The distinction between Virtualization and Cloud Computing is crucial and necessary for business. For many companies and professionals both are the same. Although Cloud computing uses virtualization, virtualization and cloud computing are not the same thing. They treat IT challenges in various sizes and operated at different scopes with different levels of impact on a business.

Some quick comparisons between virtualization and cloud computing solutions:

Virtualization is technical, Cloud Computing is business
Virtualization is for technical IT, Cloud Computing is for all
Virtualization is not governed, Cloud Computing is governed

Virtualization

Virtualization isolates computing resources, thus offering an opportunity to change and consolidate the isolated resources to better use and greater efficiency.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the ability to make resources available on demand. Cloud computing is “service” and “service” is about the availability and responsiveness to market opportunities that are relevant.

Cloud Computing consists of the following:

Self-Service on Demand : If someone wants to access your cloud resources, they must be available, no matter what that means. The client company must be able to access (and change the access to) resources in the cloud without interacting with anyone.

Extensive Network Access : Above all, the most vital feature of cloud computing is the fact What is network based and accessible from anywhere, from any standardized platform (ie, desktop computers, mobile devices, etc..).

Public Cloud: Various customers may be using the same set of resources, at the same time.

Quick Elasticity : The purpose of sharing resources is to avoid the capital expenditure required for the creation of the network and computing infrastructure. The reason why these costs are so high is because companies must respond to peaks in demand for their services. By outsourcing to a cloud, the demand becomes “damped” by the size of the cloud provider and computing capability. The risk of failures and service interruptions is significantly reduced.

Service Measured : The cloud provider should essentially act as an electric utility, measuring the amount of service provided and reacting accordingly (both in terms of customer billing, and upgrading hardware and software, as appropriate).

So far we have talked about cloud computing from a business standpoint, but the fact is that, by its rapid adoption and the types of services we consume, the cloud is also present in our daily lives.

Many technological advances reach the homes after their development in the business world since the initial investment in new technology is high. The personal computer is a good example: It began to be seen in homes after years of exclusivity in business. However, the cloud computing solutions model is being taken quickly by the general public as it does not offer an economic barrier to enter and its benefits are obvious:

Easy to access and share data centrally between different people and devices (office computer and at home, smartphone, tablet).
Increased reliability and ease of maintenance of information: No longer rely on a physical medium that we maintain and we do regular backups (we all do that, don’t you?). If the disc on my PC corrupts or if I lose my iPhone, I keep my contacts, photos and important documents in the cloud for better safety.

Access to media (music, videos, etc.) without physically having them either on CD or USB.
Accessing applications without requiring the installation of software on your machine. This not only reduces spending on software but also the hardware requirements to run the applications, since this is running on the server and we see the result. (Media as a Service?).

Avoid Constant Update: No need to constantly install new versions of the programs we use and update our computer or game console to enjoy. The service provider takes care of this while we agree with customers “light” (eg, a browser).

Obviously, the particular use conditions are not the same as a business. Although a company has a motivation and economic power, their risk, possible changes to its business model and regulatory standards in data protection slow down cloud adoption globally. The road to enterprise adoption, nevertheless, you can start with some small steps to minimize risks and costs and serve to strengthen the transition to more ambitious goals. But we’ll talk about this in another post.

Returning to the home, we can classify the services offered by the different cloud types. Some of them are shared with the corporate level while others are private.

Data storage: In the same way that a company uses an infrastructure service (Infrastructure as a Service), the home user also has the same options, which usually offer a free option that can be improved further to premium versions. Some examples of these services: Dropbox, Google Docs, iCloud, eNlight, etc. These systems have the support of developers who integrate their applications with these storage systems. For more advanced users, it is possible to prepare your own private cloud infrastructure with the installation of a hard disk connected to the network (hdd network). This can be interesting if you need to store and share large amounts of information and do not want to pay for premium accounts.

Applications: For years, we enjoyed what is known as Software as a Service without knowing what it was. Applications that formerly residing on our PC and now we access from our browser. Examples are numerous: Google Docs, Picasa, Maps, etc.

