Top 4 benefits of the cloud for SMBs

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While cloud computing has been lauded as one of the biggest innovations in technology in recent years and as a growing number of companies have adopted the cloud, there are still some holdouts. Despite its popularity, some small businesses in particular still don't think the cloud is within their reach. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The benefits of cloud computing are especially advantageous for smaller organizations. In fact, businesses with less than 20 employees have a 68 percent adoption rate of cloud services compared with 53 percent of companies with between 500 and 1,000 workers according to information cited by Venture Beat. The cloud provides small companies with a variety of benefits, below are the top four:

1) Collaboration
With a small company, the employees are typically more involved with one another than in a major corporation. The cloud enables collaboration to take place more effectively and efficiently, as everyone can work on the same projects and documents in one central location. Having a streamlined center for edits and changes to be made dramatically reduces the back-and-forth emails and the amount of time spent searching for the necessary materials common with traditional collaboration methods.

According to a recent survey of global workplaces by Frost & Sullivan, organizations that deploy more advanced tools achieve a 400 percent return on their collaboration investments as compared with companies that stick to traditional techniques.

2) Security
The cloud provides invaluable data security and backup. Physical document storage solutions – laptops, external hard drives, USBs, etc. – are easily lost or stolen and devices can crash without notice, leaving documents unsaved and gone forever. Cloud storage services offer a secure option available online so files will never be lost or destroyed because of human error or network issues.

Using the cloud for data storage also helps to protect against attacks by cybercriminals. Security firm Alert Logic found in its 2014 Cloud Security Report that cloud environments are actually safer than on-premises solutions. According to the study, brute force attacks occurred 30 percent more frequently in on-premises data centers.

3) Flexibility
Use of the cloud enables companies to experience greater flexibility and mobility, allowing employees to work from anywhere with a connected device. This is especially advantageous for smaller companies as it allows workers to travel and move around as necessary to grow the business while still being able to connect with the home office and be productive.

4) Low cost
Perhaps the greatest benefit the cloud offers to small businesses is the ability to pay as you go. Cloud services are incredibly scalable and easy to expand or contract as necessary. Such a model is ideal for growing companies with uncertain capacity needs. The cloud also offers inexpensive start-up costs and regular software and security updates that reduce maintenance and licensing fees.

According to information cited by Venture Beat, 70 percent of companies using the cloud were able to invest the money they saved with the technology back into the enterprise, increasing growth and revenue.

Mobile cloud services market growing fast, new study finds

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A recently released study by Markets and Markets on the mobile cloud market found the sector is poised to make rapid gains in the next five years.

According to the “Mobile Cloud Market by Application & by User: Worldwide Market Forecast and Analysis” report, the market is projected to increase an a compound annual growth rate of 37.8 percent between 2014 and 2019, jumping from $9.43 billion to $46.9 billion.

One of the reasons the mobile cloud market has picked up momentum as quickly as it has is because of the increased convenience realized through the use of the cloud. Information is available in a single, streamlined interface and can be accessed from anywhere with often just an Internet connection. This plays into the major factor driving the rise of the mobile cloud market, according to the report. An increased demand from consumers for connectivity has been met by cloud computing, as the technology provides interoperability and connections previously unavailable.

The study noted that the transition of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets away from being used solely as forms of communication or entertainment toward enterprise means has also helped to push the adoption of mobile cloud services, as users are interested in applications that allow them to access all of their data with a single click.

Businesses especially benefit from mobile cloud access
Since the creation of the Internet, nothing has quite shaken up the technology industry quite like cloud computing. As an increasing number of organizations are realizing the business benefits of the cloud, the services and applications that complement the technology have also grown more popular. Enterprises especially are able to experience advantages from the connectivity offered from the cloud, as enhancing the connection to clients and vendors enables improved responsiveness and agility.

As cloud-enabled mobile applications and services earn a larger foothold in the business world, protecting enterprise information is becoming a growing concern. Data security and privacy were both cited as key challenges in the report, and many organizations are held back from experiencing all of the benefits of the cloud because of security concerns. Deploying a cloud platform with the help of an experienced third-party service provider is a simple and reliable way to ensure sensitive data remains private and secure. Cloud service providers utilize tools and techniques like encryption when hosting client files, increasing the security of information and the benefits an organization can realize with the cloud.

Don’t be left in the cold when it comes to disaster recovery

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David Thiemecke, co-founder of Web consulting company Algonquin Studios based in Buffalo, New York, took the time last year to prepare for the inevitability of a damaging winter storm by migrating the company's critical operations to the cloud and allowing issues to remedied remotely.

