How Distributed Cloud Computing Enhances User Experience

May 18, 2022

As cloud technology is gaining popularity, businesses are encountering challenges such as security and reliability. This explains why the cloud market, edge computing, multi-cloud, and hybrid cloud are staging the ground for distributed cloud computing.

New generations are ready to move on from traditional methods and technologies to the cloud. This is possible once businesses access the distributed cloud computing technology to enhance user experience and other tasks.

What is distributed cloud computing?

Distributed cloud computing is a technology that provides businesses with better knowledge about the market to fulfill customers’ needs with inexpensive IT systems. There are three origins of the distributed cloud:
• Public cloud
• Hybrid cloud
• Edge computing

Benefits of distributed cloud computing

Public cloud providers distribute services in different locations. The facilities are available to organizations that require low latency computational abilities.

This will help control the consistency in the location to manage the public and cloud infrastructure through a single channel.

Distributed cloud computing will provide major benefits with improved performance. This is possible after eliminating the latency problems and reducing the risk of control plane inefficiencies or global network outages.

With the distributed cloud, you can create cloud networks, storage, and compute in a shared environment. These storage networks are available in different zones. Some experts call these zones substations, which makes a lot of sense after understanding their qualities.

For instance, you can use the nearest branch of the local post office to avail their services.

The support, innovation, and productivity will not change because the public cloud providers will be responsible for managing distributed cloud substations.

Below, you will find some benefits of the distributed cloud:

Distributed cloud will increase compliance

This will ensure that the data is available in a specific location where customers can easily avail benefits.

The system will reduce the risk of network failure as the data is available in local and semi-local subnets. Different compute zones will be available with an increasing number of locations.

Distributed cloud computing and enhancement of user experience

Distributed cloud computing tools enable businesses to process data in real-time. They can also manage their data and create a data foundation. They can enhance the user experience by driving new and innovative strategies with accuracy, consistency, and relevant data.

Distributed cloud computing solutions allow businesses to customize their solutions to develop long-term customer relationships and offer faster, seamless services.

With this advanced version of cloud computing, they can enhance their responses to discover customer preferences.

Distributed cloud computing and the future

Technology experts are planning the future of distributed cloud computing by keeping in mind the business sector’s needs, interests, and similar industries. They focus more on cloud strategy, which concisely provides faster and better solutions to businesses.

Technology plays a vital role in enhancing business performance. However, businesses still need a solution so they can simplify their complicated IT structures. To drive better outcomes, businesses require an IT solution such as distributed cloud computing to simplify their tasks and activities and facilitate their customers with a better user experience.

Filed Under: Cloud Tagged With:

Three Big Ways To Improve Your IT Next Year

December 1, 2020

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

As we head into 2021, are your IT system due for an upgrade?

Here are three key things you can do to improve your IT and keep your business running smoothly into the years ahead.

Move applications to the cloud
The benefits of moving your business to the cloud are clear.

It will reduce your IT costs, improve the level of security, and give you the ability to quickly scale up your IT resources as needed.

You may currently work with a hybrid setup with bits and pieces of your IT in the cloud and other parts of your business still running locally.

With the right IT support team helping you, moving fully to the cloud is smooth and effective.

Take security seriously
It’s hard to read any technology news without reading about the damage cybercrime can do.

Cybersecurity issues can impact all devices connected to the Internet, and businesses are prime targets for hackers looking for an easy payday.

Fall victim and your business could grind to a halt. And your reputation can take a real battering.

Investing in help from a proactive IT support partner who knows what they’re doing is key to keeping your business safe.

Treat your team to new computers
Upgrading your computers is an investment worth making.

You’ll get a happier and more productive team for sure.

New computers will also reduce the amount of time your staff spend fighting with technology that’s slowing them down. The mental boost this can provide is huge, as are the productivity gains your company will see.

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

What Exactly Is “The Cloud?”

November 23, 2020

You may have come across people talking about ‘cloud’ storage and software that runs in ‘the cloud.’

But what exactly is ‘the cloud,’ and why should you care about it?

A place for networking
The cloud is a bunch of servers that are connected to each other over the internet.

Tech firms like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon run huge networks of servers that let their customers (us) log in using different devices.

Can you imagine a situation where all your photos from the last 10 years were only held on your phone and not stored safely elsewhere? How many memories would you lose if your phone went missing?

The high freedom, convenience, and security offered by the cloud has seen a huge shift to cloud computing over the last few years.

It’s powerful stuff
Cloud infrastructure allows you to run apps and access data across multiple devices without needing to have everything installed on your devices.