Playing Media: Following applying fever “suffix” as a service to almost everything, we will use the term “Media as a Service” that provides media playback on the cloud. This service, unlike previous ones, is almost exclusively for the home user (obviously exclude companies whose business model is based on the distribution or exploitation of resources). We want to enjoy music or videos and do not need to have them in a physical format. This service is revolutionizing the business of producing labels and at the same time allow the diffusion of new independent values. Examples known to all: last.fm, YouTube, Metacafe, etc..

Games: Online games are with us for a while, and web pages or similar flash games, enjoy games that allow increasingly powerful with the installation of a plugin in the browser. Something more interesting in the Cloud Gaming has just landed in India. There are companies that allow you to run the game on the server while the user views the image streaming and lets you play generation game through the browser.

Socialization: We could not miss the social networks in this review (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google Plus and etc.). Our photos, thoughts, contacts and hobbies are stored on remote servers and manage applications through the browser. Probably many people no longer consider doing the same from their computer. The risk of losing everything or not enjoy the updated version of the application would weigh much.

After this brief review we can ensure that we have a part of our lives in the cloud more than we thought… What do you think?

The cloud computing is one of the hottest topics discussed online. Some consider cloud services has become a fashion, but it is a superficial way to address the issue. Surely this is an option to consider when a company choose their work tools.

Cloud services can boast the support of a computer that has changed. In reality, the company uses today’s computer for every possible purpose. In fact, users have sparked the race to the cloud and to understand it, it is not difficult: We always want everything, at every place we are, whatever device we hold in our hand. In practice, we want resources to be available 24×7, and can be accessed from home computer as like laptop, even from tablet and smartphone without loss of efficiency.

A constant amount of data and information. More or less useful, more or less focused on the business of the company or on the privacy of individuals (ie, social networks or premium services and / or professional).

The advent of cloud increased the quality of services that are available via broadband or mobile (phones, smartphones and tablets). The available bandwidth is the enabling factor for a cloud service.

But choosing the cloud computing services represents a risk or an opportunity?

In this article, we will be only talking about the strengths and weaknesses, risks and opportunities from the use of cloud technologies.

Cloud Meets Your Needs?

Cloud computing is nothing but a set of solutions interacting among themselves. The peculiarity of these solutions is the lack of physical proximity between the technologies used to create and implement solutions. The cloud computing allows you to move outside of your local network (which can also be the one and only existing computer in a small company) or all of the functions you need.

An example? If you have an gmail account , you will almost certainly agree with the fact that notepad, word processor, calendar and email are all software that can reside on the cloud of Google. At least for me this is now natural. At home I do not have a mail server, but took advantage of the Google service. As I no longer have a desktop software to keep me order among customers and activities: exploited yet another service, much more powerful and I can use from different locations and with different devices (iPhone and iPad, MacBook and home desktop) and data always accessible and up to date regardless of location and / or device I use. All through a common browser and no matter what I choose (beyond personal preference). I need, of course, a good Internet connection, where “good” means inevitably the adjective fast (and reliable).

Here Are The Needs That Cloud Computing Meet :

Allows you to share information and data between devices in a totally transparent and simple and fast way;
Allows the integration of such information and data with other information and data that may come from other departments or from other external sources;
Ensures a greater pace of work certainly because the company and the professional can safely ignore aspects of infrastructure management that enables the use of the services themselves: just a device that connects to the Internet, a connection, a browser, or to Moreover, a small software client (such as an iOS app);
Provides Flexibility: Cloud services are highly flexible and easily scalable so the company or the professional are always ready to change, reducing effort and various problems.

We Will Return On These Four Points Shortly.

Meanwhile we try to understand what are the risks and opportunities arising from the adoption of cloud services.

Choose The Cloud: Opportunities

If you invest in the cloud, you would like to know the benefits of this investment. Technically speaking, the ROI ( Return On Investment ) of a possible choice in cloud. Just in recent months, I was confronted with the difficulty of presenting an offer to users who are accustomed to the old model of IT management: all mine, all at my house, no connection to the outside if you do not surf the Internet. Where the novelty of this millennium have made inroads (strange, but still real) is fundamental to explain well why adopting a cloud service.

