Five Tips for SMBs Looking to Redefine Cloud Computing

By Allison Boccamazzo, TMCnet Web Editor

Aren’t you sick of it by now? It seems like cloud computing is just as hard to navigate as swimming through a murky pool (something you wouldn’t want to be caught dead doing anyways). You hear one person claiming the cloud is nothing special – or new – while the stats continue to pile high defending and proclaiming the skyrocketing rate which the cloud is being adopted. Who to trust and what to do can often leave you confused; however, one thing cannot be disproved: the cloud is big.

So big, in fact, that analysts from Fresh market research from Renub and IDC (News - Alert) show that spending on the cloud – whether public or private – will continue to grow; so much so, that it is predicted to top $100 billion by 2016. As Frank Gens explains in this Service Angle article, the IT industry is most definitely caught in an important transformative period. Many are looking to invest and adopt technologies which will drive growth and expand innovation over the next two or three decades, he adds, but how can they begin to do this?

The private cloud is going strong, notes research analysts, where in Renub Reseach’s “Private Cloud Computing Market & Forecast to 2015: Worldwide Analysis,” it was discovered that application virtualization tools are leading the private cloud segment and currently make up close to 40 percent of the market. Even more, it’s being predicted that this will expand further nearing 2015.

This recent techgoondu article elaborates on how small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have turned to cloud computing for a number of valuable reasons – from increasing productivity to improving customer services to simply trying to stay ahead of the competition. So how can you leverage the private cloud to keep swimming ahead as a single fish in this abundant sea of contenders? The site gives us some helpful tips below.

Define Your Needs

Cloud computing has undoubtedly, as techgoondu says, “leveled the playing field” for SMBs. So much so that compared to back in the day, they simply would not be able to afford such sophisticated business applications. In order to become part of the great majority of SMBs who leverage the cloud to achieve such things as a competitive advantage and increased employee productivity, it’s first crucial to first map out exactly what you’re looking to achieve. “Articulating [your] needs clearly will go a long way in choosing the right cloud service provider,” techgoondu says. Perhaps you’ll even find that holding off on jumping the bandwagon is best for you – who knows – but you must do what is right for you.

Speaking of…

Speaking of choosing the right service provider, don’t hastily select just any which happens to come your way. I can’t possibly imagine that’s how one would go shopping at the mall for a specific item in mind. Depending on the type of cloud you want to work within will also play a large role in the outcome. Take, for example, Adaptive Computing, a major player in private cloud management solutions, who offers specific advantages through its Moab Cloud Suite – an intelligent cloud management end-to-end platform. Let’s say you’re looking to reduce service delivery time, improve utilization, reduce service provisioning, delivery and maintenance costs or eliminate outage incidents – then this could be the right match for you. Line up what provider has to offer and see if it’s looking good or easy to pass up. Taking the time to thoroughly do this research cannot be stressed enough.

Not Ready to Make the Complete Move (Yet)?

Then you’ll need to integrate existing data housed on your in-house IT systems with your cloud service. “Your customer profile data, for example, may be tied closely to a legacy system which may be difficult to decouple,” says techgoondu. “While integration is usually done through APIs, consider tapping on integration services provided by systems integrators to speed up the process.”

Don’t Make the Implementation Mistake

It’s the most common yet easily preventable one of them all. techgoondu explains how according to a study by Dell (News - Alert), early cloud adopters reported that if they had better planning and preparation, their move to the cloud would have been much easier and effortless, and therefore more successful. Come up with some ideas, and if need be, go back to the drawing board. When making such a critical move, you want to ensure nothing but success. Identify key business and IT transformations with measurable benefits, which can help you avoid issues such as long deployment cycles, limited integration and lack of proper training, techgoondu insists.

Interested in learning more about what could be the right solution for you? Get started here.

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