This opens opportunities for businesses to offload computing and storage resources to cloud service providers, gaining the flexibility to easily boost or reduce resources as their needs change.

A real perk of running software in the cloud is that it means highly sophisticated applications can run from your computer or phone, with the cloud doing all the heavy lifting.

This can significantly reduce the amount you need to spend on your devices and how often they need to be replaced.

The cloud is also a collaborative place to be. Tools like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace make it super easy to share documents and work as a team. You can even work together in real-time and give each other instant feedback as you go.

Ignore its fluffy reputation: The cloud’s a tough cookie
When set up and managed correctly, the cloud is the safest place to keep your data.

Let’s be honest, which is more likely: Colin leaving his laptop in a bar again? Or the might of an Amazon or a Google getting hacked?

If Colin loses that laptop, he’ll get a slap on the wrist. If Google get hacked, it would cost them millions and millions of dollars and cause irreparable damage to their reputation.

Different types of cloud

There are three main types of cloud.

Private cloud
The private cloud is a network of servers that are dedicated to supporting a single business.

The hardware is solely dedicated to this business, and they allow organizations like the CIA and banks to have full control over every aspect of their cloud environment.

Public cloud
The public cloud refers to networks of servers that are wholly controlled by cloud service providers. Clients share resources with other people.

The public cloud costs less than setting up a private cloud, and there is far less maintenance and an extremely high level of reliability.

Hybrid cloud
Some firms like to mix and match private and public clouds for different needs. Hybrid cloud setups let businesses quickly move between the two as their needs change.

We’ll help you to make sense of it all.

When embracing the cloud, it’s best to have an experienced hand guide you to the right solutions.

Working with the right IT support partner early will help make sure that you head in the right direction. And make the most of the opportunities that cloud computing offers. Give us a call at (734) 457-5000 if you’d like more information.

Filed Under: Cloud Tagged With: ,

What Exactly Is The Cloud? And Is It Safe?

September 30, 2020

It’s the kind of question you’d think would be easy to answer, until someone asks you: What exactly is the cloud?

Put simply, it’s using someone else’s computers over the internet to do things we used to do in our own computers. Like run software or store data.

When you run software in a tab in your browser, that software is still running on a computer… it’s just not your computer. That means you can run very powerful applications without needing a powerful computer. Excellent!

So, is the cloud safe? The answer is that it depends.

While there’s no technology that is 100% safe – working with the larger cloud providers is often safer than running things on your own network. Simply because they have dedicated teams of security experts.

You should also focus on making sure your business’s use of the cloud is safe too. Such as by:

• Never ever sharing logins (even amongst your team members)

• Making sure you use randomly generated passwords protected by a password manager, and

• Keeping all devices 100% up-to-date at all times with Updates and Next-Gen Anti-Virus tools

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The Biggest Cloud Advances In The Last Decade

February 27, 2020

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

Yes, believe it or not, we have closed out yet another decade in technology. As we are entering the second generation of the “Roarin’ 20s,” it felt like the perfect time to look back on the ‘10s.

Even though cloud technology was widely available prior to 2010, the technology has made significant strides in gaining acceptance as the defacto business solution. From communications to storage to backup, the cloud is now where it is at.

In the beginning….
There were three cloud giants that emerged. Between Google, AWS and Microsoft, the cloud market was valued at an astonishing $24.65 Billion.
[Read more…]

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Top Reasons To Jumpstart Your Paperless Initiative

December 10, 2019

Want to “go paperless” with your company? See the many benefits of paperless business and learn how to jumpstart this initiative for effective results.

Many businesses toy around with the idea of “going paperless,” but what’s actually in it for the companies who decide to go through with it? To be sure, not all businesses are cut out to go paperless.

Certain documents in certain industries simply must be in paper form. Therefore, depending on your industry and unique company needs, you may end up unnecessarily complicating affairs if you try to do everything digitally.

At the same time, a great many companies will benefit significantly from making this change. Below, we’ll go over the specific reasons why it might be a good idea for your company. First, though, let’s define what going paperless actually means.

What does it really mean to “go paperless?”
The term “going paperless” simply refers to the shift from printed documents to digital documents. For example, instead of printing invoices, order forms, and tax documents, a company would issue all of these documents digitally, sending them via email or storing them as files.

What are the top reasons to “go paperless?”
You’ll save money. Cloud data storage is a lot less expensive than on-premise data storage. Moreover, on-premise data storage forces you to pay for the maximum amount of storage you may need upfront. With cloud storage, you can easily scale your storage capacity up or down, depending on your needs.