As a first step to invest in the cloud, it allows you to almost completely eliminate the costs of IT infrastructure management. Licenses and consumption of servers and workstations, problems in training and staff appropriately recruited to manage the IT problems installing and updating and maintenance of the infrastructure are no longer a problem, because the whole is delegated to the provider of the service. As already mentioned, to use a cloud service, just a small software client or even the browser is sufficient. We may add in the list of opportunities, the ability to access functions of the corporate headquarters and on any device independently. Today an increasing number of managers and executives use smartphones and tablets to access all the functions before they preserve positions in the office.

A cloud system is really builds in a few simple steps, especially quickly. The deployment time is considerably lower than the homemade solution, with huge scalability. This makes the company more responsive to change. Add or delete functions is a simple reformulation of the offer purchased. Besides, many cloud services allow the customer (in this case the company or professional) to build your own service complying the real needs.

Choose The Cloud:  The Risks And Obstacles

We Come To The Downside…

If you customize your cloud offering, it allows to better predict costs and budget, it is also true that the cloud service is actually a cost to be renewed from year to year. And well, when you are buying a license of a product to be installed on your local network, you only need to pay once.

In case you have opted for a cloud service, attention to detail and in particular to SLA and performance. That is, the level of service, the terms of the contract and the actual performance checks. The cost must apply on the service purchased. In addition, the cloud models may suffer in the event of a change of the service already signed: the change of functions or limits can result in high costs.
Choose A Service: Migrate to another service provider can be very complicated and therefore expensive. Be a professional to evaluate what are the obstacles that may arise in case of change of provider.

The biggest obstacle in the adoption of a cloud service could then be represented by the infrastructure company or professional service required to be eligible for the same. In one concept: speed and quality of the network connection. Access to the Internet is utmost important, practically the enabler of cloud computing. Without a fast and reliable connection, all the benefits of a cloud system are immediately lost, to the detriment of the business to sustain.

If it disappear from the local network workstations and dedicated servers, and ad hoc entire infrastructure delegated to the provider outside the company, you need to take all the necessary precautions. The most important advice therefore concerns the possibility of installing more than one connection to the Internet, with different suppliers and different technologies. This will prevent the lack of service (if there is a drop in connection, you can always use the other one) and maybe you can develop techniques of shaping bandwidth for a better use of external services.

The last risk factor that we consider is related to privacy. There are cases, companies operating in critical areas, for example, where it is not really possible to migrate the data outside. This is obviously the critical data, and especially important for a company’s business, such as trade secrets, for example. But this is also true for the single professional who may be very reluctant to deposit their data to an external service. Choosing a cloud means relying almost entirely on the quality of the provider, where kindness is meant professionalism in the care of the infrastructure and implementation of all the best practices in terms of safety.

Ultimately, the question remains: Cloud Computing, Risk Or Opportunity? The way I see it is certainly an opportunity.

The importance of this new computing model and how it affects our lives:

Cloud computing is something that is spoken a lot and more and more people are using it. But really, what is this kind of computing that promises to completely change the way we work on the computer and the internet? Our data will be safe in this cloud? Is there a danger of losing our information and files? What are the advantages and disadvantages of working in this way? There are many questions, but the answers will emerge over time, and some even exist.

The idea behind cloud computing is to make the information and data processing on a network and not on a local computer. In other words, when using the cloud hosting service, who “works” in data processing are the software and hardware of the network and not the user’s computer, which requires only a browser or application to work as clients.

An excellent example of the power of the cloud is Google Maps. If users of computers would do all the calculations and processes for managing maps and routes can be made on the website of Google, it would take a lot time, and use almost all memory and processing power of the computer.

With data “saved” in the cloud, users can access them through several different platforms

When using an online word processor, for example, is the same. About processes the text information input and output are server computers and not the user. Another facility, for these cases, is that the documents are saved automatically (and after every few seconds), giving greater security to users.