"We would use those services as our backup data center for quickly moving virtual machines, and have previously planned for the process to migrate what few production services remain in-house," said Thiemecke in an interview with CSO. "We can also move our development and test platforms if necessary."

Luckily for Thiemecke, he planned ahead. Late November brought a storm that slammed parts of Buffalo, dropping more than seven feet of snow over the course of three days. Multiple businesses were disrupted due to the storm and now rising temperatures are causing the giant mounds of snow to become flooding risks. Due to the arrangements already in place, Algonquin Studios experienced zero downtime and employees were able to work remotely, avoiding the dangerous conditions on the roads.

Keep data safe by planning ahead
Disaster recovery is an important step for any business working to avoid wasting the time and money associated with enterprise data loss. Stephen Bigelow, senior technology editor for TechTarget, has noted that while organizations face a variety of risks on a daily basis, data loss is one of the most serious. Any company operating today needs to be concerned about protecting critical information and reducing downtime to as close to zero as possible.

"Disaster planning and preparation are a critical aspect of any business plan," said Bigelow. "But there is no single approach to disaster preparedness and the emphasis on disaster response is changing."

When implementing a disaster recovery solution, it's important to do an audit of all the enterprise information that will need to be replicated and stored in order to assess storage priority. Disaster recovery and business continuity operations must be periodically tested and practiced in order to ensure a smooth transition to backup processes in case of an emergency.

By deploying disaster recovery operations in the cloud, businesses are able to not only save money, but a third-party service provider can manage and oversee testing to reduce the time and hassle of doing it in house. Many cloud-based disaster recovery providers also take steps to encrypt privileged enterprise information, so it is protected at rest.

Creating a disaster recovery plan is a good teaching tool for employees as well as a reliable way to ensure business continuity. Organizations can use the migration of information to the cloud as an opportunity to tell their workers about the importance of data security and to back up sensitive files.

Using the cloud to track the flu

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Last year, in the midst of the government shutdown, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was left unable to monitor the movement of flu outbreaks in the country. While tracking the flu may not seem like such a major task, healthcare providers across the country rely on information from the CDC to know what to expect from the patient population in order to appropriately stock necessary supplies. To make matters worse, the shutdown occurred at the beginning of October, just about the time flu season was kicking into high gear.

To fill the void left by the CDC, athenahealth stepped in and used its resources to get the job done with the help of cloud computing. athenahealth, an electronic health record and billing management company, used its expansive online database to look at flu-related claims in real time in order to identify patterns regarding where outbreaks of the virus were occurring.

While there are other cloud-based services that perform a similar task, they often provide less precise information. Google Flu Trends, for instance, measures outbreaks based on flu-related searches in a certain area which can cause overestimates about the number of doctor's visits actually taking place. The results gathered by athenahealth's cloud database, on the other hand, were in line with previous CDC statistics, suggesting a high level of accuracy.

Cloud-based health initiatives gaining traction
Now that the shutdown is over, cloud-based tracking systems are still being utilized. This year, data gathered from electronic health records from across the country and stored in the cloud have made it possible for health professionals to see that early cases of the flu are beginning to occur more frequently. Because cloud-based data from EHRs tracks information collected during visits to the doctor, trends can be tracked on a daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly basis, allowing for a more accurate view of the trajectory of the virus. For instance, information gathered by athenahealth showed that patients visiting pediatricians that have been diagnosed with influenza-like illnesses increased almost 1 percent between Nov.9 and Nov.22.

A similar program by athenahealth subsidiary Epocrates was launched last year to provide doctors with important information about other kinds of health issues.  Called "bug+drugs," the program offers healthcare professionals a mobile app that uses de-identified patient data from the more than 43,000 providers using athenahealth's cloud-based software to help doctors identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria, like staph infections and E. coli, prevalent in their communities. The campaign is part of a larger effort to use the cloud to geo-locate specific health issues based on patients' ZIP codes.

While private, cloud-based healthcare companies aren't going to start taking over the job of the CDC, they are beginning to provide a larger number of services that benefit public health initiatives. Realizing the advantages of the help athenahealth provided while the CDC was unable to operate, the Ohio Department of Health now receives flu data from the company on a weekly basis. Other public health departments are utilizing the cloud to track the movements of diseases, and a variety of aid organizations in Africa are using the cloud to monitor the spread of the Ebola epidemic.

