Posts Tagged ‘Cloud Computing’
Stampede to the Cloud – Are you “All in for the cloud”?
Thursday, September 9th, 2010
Tim Barret from NoGeekLeftbehind has done it again with his latest instalment of “Have you rebooted yet?”
Tim gets to what I think is the root of the Cloud Movement and nails it big time.
(reprinted with permission)
Tags: Cloud Computing, Humour
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Top 10 biggest cloud outages of 2010… so far
Thursday, July 8th, 2010
I think it’s great to finally see the media look at the potential risk of cloud computing rather than just pump up all the benefits. Maybe we can see a more balanced thought process start to develop out there in both the channel and vendor community. CRN yesterday posted this article on the 10 Biggest Cloud outages of 2010 – so far. You can read a little about it here It’s worthy to note that this is not even Australian based outages – but US based ones…
Not to be outdone – here’s Tim Barretts take on it too…
Tags: Cloud Computing
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If you are going to the cloud…
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
You might as well go with someone who knows a bit about it…. Robert Crane is not only knowledgeable in Sharepoint and how to get the most out of it, but he’s also the first to say he’s “Cloud and proud”… Rob’s been living in the clouds for the last few years (and I mean that in the nicest way.
As part of his knowledge base, Rob is now going live with a BPOS Portal offering of his own. Everything he knows about BPOS, you will find on his new BPOS portal. Yes he’s putting a subscription on it, but heck – it’s a small price to pay for one place for all this valuable information. Check out Robs announcement here
Tags: BPOS, Cloud Computing
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Sydney Business Development and Cloud Services workshop – Registrations NOW OPEN
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Robert Crane – leader of the Sydney SMB IT Professionals group has announced this morning that registrations for our next workshop are open. These workshops have been outstanding successes for all involved and if you are not part of it, I suggest you get moving along to be part of this. Just because you don’t live in Sydney, does not mean you can’t be part of it. We’ve webcast these events in the past and it’s open again.
Please enroll now for the SMBITPro – Sydney Business Development and Cloud Services workshop, places are limited. Details are:
All information and updates are at http://event.smbitpro.com.au. The front page has an RSS feed for you to subscribe for regular updates.
Date : Friday 20th and Saturday 21st August 2010
Time : 9am – 7pm
Location : North Ryde RSL, Magdala Rd North Ryde 2113
*Dress code applies
Costs (no GST):
Onsite – LIMIT of 35 Attendees per day
Attendee (per day): $96 no GST SMBITPro members, $240 no GST non-members
Attendee (2 days): $166 no GST SMBITPro members, $415 no GST non-members
Inclusions :
- Room hire
- Parking
- Morning & Afternoon tea
- Lunch
- Notes from the day available via download
- Post meeting recording
- Prize draws
- Webcast – NO LIMIT of Attendees
Attendee (per day): $46 no GST SMBITPro members, $115 no GST non-members
Attendee (2 days): $90 no GST SMBITPro members, $225 no GST non-members
Inclusions:
- Webcast access
- Post meeting recording
- Prize draws
Please make payment to (discount codes available from your user group leader. If not contact director@ciaops.com for information on obtaining a discount code)
Tags: Business Focus, Cloud Computing, Community, SMBiTPro, Training
Posted in Blog | 1 Comment »
Microsoft need to remember…
Friday, June 11th, 2010
I read this interview yesterday from CRN that talks about Microsoft and the need for an SMB channel given everything is moving to the cloud. One of the things that Microsoft need to remember is that we are SMB IT Professionals, and our job is to ensure that our clients get the right solution for their business needs. That does NOT translate to the Cloud being the right solution, nor does it mean that Office 2010 is the right solution. In the interview Microsoft make the statement that…
"The number of PCs in the Australian market is 82 percent. It’s a great opportunity to sell Office 2010, of course. There’s still 56 percent of users who use older versions of Office and there’s a huge opportunity to upsell to Office 2010.
umm.. hello… Microsoft… yeah – well customers are NOT keen to move to Office 2010 just because it’s there. Customers will only move to it if it solves business problem that they face daily quickly and efficiently for them. Oh – did I mention that you can not upgrade to Office 2010 – no – unless you have Software Assurance, you need to pay full purchase price for Office 2010 even if you have a valid copy of Office 2007. Microsoft have decided that they do not value the investment that you’ve made in the past as a past customer. What’s more is that the OEM version of Office 2010 is now gone as well, no more cheap way to buy it with your PC. I’m wondering why I’ve not heard more of an outcry from other resellers over this… maybe they are moving their clients to alternate products.