Mr. Piyush Somani, MD and CEO of ESDS Software Solution Pvt. Ltd., believes that “The cloud is already a reality with a high degree of adoption, both by private and public sectors”. He says, developing countries like India have wide acceptance and use of cloud computing, as companies that develop and are born today have greater freedom of choice between which systems to choose, be it the more traditional or cloud. “Companies (in developing countries) do not have many data centers installed, as in developed countries, so are freer to choose which way to go. Replacing old hardware with new generation technology has become a major concern for organizations. Cloud computing and cloud hosting seems to be the only option for organizations having dozens of physical dedicated servers“.

Examples of cloud computing

Email: It may even be naive not to think or remember it, but the e-mail is one of the forerunners of cloud navigation. Just think of the amount of information that is stored and exchanged via e-mail without even no data has to be downloaded or recorded on computers.

Archives: The management and maintenance of files in the cloud also become something very important, if not essential, for anyone working with large amounts of digital documents. Researchers, graduate students or any person working with a good amount of spreadsheets, documents and images in the cloud ended up finding a great place to keep documents up to date and secure. After all, there are few stories of those who lost computers and, along with them, their important data and / or confidential. Examples of providers that offer this type of service are Google Docs, Apple, Dropbox and ESDSs eNlight Cloud.

Music: Listening to music on the Internet has also become a habit – and maybe longer. Even in India, it is common to those who have already gotten used to listen to the radios on some internet sites, with songs that the user can choose, either by musical style or artist. There are now also more specific services such as Last.fm, where users create accounts and can fully configure radio, from the choice of music to the suggestion of other artists, according to musical taste. Remember also that even the Google has entered the market of music in the cloud with the launch of Google Music. It is available only in the select territories for now, but it should arrive soon to other countries.

Documents and its Work: Some time ago, I also work directly with documents in the cloud which has already gained popularity, especially in groups where more than one person needs access to the same document. One of the best examples is Google Docs, which stores documents and makes them editable by the owner who deems necessary. School work, college or even companies get faster and easier because all the people related to it can access the document and change it, since it is in the cloud.

Notes And Productivity: Currently, the use of notes application also gained much popularity, mainly because they are a good tool to organize ideas, projects, reminders, or simply would like to store that information. Comes both for computers and for smartphones.

Web Apps: Working in the cloud is also possible and this is mainly due to web apps, and internet applications. The platform is the most famous Google Apps, with applications to text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDF files reader, as well as other calendar and task manager. Of course, other large companies also have applications that run directly on the Internet, like Microsoft, with Office Web Apps, or even Apple, which has a large catalog of _Web apps_.

Computers, netbooks, smartphones and tablets, cloud computing is ready for all platforms, which allows for unprecedented mobility for users, if they wish, no longer need to carry pen drives and storage and can access their information anywhere, anytime with an internet connection and an access platform. It is clear that problems still exist, especially with regard to trust, security and stability of Internet connections.

Hence, the verdict will change over time and with use.

This article is about the development of data centers and cloud computing in the country. We have seen that extensive use of the cloud computing and big data is done for latest database technologies in other articles. We have read about measures that enhance the presence of the data center in our area, the fundamental basis to develop cloud computing services, reference is made to new energy efficiency Standards in the management of such facilities, and etc.

The realization of Data Center according to the criteria of efficiency gains in the following paragraphs that fits perfectly in the objectives of innovation, economic growth and competitiveness in the implementations identified in the strategy of development of the program.

This can help in the economic growth of the territory. A smart, because it will have a direct impact on the rapidly increasing services available to improve computer literacy, skills and inclusion in the digital world.

Four pillars of the Digital Market focus on the design of a Data Center in accordance with the best practices identified:

Digital Single Market: Bringing benefits in terms of access to content, the simplification of cross-border online transactions and helping to improve perception of the quality of the digital service.

Trust and Security: On the management of data, transactions and respect for the fundamental rights of reservation to privacy.

Interoperability and Standards: With the imposition, the adoption and diffusion of technologies and best practices reproducible for other contexts.

