As I discussed in the previous post, the advent of micro computing and the gradual decrease in the cost of computers and servers, led to an uptake in business management software (ERP) by SME’s. The huge mainframes of the 1970’s and 80s, began to be surpassed by the client/server computing model as the twilight of the 20th century beckoned .
Can Software as a Service be the cloud solution for your business?
Both systems are similar in concept with the user/client connecting to a particular server or servers in order to complete a particular task like email, file storage, ERP. This allowed companies and organizations to realise the full potential of a shared database. Now, the use of client/server computing is a core feature of many business organisations practices.
Now, in the 21st century, new services are being offered to businesses that have begun to challenge this traditional client/ server model. Using the latest advances in computing technology the server now has become the computing engine for applications that would have normally taken place on a client’s computer. This is what is referred to as ” The Cloud “, the definition of which, according to Wikipedia ,is ” a term used to refer to a model of network computing where a program or application runs on a connected server or servers rather than on a local computing device such as a PC, tablet or smartphone”.
An example of a ” Cloud ” is the business model using Software as a Service (SaaS) where you can access a suite of applications, hosted on a server, on your various local computing. One of the most common SaaS products offered to businesses now is the desktop as a service or virtual hosted desktop. This cloud based solution looks and behaves exactly like your traditional desktop environment. It has the same graphical interface you are used to, with Windows 7 or Mac OSX, but with one crucial difference, all the processing power done is on the servers located either locally on the LAN ,or, in most cases a datacentre. You can now in effect run Windows desktop using a small piece of software on multiple devices including tablets and smartphones.
This opens up a large amount of possibilities to the businesses. Not only can they reduce their power consumption bill by either cutting down the energy needed to power their own server, also they can take advantage of the reduced cost of installation, licencing and configuration ( it is all done by the SaaS provider).The depreciation incurred on the IT hardware no longer becomes a drain on the balance sheet. The cloud also offers scalability and eases the way in which a business can contract or expand. As the need for more users arises then you just make the request the SaaS provider and let them take care of it. Here at Hybrid TP we can advise and we can provide you with cloud based solutions for your business and outline the cost benefits to your enterprise before any serious decisions are taken. The cost as always is coming down on these services but it is worth talking your time a getting the best advice before making decision.
Stephen Hughes