You’ll have document access from everywhere
Most businesses who go paperless store their documents in the cloud. When you do this, access to these documents is available wherever you can find an Internet connection.

This makes it easier to hire remote workers, send employees on work trips, and access important information even when you’re away from the office.

You’ll save time
Consider the time it takes to print, scan, copy, collate, organize, and store all of your paper documents. Additionally, remember that when you have a huge number of documents to contend with, protocols and systems must be developed, instituted, and monitored. Lastly, think about how long it takes to find a specific document within your files. All of these tasks are time- consuming, and in any business, time is money.

When you switch to a digital system of document storage, you’ll be saving an immense amount of time. Documents can be digitally created, copied, sent, edited, and stored.

There’s no need to run to the printer or search through endless boxes for the paper file you need. When searching for files, you can simply pop a few keywords into the search bar of your data storage system, and voilà — it will appear!

You’ll save space
Consider how much space you currently use to store paper documents. From old tax returns and invoices to printed data and memos, an accumulation of individual sheets of paper can actually take up quite a lot of room. Digital documents, on the other hand, are virtually invisible. As long as you have enough data storage capacity available, you’ll gain tons of physical space when you make the switch to a paperless system.

Filed Under: Cloud, Data Management Tagged With: ,

The Cloud – Have You Harnessed Its Strategic Advantages?

October 1, 2019

The cloud may still feel like a new technology – but in reality, it’s been around for more than 10 years now. Does that make you feel old?

Let’s be clear about something – the cloud is here to stay. In recent years you may have still heard the occasional “industry insider” suggest that the world may be moving too quickly to an untested and unsure platform in cloud computing, but no more. The cloud is now an integral part of daily life for private consumer and business users alike.

What Is The Cloud?
The cloud is a network of technologies that allows access to computing resources, such as storage, processing power, and more. That’s where the data is – in these data centers all around the world. Which data center your data is in depends on what cloud service provider you’re working with.

The Cloud Isn’t As New As You Might Think
Would you say the cloud is “new”? To some, this may seem like a question with an obvious answer, but it’s not that simple. The way in which we think about technology can lead to something feeling new for a lot longer than would make sense otherwise.

After all, the cloud is more than a decade old, but a lot of people still think of it as a new technology.

You Need To Keep An Eye On Your Cloud
As beneficial as the cloud can be, it’s important to note that it can also pose risks if it isn’t managed properly. It all comes down to the classic binary relationship between convenience and security.

The cloud gives you unparalleled access to your data from anywhere with an Internet connection. That means that external parties (including cybercriminals) can have undue access to your data as well if you don’t take the necessary steps to secure your environment.

That’s why you need to monitor your cloud. No matter who you entrust your data to, you should ensure that you or someone in your organization is given appropriate visibility over your cloud environment. That way, you can guarantee that security and compliance standards are being maintained.

If you don’t have the resources to manage this type of ongoing monitoring, then it would be wise to work with the right third party IT services company.

Doing so will allow you to outsource the migration, management, and monitoring of your cloud.

You’ll get the best of both worlds – security and convenience.

Filed Under: Cloud Tagged With: ,

53% Of Businesses Have Publicly Exposed Cloud Services

June 26, 2018

Chris Myers is a field service technician for Tech Experts.

Malware comes in many different forms and is used by hackers in a number of different ways. It can be used to steal information, locate vulnerabilities in your IT systems for a secondary attack, or simply to cause damage.

There are countless hackers out there just waiting for your business to leave your data vulnerable. With the introduction of the cloud, you felt a bit more secure and slept slightly better at night – but now, it seems that was precisely what hackers wanted us to do.

A recent Cloud Security Trends study found that 53% of businesses using cloud storage accidentally expose their data to the public. This is like securing your whole house, locking all doors and windows, and then going to sleep with the garage wide open.

This doesn’t just point the finger at small businesses either. The study showed that even big-name companies such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) had inadvertently exposed one or more of these services to the public.

The scary thing is that the previous survey showed this was occurring only 40% of the time. Now, this number has grown to 53%.

This study was conducted in 2017 between the months of June to September. Within those two months, they found that businesses are not only exposing their own data but they are also neglecting vulnerabilities in their cloud. When you ignore these things, you put not only your customers at risk but also the livelihood of your company as well.

What Are You Exposing?
The report shows that businesses weren’t solely leaking data such as customer information, but incredibly dangerous information such as access keys and other private data as well.