Research and innovation: Just as in the corresponding of investment objective of these technologies, it is a significant boost to innovation, thanks to the experimentation of solutions.

Special attention is also placed on the requirements for the reliability of the data center, thereby identifying four different levels of classification based on the ANSI/TIA-942 standard:

Tier I : Reliability equal to 99.671%, ie 28.8 hours retainer services in the course of a year. At this level, the cooling systems provide only one route of delivery and the components are not redundant.

Tier II : Reliability equal to 99.741%, or 22 hours of stationary services in the course of a year. At this level, the components have redundant paths but still single, data centers will be composed with raised floors, UPS and generators.

Tier III : Reliability equal to 99.982%, or 95 minutes of stationary services in the course of a year. At this level, the paths of power and cooling are multiple, but only one can be activated at a time. The capacity is sufficient to support the load when only one path is in operation.

Tier IV : Reliability equal to 99.995%, or 26 minutes of stationary services in the course of a year. At this level, all components are fault-tolerant, the cooling paths are multiple, independent and active at the same time.

Our goal in the construction of the next data center will be to reach the fourth level of efficiency, and score a relationship as possible between optimal data center power consumption and actual power used by the IT equipment (the so-called PUE, Power Usage Effectiveness).

According to the Gartner Firm, in the next two years, cloud computing will be highly relevant and almost all industries will replace virtualization. In general, those shifts that can be observed on the Indian market of cloud, are quite positive and valued as a prelude to the global migration to cloud solutions, which analysts said.

Due to the fact that this area is very promising, more than half of companies plans to invest in it(10% more than last year). There is a growing demand of corporate clients for “Private Cloud”. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, popularity of desktop and application virtualization will also increase. Up to 75% of respondents plan to implement the organization’s strategy of “Private Cloud Solutions“ in 2014. SaaS is rapidly gaining momentum. Thus, the Gartner Firm forecast, by 2015, more than 50% of enterprises will have SaaS-applications.

By 2014, the center of the “digital life” user will not be on a Personal Computer, but on Personal Cloud. Having a single point of management, maintenance, planning and making changes – the main advantage of virtual solutions. It can significantly increase the efficiency of IT-services and reduce the cost of operating IT. Due to this, the company will release significant computing resources. Today, more and more companies are finding that implementing cloud computing – is necessary. The benefits and advantages of the “cloud computing” are undeniable.

In fact, 60% of organizations surveyed say that they are ready for the next five years to implement solutions based on cloud technology to improve the efficiency of business development. This figure is almost double of the data obtained in 2009. As technology has become a key means of achieving competitive advantage and cover all aspects of the enterprise, the role of IT-director has never been so important as it is today.

In conclusion, we note that the Gartner data show that work with cloud platforms is a major strategic initiative, contribute to achieving new business goals, which are a valuable contribution to the company. “Cloud Computing Services“ – it is not just the future of innovation, but the reality of today. Indian companies are trying to catch up with the foreign countries on this issue and are actively implementing cloud technologies, understanding and using all of their strengths.

How you use your e-mail box? For me it is a tool for daily work and leisure. I know friends and professionals who think the same and that like me were too fascinated by Facebook or Twitter, and continue to exchange email, even outside the workplace. The Email is not dead, it is more alive than ever, but is undergoing a major transformation behind the scenes, in the way it is delivered, the quality of service and approach to it.

In the coming years, there will be more space for providers that offer solutions for standard mail, POP and IMAP access and server without any warranty: I hit with many readers who do not think in this way and I would like to say a series of points for them.

Cloud Computing: Google Apps, Microsoft, eNlight Cloud. It is they who are gathering customers with their cloud infrastructures, ensuring high uptime (Google Apps seems to have reached a very stable) and above have to shoulder the necessary resources to ensure large amounts of storage space. It is not an economic advantage, it is a cultural advantage in many cases, such as: Google with Gmail has created a different approach, has made available inside many services offered for a fee, and has done so by integrating the fruits of the search for its labs. The priority mail, which is a direct result of its experience in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning, is a novelty that brought back many Gmail users. Cloud computing as a means to provide a complete service, in the form of SaaS, and done without any problem for the company from 10 employees here that migrates their email, as well as the corporation of 10,000 employees.

