The Information Technology (IT) industry has evolved tremendously over the last 15 years. In the mid 90's, the buzz in the industry was the Software-as-a service model (SaaS). The SaaS model enabled software vendors to deliver software applications to businesses on a pay by consumption basis, allowing business leaders to deploy new software more quickly and eliminate their capital expense. At the turn of the century, the term Managed Services hit the scene. Simply defined, Managed Services provide organizations with predictable, business-focused IT services that optimize operations, manage risk and deliver measurable business value. In 2006, the industry adopted the idea of delivering Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS). The HaaS model allowed businesses to pay for equipment on a consumption basis as well, and completed the equation and paved the way for what we now call the "Cloud."

Cloud Computing is the newest buzzword in IT. If you've never heard of the "Cloud" or don't fully understand what it means for your business, you should keep reading. Cloud computing has become the most cost effective way for small and medium sized business to instantly obtain benefits of an enormous IT infrastructure without having to implement and administer it directly. The "Cloud" itself, is a collection of computers and secured servers (virtual or physical) that businesses can access over the internet, replacing the need to own and maintain their own equipment. Though the Cloud was originally designed for small businesses with scarce capital resources, many enterprise organizations have enjoyed the benefits of moving IT infrastructure off their balance sheet and into the Cloud What are these benefits, and is the Cloud a safe and secure option?

The evolution of the Cloud means lower computer costs for your business. Since applications run in the Cloud instead of your physical workstation, you no longer have the need for processing power or hard disk space that traditional desktop software demanded. You will also achieve improved computer performance. With fewer programs requiring your computer's memory, you will experience faster processing and loading of pages. Your machine will also boot and reboot at an accelerated pace.

You will also find cost saving in software in the Cloud. Rather than purchasing expensive software applications, you can attain a large portion of what you need for free. Another software-related advantage to the Cloud is that you're no longer faced with choosing between obsolete software and high upgrade costs. When using a web based application in the Cloud, updates occur automatically and are available the next time you log into the Cloud. This eliminates the cost of paying for the latest software downloads or upgrades.

Another powerful advantage of using the Cloud is what it means for your business critical electronic data. The Cloud provides you with unlimited storage capacity. Your current workstation's 200-500 gigabyte hard drive is peanuts compared to hundreds of petabytes (a million gigabytes) at your disposal in the Cloud. You have storage for whatever you need. You also receive increased reliability in using the Cloud. Unlike traditional desktop computing in which a hard drive will crash and destroy your data, working in the Cloud provides you data-safe computing. If your personal computer crashes, all your data is still in the cloud and easily accessible.

Lastly, the ultimate cloud advantage is device independence. With the Cloud, you're no longer tied to a single computer or network. If you change computers, your existing applications and documents will follow you through the Cloud. If you are a person that relies on a mobile device to do work related tasks, you no longer have to save your documents in a device-specific format. The Cloud eliminates your need to buy a special version of a program for a particular device; your documents and applications are the same no matter what computer or device you're using.

Now that you've seen the benefits of the Cloud, I'll address the big question most people ask. "Who controls my data, and is it safe in the Cloud?" Cloud Computing is the newest form of outsourcing. The Cloud model not only transfers ownership of your IT infrastructure to a third-party, the third-party is also responsible for monitoring and managing your IT. Software upgrades, data backups, email encryption, spam filtering, and the countless other tasks required to manage your mission-critical business applications on a daily basis become the responsibility of the third party.

Guidant Partners can become the "Cloud" for your business. We use a four layer managed security methodology to protect your electronic data, and provide you a secure virtual private network (VPN) to access your network from any location via a reliable internet source. We can deliver you the bandwidth required to access your network via the internet, and eliminate your need to host and manage your own IT infrastructure.  Guidant Partners provides you a scalable alternative to managing IT, and shifts your IT spend to operating expenses rather than capital expenditures.  

To learn how your business can take advantage of the cost savings in the "Cloud," contact Guidant Partners at 615-277-9111 or via the internet at www.guidantpartners.com.