implementation of SharePoint say is identical. Everything is always in the same place, the software is always at the same version and so on. How many times is this the case between different client sites? Almost never. Having a completely standard environment not only makes it much easier to support but means that I can develop standards and procedures that allow others to easily implement the administration while I can concentrate on the higher return work.

 

As I have detailed in a previous blog post I am always encouraged when other resellers ignore or are hostile to SharePoint because it simply means more opportunity for my business. It provides me an opening with their clients that I can now exploit no matter where they are in the world. In the end I see BPOS not only providing greater opportunities but also simplifying the ability to deploy and support solutions for customers. Isn’t that what we’re all really after?

Published: Sep-11-09 | 0 Comments | Link to this post

Aug10

Look up

image

 

I have created a new document called Look up – The cloud is on the horizon, which is available for viewing or download from my Slidespace. It provides some of the more compelling reasons why IT providers need to seriously consider adopting some for of ‘cloud computing’ strategy in their business.

 

One important point that the document contends is that ‘cloud computing’ is more than simply a technology change, it is a change to existing economic models. The driving reason is that ‘cloud computing’ is largely provided via a per month per user basis no longer requiring significant up front investment in equipment and software. It is also able to provide functionality almost immediately without the need to detailed quotes and specifications. In summary, ‘cloud computing’ is bringing the concept of utility (i.e. electricity, water and gas) to the technology landscape.

 

As much as ‘cloud computing’ presents challenge to an IT provider it also bring great opportunity. How that is approached is up to the individual, it will however require the ability to ‘let go’ of existing old world thinking models and embracing the changes as they occur. Now is a unique moment in time when a window of opportunity existing to be in front of the change as it occurs. There will, of course, be challenges and disappointments but the changes ‘cloud computing’ offers is nothing fundamentally different from other changes technology has brought and will continue to bring.

 

Hopefully, this document will give people some different perspective and ideas of what ‘cloud computing’ will means for them and their business. It also has a resources section to help people understand the opportunities that already exist in the market and how to take advantage of them.

 

As always, I welcome any feedback on what I have created which can be sent to director@ciaops.com and I hope you receive benefit from what I have created.

Published: Aug-10-09 | 0 Comments | Link to this post

Jul28

Change

 

One of messages that has come from the recent Microsoft Partner Conference is that the world is changing for Microsoft and resellers (as if you didn’t know!). The article “Microsoft rubs Web 2.0 noses in SharePoint cash pile” shows how Microsoft believes the world is changing and how its resellers should also.

 

“Microsoft's business applications chief Stephen Elop on Monday told Microsoft's overwhelmingly desktop-and-server-oriented partner army that nine out of 10 of their customers want to transition a portion of their IT to the cloud.”

 

Which I believe is true, though perhaps not to that extent now but it many eventually reach that level. Interestingly,

 

“Elop didn't reveal the source of the data behind his claim, but the message was blunt.

"My business is changing. Your business must change as well," Elop told Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.”

 

So the message appears clear from Microsoft that traditional server and desktop hardware is going to be a declining source of opportunity for all. You would also have to agree that the message is very similar from Google who have perhaps been at this cloud computing thing longer than Microsoft.

 

To ignore two of the largest players in the market saying that online is the place to be would surely be folly for anyone providing technology solutions. Personally, I agree with this premise in principal but I believe it still must be tempered by some ‘non-sales’ reality here but the end result is that change is certainly upon us. Nothing could perhaps illustrate that better than a recent example of my own.

 

I was called in by a prospect who were interested in Windows SharePoint v3 as means to improve their collaboration and productivity. They had just recently purchased a new server running SBS 2003 (their existing IT people seemed uncomfortable with the move to SBS 2008 which, as an aside, I have noticed to be quite common), so they already have their infrastructure in place. Now, how do they go about implementing Windows SharePoint v3?

 

Option 1 – On the existing infrastructure

 

They need to install Windows SharePoint v3 on their SBS 2003 server which requires a bit of customizing since it is SBS. They’d probably also find that the SBS box is already pretty well loaded (being SBS 2003 it has a 4GB RAM limit) so maybe installing SharePoint v3 on SBS is not a good idea. Maybe then they could purchase an additional server, which means more hardware and Windows Server licenses even before the installation commences.

 

You can see how hard this is becoming can’t you.

 

Option 2 – Hosted

 

While at their offices I set up a 30 day free trial of hosted SharePoint with a single login. They can immediately start using the product to get a feel. They have remote access, don’t have to worry about additional servers, software etc. After 30 days they can simply convert that trial into a per monthly cost with an unlimited amount of users.

 

How easy was that?

 

Sure there are issues around both services and advantages and disadvantages but look at it from the customer’s perspective. Which involves less pain? If they like SharePoint and want to start using it in their business which is going to give them a result faster? The winner is Option 2 – Hosted.

 

This online concept also applies to other applications like email and even desktop applications such as word processors and spreadsheets. In the end I think we have finally crossed the threshold where technology is simply part of our day, like electricity or the car. It has become so ingrained in our society that the less we have to think about it the better. Clearly, things will not change overnight but they are changing and those who fail to make the transition will get left behind. If the business model and focus of players like Microsoft is changing then resellers need to start making similar adjustments. Now is the time to start making those adjustments in your own time rather than having little option or opportunity down the track.

 

Like it or not, change is here.

Published: Jul-28-09 | 0 Comments | Link to this post

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