March 6, 2011
You’re already using cloud computing
Even if your business is in the process of migrating over to the cloud you might not be sure exactly what that means for you or your business. You might think you’re doing pretty well until someone mentioned IaaS or virtualizing a server and you’re just as confused as ever so let’s start at the beginning and see what these cloud computing companies are going on about.
Let’s start with something like an important document or a photo, it’s quite common to email it to yourself just in case the USB drive you’ve saved it on gets lost. Maybe you have an account with a popular site that allows you to listen to music, you create your play list at home and you can sign into your account at work and have that same play list waiting for you. These are examples of cloud computing and you’re already using them. You don’t have to save this information to your own hard drive instead it’s all stored for you at remote data centers this way you don’t have to be tied to one piece of hardware, you can get to this information from anything with an Internet connection.
Virtualization technology is the process whereby this data that would normally be stored on your own servers is moved to these remote data centers. The data is always there and you can access it at any time and from any location. Just like checking your email or updating your Twitter account you can do it from anything that connects to the internet which means you’re never tied to the same piece of hardware anymore. Data recovery is a lot easier, you can’t lose documents and if your hard drive crashes everything is still saved.
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Filed under Ecommerce And SEO News and Tips by phpvine
October 6, 2010
An Intro Guide To Information Management
Information management can mean different things to different people in different departments. The person who needs the data has to be able to get at it quickly and easily whenever they need it in the right format. This means that when a business user needs a critical piece of information it’s available.
Information management has a multitude of reasons as to why it’s so critical for any business. Smaller organisations that don’t have vast amounts of historical data will find information management easier. An example of this could be fixed assets. A business with effective information management would be able to tell at any given time where any piece of hardware or fixed asset was located. They’ll also be able to use asset tracking software to track the depreciation of fixed assets too. Most businesses tend to place too much significance on their applications. It’s the information behind them that’s significant and stays consistent whilst the applications are updated. Once data is no longer current and it becomes legacy it still needs to be filed as it may have significance at another time. As legacy data builds more and more organisations are starting to look at the data they hold rather than placing so much importance on the applications running.
This is the main reason why information management is so important to any organisation. The way a business uses its information like past sales records and which marketing campaigns returned the highest results will give it a more accurate steer to move forwards. It’s the data itself which is so core and not the applications and software used to display it which is important. The two main types of data are the structured and the unstructured. Because it’s the data which is so important information management doesn’t mean you necessarily need to invest in new application software. With an application focused business strategy you don’t always get to keep all the information you already have but you would with an information management strategy.
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Filed under Marketing Programs and Tools by ecommercesolution
January 22, 2010
The Utlimate Data Recovery Questionnaire
Data backup and recovery is one of the most overlooked parts of a company’s information technology. If your company does not have an adequate backup system, you are putting your digital assets at great risk. There are affordable backup and data recovery systems in every price range, so even companies with limited budgets can afford an elementary system at the very least. Also many computer services firms now offer backup and data recovery systems as integral parts of their managed IT services.
Some things to consider when thinking about your backup and disaster recovery solution(s):
1. What do I do if I delete a file I need?
2. Where is my email stored and is it backed up?
3. What if my computer crashes? Even if my data is backed up how long will it take me to rebuild my computer to a working state?
4. Is all of my backup data located in the same physical location?
5. Will a catastrophe wipe out my backup solution i.e. a flood?
6. Does my business count on any one system for business critical functions? How long can my business operate without a functioning system? Does my current backup solution accomodate that expectation?
7. Does anyone I work with know how to recover information if I need to use my backups that are in place?
8. Are my backups regularly tested so I know they are working?
9. Are my backups monitored so I know if they are ever failing?
10. Is the backup data media (i.e. hard drives or tapes) transferred in a secure, controlled manor since it contains all data for my entire business?
These questions covers about 1/4 of the questions that you should review when it comes to a practical backup and disaster recovery system so if you haven’t asked yourself these questions, start today! If you are overwhelmed, contact a local computer services provider which should be able to assist your company.