NFL stadiums undergo Wi-Fi transformation

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As technology has become a more prevalent part of everyday life, our devices have changed the way we interact with the world around us. Nowhere has this shift in behavior been felt more than the entertainment industry. Audiences no longer simply watch what is before them, but instead share reactions on social media, search for similar information online and talk to their friends about what is happening.

In order to accommodate this change, the NFL has undertaken an initiative to equip all stadiums in the league with improved Wi-Fi by the start of the 2015 season. Many arenas in the league already offer Wi-Fi access to spectators, but it often provides insufficient service, keeping fans from Googling player stats or posting a video of their touchdown dance. In an interview with USA Today,  NFL CIO Michelle Mckenna-Doyle said that part of the problem was that the league, as well as many of the teams, debuted mobile applications without first improving their network capacity.

In an interview with USA Today, Extreme Networks CEO Chuck Berger estimated that between 25 percent and 30 percent of visitors currently use the Wi-Fi networks offered by stadiums and expects that number to double within the next few years.

Large-scale stadiums present a unique challenge in terms of infrastructure. They are primarily built using steel and concrete, which makes it difficult for signals to penetrate. The surge of traffic at particular times can also be difficult for a network to handle, as fans all tend to get online at kickoff, half-time and as they are leaving the stadium complex. With these challenges in mind, specialized Wi-Fi networks have already been installed at the stadiums of the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans.

Wi-Fi networks benefit more than the fans
While an improved fan experience is certainly an important access of the effort to enhance Wi-Fi capacity, Berger noted that can also be used as a subtle way for teams to drive business.

"The franchises in the NFL are doing this not only to allow you to upload selfies but to take advantage of the commercial opportunity to send you promotional information," said Berger. "Tom Brady just threw a touchdown pass. Twenty-five percent off his jersey at the logo wear store. Things like that."

And the potential goes even further than just marketing. In an interview with CIO Online, McKenna-Doyle expressed an interest in leveraging the amount of fan data captured on the Wi-Fi networks to perform predictive analytics.

"What are leading indicators of things people are starting to do and early adopters are starting to do," said McKenna-Doyle. "What are things that pop on the screen that we haven't thought about yet? When data can be predictive is when it's most valuable. We'll spend a bit of time to see if we are meeting needs and the next goal is to predict what fans are going to want to do."

Fears about cloud security can be calmed with improved enterprise awareness

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As the use of cloud computing becomes more prevalent, a major topic of discussion within enterprises has been the safety of the technology. While many organizations have implemented the cloud, some are still skeptical of its ability to sufficiently protect sensitive information and reduce the chance of a data breach. In fact, a survey of CIOs earlier this year revealed that 70 percent consider security concerns to be the biggest barrier to cloud deployment, NetworkComputing reported.

Another survey recently released by InformationWeek Reports found that IT decision-makers are most worried about security and data resiliency when considering the cloud. Four of the top 10 concerns about cloud computing were related to those two topics. However, there seemed to be a discrepancy in the level of concern about security and the level of trust in the cloud's ability to protect an enterprise network. While 17 percent of those surveyed said the cloud significantly increases the chances of a data breach, 14 percent said the technology decreases the likelihood and 35 percent reported that the cloud has no impact on the occurrence of a security intrusion at all.

According to a separate study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, the cloud is safer depending on what segment of the enterprise you ask. Almost two-thirds of business leaders surveyed said that IT security is not compromised by use of cloud computing, and 35 percent reported an increase in security due to the cloud.

Increased enterprise oversight greatly improves cloud security
One reason there is a perceived lack of security in the cloud is due to an overall insufficient use of encryption. According to information from SafeNet, only 38 percent of U.S. companies encrypt important data. Such statistics reveal that cloud computing isn't unsafe so much as enterprises don't take the steps to secure their information residing in the cloud. Another easily avoidable security issue is the lack of involvement of IT security staff in cloud decision-making. In a study conducted by the Ponemon Institute, nearly 40 percent of IT security professionals reported that they were rarely involved in decisions related to procuring cloud services, and 9 percent reported never being included at all.

Many of the security risks enterprise decision-makers believe are caused by the cloud are actually the result of insufficient data security policies and a lack of involvement from in-house IT staff. While it is nearly impossible to completely prevent a data breach from ever occurring on an accessible network, there are ways to greatly reduce the likelihood of a breach and dramatically improve the security of enterprise information storage.