Web-based eMail: Forget about the mail client, because the browser is the future here and have a functional webmail and is the best evidence to spread their service. I see many hosting providers that invest little about in this aspect, I think it will be rather crucial in the coming years, like what is now a control panel for dedicated servers hosting account.

Uptime And Service Management: e-Mail is a critical service. No customer accepts a downtime of a few minutes, and left the service for a few hours. Unfortunately, I know better than anyone that it does not mean that those emails are really important, but missed an email is not the same in the minds of customers to lose a text message or other means of communication that did not have any guarantee. This is why ISPs need to invest in outdoor products, ready platforms if necessary, to redound to the e-mail and then be able to advertise this product with an adequate marketing. Learn from Google.

Services Related To Mail: Calendars, mobile management, contact management and much more, giants like Google, Microsoft and ESDS invest here to expand the use of services that reside in the cloud and are always accessed from the browser. Once again, the common factor is the desire to provide a complete service to the end user without any difficulty of use.

Storage And Backup: It is the balance for many, if the email is stored externally and does not require backup, then this can mean a substantial savings for the company. Do not believe, here a large part of the success of Google Apps in its proposal for a national and international level.

I believe that in the next 5 years, there will be made obsolete solution for standard mail as we know it today, for ISPs that offer e-mail is a challenge: Many now believe that its customers “escape” on Google or other services only to mail. The future is an approach to SaaS service, with a cloud computing infrastructure that can provide the resources.

Comments from people who use email for work (how? Such as ISP?) are really encouraged!

The Cloud Computing brought great revolutions for Information Technology. Previously, companies had to buy expensive equipment, maintain their own infrastructure and specialized technical services. But now the scenario has changed.

The internet has enabled our information to be available online and can be accessed from any device. Technology has improved over time and thus the solutions we use in our businesses, can be placed in the cloud, giving space for full services offered by companies that charge a fee only for usage.

How is the security of my information?

Undoubtedly, this is questioned a lot. “Is my information safe?” is something that goes through the minds of every entrepreneur when he thinks about adopting cloud solutions.

With that in mind, some prefer to keep their own infrastructure in-company (within the company), hiring technicians to perform the installation and maintenance of equipment and software.

But if you think about it, the technician will be as committed for the security of your information, as a company depends on it for its existence.

VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol: To give an overview, this technology converts analog audio signals (in this case, the sound waves of the voice) into digital data that can be transmitted over the internet. There are different types of VOIP, since the handset adapters are for common and specific phones.

The VOIP service is the most popular worldwide. Skype is a service that allows free calls between phones that are using the software and cheap calls to use it in calls to other numbers.

You can use Skype on PC, smartphones and tablets, just download the app. To make calls to landlines or mobile phones, you need to buy Skype credits that entitle you to various features like SMS, call forwarding, a number online, or Skype to Go, which is an international number for people to spend with local calls when they talk to you outside.

Tip: For answering services and call centers, usually worth investing in a more elaborate solution, because the quality of the links is higher. Now, if you need a fast and affordable solution, Skype is ideal.

Sending Email for Marketing

Mailing, newsletters, email marketing, whatever term you prefer to use, there are great tools for sending newsletter. Cloud solutions can help in organizing the shipment and analysis of results.

Tip: Look for tools that facilitate the import of contacts (integrating with your email contacts, LinkedIn or spreadsheets with contact details) and control the removal of contacts who do not wish to receive the emails.

These tools typically charge monthly fees on the number of contacts or campaigns sent per month.

CRM – Customer Relationship Management

Know your customers, their profiles and purchasing preferences to treat them uniquely, is a differentiator for any business. Nowadays, people know very well what are the companies that have great empathy with them.

Currently it no longer possible to get without applying CRM.

CRM systems are tools that give support to the CRM strategy. There are several types of cloud CRM tools for different purposes.

