Five Proven Benefits of Cloud Services

How can your company get started with cloud computing? Well, consider following the market leaders. With a few more months of client experience, Forrester Research recently addressed the major questions that executives have about the adoption of cloud services.

The key benefits that most early adopters report do not start with costs -- but rather with business flexibility. According to those that have deployed it, the benefits of cloud computing, in order of importance, are:

1. Improving time-to-application deployment. Cloud platforms give you the option of developing and deploying new applications on existing infrastructure as quickly as desired. Traditional platforms can take up to three or four months to procure, install, and configure, stalling the application deployment process.

2. Aligning IT budgets with application demand. How many Web applications does your organization deploy without exactly knowing how popular they’ll be or how much capacity you’ll need to accommodate that popularity? Many of the early cloud adopters host customer and public-facing Web applications with cloud providers for this reason. They can pay just for the resources they use, hour by hour.

3. Accommodating peaks in demand for data center capacity. Cloud computing is also good for handling episodic spikes in demand for computing, storage, and network resources. Rather than provision for the expected peak of the holiday shopping season, retailers can push the additional demand into a cloud environment. Big batch jobs also fit this model.

4. Delivering applications without raising the budget. Cloud computing gives you the ability to deliver new applications without having to buy systems, avoiding an investment of your firm’s capital in new equipment. Application development and delivery can all be handled using pay-as-you-go operating expenses.

5. Sharing without putting the data center at risk. Many of the early adopters of cloud computing are looking for an inexpensive and easily accessible way to share information. Medical researchers are an example. Cloud services enable these organizations to host data on public clouds, rather than making their internal data center available to external parties.

Three Questions to Ask a Cloud Service Provider
How do you know if a managed cloud service provider is a good-fit for your business? Forrester concludes that you should ask all providers the following three basic questions:

• What are your enterprise references and what kinds of applications do those organizations run in your cloud?
• For which application scenarios does your cloud environment deliver the maximum flexibility and scalability?
• What security and reliability commitments do you make to your customers?
  

Non-Profit Gains Budget Relief for Telecom Needs

Non-profit organizations share many of the same communication challenges as other businesses. Their budgetary pressures can also create some unique situations, especially when you consider the scale of their ongoing outreach.

The Greater Illinois Chapter is one of over seventy Alzheimer's Association chapters serving communities across the United States. Currently, the Illinois chapter serves over half a million residents affected by the disease.

They're active in more than 60 counties in Illinois. Since 1980, the non-profit organization has provided information and support, as well as family services, for those affected by the disease. Staying connected to their numerous constituents, and the overall community, is essential.

Streamlining Communication Processes
As the chapter grew, they needed big business telecom functionality -- only on a non-profit budget. In the preparation to move into a new facility, the decision was made to replace their phone system. Managing six office sites, they needed a solution that would lessen the work load on their already strained small technical staff.

After evaluating several options for a voice and data network, the Alzheimer's Association selected Geckotech's SimpleVoIP phone service for its proven ability to deliver a reliable and highly flexible solution.

By utilizing a fully hosted service, the organization has gained additional functionality and operational efficiencies not available with their prior, and less capable, telephone system.

Communication Simplicity, by Design
By connecting all office locations over a common network, employees can use simplified four-digit dialing between locations. This inherent feature of the hosted solution has greatly reduced operating costs, by eliminating the expense of intra-company toll charges.

Geckotech's VoIP phones can be configured for hoteling (shared use), which is especially beneficial for volunteers who work in the office on a flexible schedule. Other features have enhanced ease of use -- such as an Automated Attendant that directs incoming callers to the correct department, call forwarding to mobile phones, and voicemail notification via email.

Resulting benefits from the changeover include a dedicated number and voicemail for the Special Events group, improved routing of incoming calls, free adds/moves/changes and access to a 24x7 technical support team at Geckotech.

Savvy Budgeting in a Tight Economy
These are trying times for non-profit organizations. However, meaningful budget relief -- and improved operational efficiency -- is possible for those organizations that make informed business technology decisions that are based upon a complete financial analysis of the alternatives.

The Alzheimer’s Association recognized a great return on investment with Geckotech's Hosted VoIP Phone service and their IT department has since enjoyed time spent on more pertinent projects, rather than babysitting the phone system.

Demand Fuels AT&T Managed Service Adoption in Private and Public Sectors

In the past few months, AT&T has announced increased demand for managed services on new contracts ranging from just under $5 million to more than $200 million, with companies in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. The range of both the deal size and the diverse applications indicates two key facets of managed services: its advantages truly span multiple business sectors, and organizations can deploy it by selectively out-tasking their networks.

The $4.9 Million Managed Services Contract
For instance, Evansville, Indiana-based Berry Plastics is consolidating a number of legacy networks into a single IP-based platform. You probably have one of the plastic products in your home that Berry Plastics manufactured. The multinational company has 68 manufacturing facilities worldwide and nearly 14,000 employees.

Its $4.9 million contract with AT&T includes the creation of an IP-based virtual private network (VPN) for its 76 domestic locations. Alan Letterman, manager of IMS Engineering and Technology for Berry Plastics, said in a statement that "information technology supports our business momentum and positions us for expansion."