Organizations commonly have concerns about the privacy of information stored with a third-party provider in a multi-tenant environment. These fears can easily be quelled through the use of a private cloud platform or a hybrid solution. Only one company's information is stored within a private environment, which eliminates the chance of outside eyes prying on sensitive data. With a hybrid option, the most privileged information is stored in a private environment and less critical data and applications are kept in a more accessible public area.

Top 4 reasons more companies than ever are deploying cloud platforms

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A recent study conducted by Dimensional Research found that the majority of enterprise IT decision-makers plan to deploy multi-cloud architectures within the next 12 months.

The report, which surveyed over 650 IT leaders in eight countries, discovered that 77 percent of respondents were planning on implementing multi-cloud architectures and are interested in utilizing interconnected colocation data center environments because of their increased reliability, security and performance. Researchers also found that 74 percent of participants expect to have larger budgets for cloud services in the coming year.

The study revealed the importance of interconnection to enterprises considering the cloud. Almost 90 percent of respondents indicated a need for interconnection to sufficiently meet their cloud performance objectives, either through direct connection to cloud services or high bandwidth interconnection to other clients. This strong desire for interconnection may be driven by the popularity of multi-cloud storage. According to the report, 74 percent of participants are preparing to implement a multi-cloud migration strategy, moving critical applications to a cloud platform maintained by a third-party service provider.

Enterprise cloud adoption is becoming increasingly popular for a number of reasons. Below are some of the biggest advantages to using cloud-computing in business:

1) Cost Efficiency: Installing and eventually upgrading software for all of the computers and mobile devices in an enterprise can be extremely expensive; it can also leave organizations vulnerable to security breaches and loss of competitive advantage. With the cloud, upgrades and security patches are included in the subscription price, so the newest and most secure version is always available without additional cost. Service is also extremely scalable, allowing businesses to pay only for the amount of computing power necessary and add extra capacity for a reasonable price later on. This enables a company and its cloud service to grow in tandem and always be in lock step.

2) Improve Accessibility/Mobility: With the cloud, documents and files are available to employees from any cloud-enabled device, improving remote working opportunities and staff collaboration. That accessibility enhances organizations to enter new markets and increase global presence, as the same platform used in the office is available to staff anywhere in the world and foreign communication can be done for a low cost over the Internet.

3) Ease-of-Use: Cloud infrastructures, especially those maintained by third-party providers, are dramatically simpler to create and manage than traditional IT environments. Any necessary configuration changes are taken care of by the service provider, and hardware and software installations are practically eliminated. Additional services or features can also be quickly and easily made available, reducing time to market and improving ROI.

4) Security: With the ability to access documents from any Internet-connected device, the likelihood of employees using external hard drives or USB devices that can be lost or stolen is greatly reduced. Data security is also improved in the cloud, as third-party providers are almost certainly more comfortable with cybersecurity than an individual enterprise would be, as keeping files safe is one of the provider’s main areas of focus.

New York City turns pay phones into Wi-Fi hot spots

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New York City officials announced a $200 million plan this week to turn public payphones into Wi-Fi hot spots. The project, called LinkNYC, will transition the city's public payphone network into the world's largest and fastest free municipal Wi-Fi network. The thousands of payphones around New York City will be replaced with hubs that provide access to wireless Internet with speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second.

Maya Wiley, counsel for Mayor Bill de Blasio, said in an interview with CNET that LinkNYC will go a long way to provide Internet access to those without it. Wiley added that the program will be especially beneficial to lower income residents that rely on mobile connections to use the Internet in order to access city services.

New Wi-Fi program provides public service
The LinkNYC hubs will offer users free national phone calls, an embedded Android-capable tablet with access to directions and city services and charging stations. The tablet display will also be able to be used by the city to provide residents with emergency information or public service announcements. During Hurricane Sandy payphones became a critical resource for communication as many other avenues were disabled or jammed from high traffic. Residents will still be able to make emergency calls from the new Wi-Fi hubs and backup batteries will provide service for up to 24 hours in the event of an outage, The New York Times reported.

According to the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the LinkNYC Wi-Fi network will have speeds 100 times faster than the average municipal network and 20 times faster than what the average New Yorker would use at home. Someone using LinkNYC access would be able to download a 2-hour movie in 30 seconds, the Times reported.

The plan to transition New York's more than 6,000 payphones to Wi-Fi hot spots was initially conceived two years ago, and city has been beta-testing the project since then. The first 500 locations are expected to be ready for use by the end of next year, and the remaining sites will be completed within the next six years. The program won't cost anything for residents and the city expects to make much more from the new contract than it currently does from payphone franchisees, according to CNET contributor Ben Fox Rubin.