In the interview, Microsoft also make the comment that…
Hendrikse said those partners that have made money installing and servicing physical servers by installing and upgrading service packs have to look at their business.
This is so true – if you are not constantly looking at your business model and how you best service the customer, then you will be left behind. Having said that however, if you simply follow the masses to the cloud without consideration of your customers requirements then you are nothing more than a lemming. Cloud Computing is the right solution for SOME problems, not ALL problems. Open your eyes, Think about the issues and then Decide if Cloud is right for that particular problem. Do not assume that it is right for all problems.
Tags: Business Focus, Cloud Computing, Microsoft
Posted in Blog | 1 Comment »
Do you want to contribute to a Cloud Computing book?
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
Vlad Mazek, CEO of Own Web Now has decided that there are not enough dead trees being turned into books, and he’s going to immortalise his views on Cloud computing in print. He however wants your help so that he can really flesh out the nuts and bolts of it. Check out Vlads request here and let him know what you think.
I particularly think that it’s worthwhile thinking outside of mainland USA for this book, so I hope a lot of Aussies will contribute to it as well.
Tags: Business Focus, Cloud Computing
Posted in Blog | 1 Comment »
Don’t yell at the Cloud…
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Thanks to those that came to the Kerio Partner Event today in Sydney. I had fun with my presentation for sure, and hope you learned from it. At the same time, I want to encourage you all not to be lemmings… Don’t just go to the cloud because everyone else is doing it.
Open your eyes and look at the reasons WHY you want to do it for your clients and also look at the RISKS in doing it as well and make sure that you don’t lose sight of the fact that you are the customers trusted advisor and that you need to keep their best interests in mind when designing solutions for them whether they be Cloud based or OnPremise.
Most of all, don’t be like Granpa Simpson and yell at the cloud. Investigate it and decide IF and HOW it fits into your business model today and into the future.
Tags: Cloud Computing, Kerio
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Is the cloud the answer to everything?
Monday, May 24th, 2010
Industry pundits would love you to think so. I however have some concerns about the cloud and it’s ability to solve all the problems our clients are faced with without creating new bigger problems. If you would like to see more about what really is behind the cloud and things you need to considerthen you need to come along to the talk I am doing at the Kerio Partner Event in Sydney this Tuesday.
Tags: Cloud Computing, Kerio
Posted in Blog | 4 Comments »
Grrr to Bigpond and usage limits
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
My home network is on a 50GB plan with Bigpond, and 3 days ago I received notice that I’d hit 40GB for the month. Our month ends on 10th, therefore 10GB left to go for the week. For some reason however we used that 10GB in 3 days. grrr… now we are speed limited to 64kbps. Ok – the solution for me today is to bump the limit – which means 100GB and $129/month now instead of the $109/month I was paying. However that only takes effect from midnight tonight so I’m stuck at 64kb for the day today.
Consider for a moment that if my business was 100% reliant on the Cloud for everything then I’d be totally screwed for the next 24 hours. If I had staff then they would be stuck at stupidly low speed and be unable to work.
Now – the next thing I need to do is to install a firewall that allow me to measure which devices are downloading the data, and WHAT they are downloading. Maybe then I can catch out my kids when I find they are downloading lots of things I’ve told them not to 
more on that another time.
Tags: Cloud Computing, Rants, Telstra
Posted in Blog | 3 Comments »
Questions for the Cloud…
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
My weekly blog post for CRN Channelweb this week was titled Cloud Computing for SMB: Rainmaker or Thunderstorm? It focused on some of the questions that you should consider when looking at the Clouds for solutions to your customers business problems. They are certainly not the only questions but a few that come to mind that we’ve not had to consider the Cloud as a solution. What are your thoughts?
Tags: Business Focus, Cloud Computing, CRN
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