These tools are usually marketed through monthly subscriptions or prepaid, according to the amount of information to be stored or the number of users.

The advantage of using a CRM software in the cloud, is that your company does not need to keep the updates and fixes any errors that may occur. Additionally, you can access your information from anywhere, just a connection to the internet is required.

Financial Control

For the management of cash flow, accounts payable and receivable, and NF-issuance of bills, there are online tools which are very interesting. Nowadays there’s more to be using Excell spreadsheets for financial control!

This information is critical for your company and providers of these services know this well. Modern techniques are used in these security softwares such as SSL which is applied on internet banking facilities, ensuring that all information posted to the site is safe.

The system full of forms and screens, complicated and that always gives problems, needs to be left behind!

Well, that’s it. Cloud computing is here to stay and help small businesses with solutions that previously only large businesses had.

I am constantly participating in events on Cloud Computing and one of the coolest things about these events are the conversations on a cup of coffee, those intervals where good ideas can be exchanged. A recurring theme that arises in the discussions now and then is SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), and just listing some interesting questions worth sharing here.

Summarize, informally, expectations that heard in conversations and have listed. First were cost issues, such as reducing the cost of capital (capex) and operating costs (opex), convert fixed costs into variable and simplify the management of applications. Then, nearly tied with expectations of cost reduction, appear to speed implementation, speed time-to-market and improvements in business processes.

Analyzing these data, it became clear that the expectations of CIOs and business executives with whom I spoke was that SaaS should not only reduce capex avoiding the costly purchase of licenses, but also opex, making the operation of the applications become cheaper than keep it in the on-premise version.

This is very much in line with the concerns of businesses today. A recent survey of 500 CEOs in showed that it takes away the sleep of these executives, such as the country’s economic situation facing the global crisis, competition increasingly fierce, the consistency of the internal market and the lack of skilled labor. How this is reflected in IT and CIOs? Reducing costs, but at the same demanding more agility and efficiency. In short, the maxim “do more with less” is more current than ever.

Thus, SaaS solutions have to clearly show these advantages for users to implement. In parallel talked to many executives of software companies and it is clear to me that although they know that they should enter the SaaS world, many do not have a clear idea of how and when to make this transformation. Moreover, fear of cannibalizing its current business model compared to a model that is not adequately understood.

But gradually we see that the suspicions and questions begin to be broken. Successful examples appear here and there. The global software industry as a whole, is already moving in this direction and maybe in a few years, by the late (?). Most software is already being marketed by the SaaS model.

Also noticed a latent concern in CIOs I talked. As SaaS attracts more users, there is the threat of what we call “shadow IT” ie those applications that are at a click (and a credit card) away, allowing users to implement a SaaS application without knowledge of the IT area. An interesting question was raised by a CIO. His company is planning to develop and make available to its customers a suite of mobile applications that will run on a public cloud hosting solution. And he is unsure about how to integrate these applications with enterprise systems and maintain data security, and support solutions that provide customers get when possible (but likely) problems arise in the use of these applications. Well, there are some technological solutions integration between mobile applications and internal systems. But it is clear that it will not be solved just by this. Change in processes and even the skills of IT professionals will also be required.

The “Shadow IT” is a challenge. If users begin purchasing apps without IT knowledge (and it’s hard to argue against an allegation of an area of business that the SaaS application that will make more money) a time bomb is armed. Sooner or later many of these applications will require integration with other, if they are in other clouds, or are on-premise legacy systems. “Shadow IT” is not a nightmare to wake dissipates. It is something very likely to happen if the IT department is not agile enough to set the game rules regarding the use of SaaS software.

Talking to some CIOs, raised together some points that they should include in the rules of the game for their companies to adopt SaaS and acquisition model on their own. How about calling it BYOA (Buy Your Own Application)?. We also found that users must be aware of the risks of business continuity if the SaaS application is not offered by a provider that meets minimum requirements of resilience in your data center.