The non-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association extended its managed services relationship with AT&T through two multi-million dollar contracts. AT&T will provide the BCBSA 39 member companies across the U.S. with services ranging from mobility, data, voice, hosting, Internet Protocol (IP) application support, consulting and managed services. BCBSA anticipates greater cost efficiencies and higher reliability for their network services.

The $223 Million Managed Services Contract
The most comprehensive of all the recently announced AT&T deals, though, was the $223 million contract with the County of Los Angeles. It's a five-year contract, renewable to twelve years, that covers all voice and data services for up to 1,000 county locations. The contract means AT&T will be supporting multiple network types, including IP, frame relay, and ATM; remote access; VPNs; local and long distance service; plus Web, video, and audio teleconferencing services.

When you assess each deployment in context, there's a common link connecting them, even though they represent diverse industries and business models. The leaders of each organization clearly faced significant cost pressures, and each proactively redirected their attention to a solution that didn't require significant capital investment.

Their deployments represent the ongoing trend for companies to outsource network infrastructure, choosing instead to focus on their core competency -- while still retaining the flexibility and agility they need to serve employees and customers with state-of-the-art telecommunications capabilities.

Several industry analysts are predicting a continued groundswell and increased momentum towards managed network service deployment. Furthermore, CIOs and IT managers who previously resisted this trend are now ready to join the movement. They recognize that service providers will adapt to their needs and address any lingering concerns that may stand in the way of adopting the solution to their current network operation challenges.

Small Community Banks, Big Managed Service Benefits

Community banks have attracted new customers by offering a truly personal banking experience that their larger rivals can't match, and by maintaining close ties to local communities.

However, all bank customers are demanding Business Technology driven services that many community banks simply can't provide with their current infrastructures. The lack of the latest technology can make migrating to new services prohibitively complex and expensive.

Community banks have depended on multiple providers for their voice and data networks. These banks found that they were paying substantially more for their network connections than larger institutions.

Moreover, having to deal with multiple providers can strain the smaller bank's modest IT staff. Implementing and operating a new converged voice/data/video IP network would overwhelm an IT team that usually handles simple tasks.

In addition, deploying a new IP network could negatively impact the community bank's operating budget. In fact, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for a typical bank's voice and data networks is second only to employee salaries and benefits.

Truly Demanding Operating Environment
Adding to these business challenges is the banking industry's strong emphasis on security and business continuity. Banks must be certain that their networks can pass their banking regulator's annual IT audit -- and deliver 24/7 services to customers in the event of a major disaster.

A strict regulatory environment and tight budgets make community bankers conservative when it comes to implementing technologies they consider unfamiliar. One solution that's proven, and likely to deliver lower operating costs, is the out-tasking of IT and communication network needs to a managed service provider.

A managed service solution can reduce a community bank's recurring voice and data expenses by 10 to 25 percent, with even greater reductions possible for larger banks.

Less Restrictions, More Freedom to Innovate
That said, an out-tasked IT and network infrastructure scenario isn’t purely about cost-reduction, it's also an enabler of customer service innovation. As an example, community banks are now deploying TelePresence applications that simplify the challenge of delivering full-service offerings at their distant branch locations.

A customer at an outlying branch can contact a bank officer at another branch and talk face to face without having to travel a great distance for the meeting. Plus, all required transactions can be completed locally.

Small community banks can now gain big Business Technology benefits, thanks to the creative use of managed services.

Intro to the Business Technology Roundtable

Today, the application of technology is an integral part of most businesses – in some shape or form. However, while many decision makers are now primarily concerned with using technology to pursue new business opportunities, and gaining business-related capabilities is their main objective, the vendors and suppliers that they encounter sometimes don't speak the same language.

Matching buyer's business needs with technology vendor's offerings is sometimes referred to as the business/technology alignment chasm. Filling that void with substantive information, meaningful guidance, and compelling "how-to" storylines is the charter of the Business Technology Roundtable (BTR). We seek to shed light where there has been an apparent absence of editorial illumination.

A business technologist -- perhaps a new term to some -- should be focused on driving business technology adoption, rather than purely the acquisition of new systems.

They should also value delivering business results promptly, instead of merely applying inventive product features and functions. Once informed, they'll likely crave low-cost integration into existing business processes, pay-as-you-go pricing, and efficient knowledge transfer.

Given this backdrop, new business technology adoption is often more dependent upon changing behavior than the common prior scenario -- changing underlying technology.

Within this new scenario, the insights and recommendations of trusted peers and independent subject-matter experts supersede all others in the process of choosing a justifiable approach, and supporting key business decisions.

As the co-authors of BTR, we will be on the lookout for resources -- plus proven and repeatable processes -- to speed-up the shift to subscription-based business technology offerings. We'll also highlight the competencies required to enable the facilitation of adoption education and acceleration.

A Call to Action
We invite you to join us in an exploratory dialogue about managed Business Technology services, and welcome contributions of your ideas and associated expertise, as we embark upon this journey together.