These cyber-attacks commonly expose data such as personal health information, financial information, passwords and usernames, trade secrets, and intellectual property. With two million new malware attacks launching every day, it’s more important than ever to stay in a constant state of vigilance.

Ignoring Vulnerabilities
A common misconception is that it’s the service provider’s responsibility to keep cloud data safe – this is not true. Most of the damage caused by ignoring vulnerabilities can be prevented by training.

If your staff is trained to recognize weaknesses, then they can be more proactive in fighting against them. More than 80% of businesses are not managing host vulnerabilities in the cloud. Vulnerabilities include insufficient or suspicious credentials, application weaknesses, and inadequate employee security training.

Complex Attacks
Not all the attacks and vulnerabilities are the fault of the business. Some of these attacks are far more complex than most businesses are prepared for, including big-name companies. These sophisticated attacks not only know and bypass the company’s vulnerabilities but also various application weaknesses.

What Can You Do About It?
The first action you can take against attacks is recognizing suspicious IP addresses. Have a policy in place for identifying, flagging, and isolating suspicious IP addresses. Spending a few extra minutes of your time could save months of recovery and downtime.

It’s important to pay attention to mistakes that others have made so you don’t suffer the same consequences. Be sure to train and certify the IT staff you already have. Cyberattacks are guaranteed, but what isn’t guaranteed is how prepared your business is to thwart off those attacks.

Filed Under: Cloud, Online Privacy Tagged With: , ,

Five Ways To Take Your Business Paper Free

December 1, 2017

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

If you’re a small business owner, chances are you always have one eyes on your operating costs and the best way to reduce or eliminate extra expenses and improve staff efficiency.

One great way in which you can gain some great cost savings is by eliminating paper.

Paper-based tasks increase storage, postage, and compliance costs and can be a major overhead for modern-day businesses.

Here are five ways you can reduce paper usage and save yourself some cash in the process.

Smart Project Management

Traditionally, the process of managing company projects that involve different departments and multiple people generates massive amounts of paperwork.

More contemporary organizations are taking the smart project management approach through the use of cloud-based solutions, such as Basecamp, Asana or Trello, which allow you to ditch the paper while running a project online with unlimited users.

Electronic Payroll

Rectifying payroll issues costs half of all small business an average of $850 annually. Using decent payroll software reduces the errors and facilitates paperless processing. An electronic payroll system automates all the manual calculations such as tracking hours worked, calculating salaries, and filing taxes.

Salaries can also be paid electronically rather than printing checks or visiting the bank.

The additional benefits of electronic payroll include self-service functionality, and allowing staff to view their payroll data, such as personal details, tax deductions and pay slips online from any device.

Receipts and Invoices

Eliminate paper (and postage costs) by offering customers the option to receive electronic receipts either by email or text.

Your customer will then have it for future reference. Ask suppliers to issue and email digital invoices, which you can save into your accounting software.

Cloud Storage

Small businesses spend a lot of money to purchase, fill and maintain filing cabinets!

Switching to cloud storage can reduce most of this cost as many services, like Dropbox, offer a free allowance.

Most cloud-based options also allow you to organize documents into separate folders.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

CRM software can reduce the extent to which you rely on paper to store and track customer details, purchase orders, quotes and other correspondence.

Features include the ability to store customer data and interactions, manage staff details and vendors, and store documents.

Filed Under: Cloud, Data Management Tagged With: , ,

The Cloud Can Propel Your Small Business To The Next Level

April 11, 2017

The cloud has changed the way we do business and allows small enterprises to connect better with customers and innovate more rapidly. Organizations are moving more and more of their business operations to cloud-based platforms in a bid to take advantage of the speed, flexibility, and engagement opportunities these applications offer.

But what exactly do you stand to gain from embracing the cloud?

Speed
The cloud is helping businesses to bring new products and services to market much faster than ever before. As opposed to internal budgets and red tape to get a project prioritized, more and more organizations are turning their attention to the cloud to get things done.

Enhanced customer engagement
Data is big business in the contemporary business world, and an estimated 54% of the world’s top firms use big data to market, target, and retarget their products and services. The cloud is offering SMBs an ideal mechanism by which it is possible to connect more closely with customers to understand their behaviors and what they need.

A flexible system
Using the cloud is far from an all-or-nothing investment. In fact, most cloud-based service providers allow you to scale your usage in accordance with your business needs. If your data storage needs start off small, you can secure a suitable plan for what bandwidth you will actually use and then gradually upgrade the plan as your needs change. This means you can avoid large initial capital investments and simply pay a monthly fee that is aligned with your consumption.

Filed Under: Cloud Tagged With:
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