The project still needs to be approved by multiple city boards, but its outlook is optimistic and a developer has already been chosen to create the infrastructure.

New study finds Internet of Things continuing to expand

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A new study recently released by Gartner has found that use of the Internet of Things is growing, and an increasing number of devices now have IoT capabilities.

According to the report, 4.9 billion connected things are expected to be in use next year, an increase of 30 percent from 2014. The number of IoT devices is believed to be on track to reach 25 billion by 2020. Gartner researchers estimated that total spending on services supported by the IoT will reach $70 billion in 2015 before rising dramatically to $263 billion in 2020.

Part of the reason connected devices have seen such a dramatic growth recently is due to the powerful force the IoT has shown itself to be in terms of business transformation. The report discovered that while the increased number of connected things is being driven by consumer applications, enterprises will account for most of the revenue in the market.

"The number of connected intelligent devices will continue to grow exponentially, giving 'smart things' the ability to sense, interpret, communicate and negotiate, and effectively have a digital 'voice,'" said Steve Prentice, Gartner fellow and vice president. "CIOs must look for opportunities to create new services, usage scenarios and business models based on this growth."

Researchers also noted that traditional, mainstream products will start to be reinvented to include computing capabilities and provide them with a digital voice. The enhancement of objects once viewed as passive products will completely change their value propositions and create new services and business models. The study found that by 2020, the three industries with the highest level of IoT use will be utilities, manufacturing and government.

Security a major part of IoT expansion 
​A major point touched on by the report is the security repercussions of the IoT, as dozens of new platform options are brought into enterprise digital security architecture. Increased use of the IoT will also bring new security standards to each industry individually and provide a new view of applications. These changes will cause IT leaders to create a more comprehensive technological approach to IoT risk and security going forward. According to the study, 20 percent of companies will have digital security services devoted to protecting business initiatives using IoT devices and services in the next two years.

"The IoT highlights the tight linkages between information security, information technology security, operational technology security and physical security like never before," a statement from Gartner noted. "Executives now face a decision regarding the future of security in their enterprise and who governs, manages and operates it."

Modern firewalls: More than just perimeter protection

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When firewalls were first introduced in the early '90s, their technology focused mainly on the concept of stateful inspection, which is concerned with keeping track of the state of a network's connections. Over the past two decades, however, the Internet has grown dramatically and new security threats have emerged, causing many to predict the downfall of the firewall as a security mainstay. Now, with new technology and next generation firewalls, it appears those predictions may have been somewhat premature.

"As threats and infrastructures have evolved, the ability to control the flow of traffic on the network is more useful than ever,"said Gil Shwed, inventor of stateful inspection and CEO of Check Point, in an interview with Computer Weekly. "Firewalls have evolved to become more comprehensive and, for most organizations, still form a key part of the information security technology stack."

Next generation firewalls dig deeper to enhance enterprise security
Modern firewalls have moved past simply monitoring certain ports or activity between addresses and are now able to allow or deny decisions. Firewalls are now capable of providing IT leaders with insights into the threats facing an enterprise that can then be used to create a more comprehensive defense strategy.

While some critics have suggested that firewalls are no longer sufficient network perimeters as company data is stored in a variety external locations, Shwed argues that what is part of an internal, trusted infrastructure and what is not is still clearly defined and therefore possible to create a perimeter around.

"Organizations use many different ways to access corporate data, such as clientless and client-based VPNs, from a range of devices or cloud applications – but the borders are still present," explained Shwed.

APTs and the IoT, no match for modern firewalls 
​Modern, next generation firewalls are being deployed by both public and private sector organizations to defend against high-profile attacks like advanced persistent threats. APTs utilize highly skilled hacking techniques and creative strategies to slip past even the most sophisticated defense measures undetected. Next generation firewalls are able to protect enterprise networks from this threat by supplementing traditional perimeter security strategies with content filtering, intrusion detection and application control features.

Firewalls are especially beneficial to organizations embracing the Internet of Things. With the IoT, there are often devices that are connected to the Internet – and are therefore able to be hacked – that cannot run the most recent security software, leaving them vulnerable to cybercriminals. Low-tech connected devices like printers and phones can now be protected through the use of a firewall. Any machine connected to an enterprise network can be included within the perimeter set up by a next generation firewall, proving increased protection and threat defense.

As FedTech Magazine contributor Mike Chapple pointed out, IT departments are able to benefit from the single management interface offered by modern firewalls and the entire enterprise experiences advantages from multiple security features working in concert with one another.