Anyway, the result was that in practice it will balance the risk to the business with the value that the application will bring to the company. And the areas that users who opt for a “Shadow IT” solution are fully aware of the pros and cons. Thus, IT will act as an ally of the process and will not be a barrier in the way. After all, barriers are bypassed sooner or later.

Cloud computing represents a new paradigm for understanding the technological services. The versatility of the infrastructure and model-based platforms enable cloud infrastructure managers to expand its catalog of current services and add new. An example of new services developed from the Cloud Computing IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) model would be the RAAS service (Recovery as a Sevice or Disaster Recovery Services). This service offers a replication and disaster recovery based cloud that keeps a copy of their systems and information in a second location as a contingency platform disaster or unavailability of the platform housed in the original location.

Backup system and application services are having a good acceptance since they are a flexible solution that adapts to the needs of each client and to guarantee Times Reduction Objectives (RTO) and recovery (RPO) by automating tasks and Replication recovery. Recovery Point Objective (RPO) can be aligned to the business needs of the client, which allows adapting the service to the objectives defined in the Corporate Business Continuity Plan of each company. Among the main benefits of a service, Disaster Recovery emphasizes the ability to protect business-critical systems, including the recovery of operating systems (Windows and Linux) and application recovery, thereby reducing the risk and costs associated with the unavailability of information.

Being hosted in these safe accommodation geographically separated from the original, you get increased security (floods, terrorism, …), although it should be noted that the contingency accommodation must meet the same legal requirements. Another key benefit of disaster recovery is based on cloud hosting scalability when defining the scope in terms of the services to be protected. This allows to adapt to any conditions included in the corporate contingency plan. The client can start protecting those most critical servers exclusively for your business to go further or even migrating additional services to complement existing backup system in other sites.

RAAS in some ways represents an evolution of traditional replication technologies (DRS), but be a service developed in Cloud Computing IaaS mode allows significant cost savings, as it eliminates the need to purchase hardware, book space, allocate human resources to the preparation and execution of tests, etc.. Paying only for the services used. Operation of a Disaster Recovery service Although the operation of the Disaster Recovery services may vary depending on the provider, you can generally extend the protection from physical or virtual machines to different virtual platform.

Bear in mind that while it is possible to replicate physical servers, few providers support it, and if it makes the physical servers support at source on servers in the datacenter contingency. virtualization (and the fact that replication is done from the hypervisor) offers advantages that can be applied to business continuity and disaster recovery, including: statewide encapsulation of a virtual machine (memory, disk images, E / S, and the status of the device). Encapsulation allows the state of a virtual machine that is stored in a file. Save the state of a virtual machine to a file that allows the transfer of an entire virtual machine to another host. Hardware independence eliminates the need for a complete replica of hardware in the recovery site.

This eliminates the cost of purchasing and maintaining a system that is inactive until a disaster occurs. Hardware independence allows an image of the protected site system to boot from the disc on the recovery site in minutes instead of days. This phase will determine the replication mechanisms suitable for each application (hypervisor, data backup, mechanisms of the application), consistency that is minimum necessary for all applications to launch its services in the contingency site (crash, file, application), and the RTO can be expected throughout the plan from the applications and data volume comprising the protected platform. During the second phase, it will proceed to the installation and commissioning of the platform contingency.

This phase will take place when the replication settings hypervisor level and cabin, and creating scripts and reconfigurations required (network, nomenclature, DNS) for the proper functioning of the recovery plan. Then proceed to the execution of the first tests of the RTO recovery and establishment of reference and the creation of a Disaster Recovery Plan. It is a consensus document on establishing the protocol for the formal declaration of a disaster and the activation procedure contingency site.

In the third and final phase, it will be the management of the service. In this phase periodic testing to ensure the proper functioning of the service is done. One advantage of using virtualization in the contingency site is ease to perform recovery drills without affecting the protected site. This feature reduces the risk of failure recovery when this is necessary. During the test simulates the full recovery of services and any discrepancy is detected between the recovery plan and the changes that have been made at the protected site. This recovery plan is updated. Periodic tests help to detect changes in the RTO and take corrective action.