Back around the year 2000, everyone was talking up Thin Client Computing. It was the IT buzz word and all the hype in the technical news. People couldn’t get enough of it and talked it up like it was the next technical revolution storm that was breaking. The real fact was that Thin Client Computing was simpy replacing expensive desktop computers with much cheaper “dumb” computers that would only run Remote Desktop Services, or in essence, go back to the 1970’s model of using terminals that connected to a mainframe. Surely, as Platinum ITS predicted, this lasted only a year or two and failed miserably as thin clients could not handle the complex needs of users by centralizing control to giant servers. Users needed computing power at their desk and the ability to install and use a multitude of applications which thin client computing was never able to address.

Fifteen years later, a new buzz word arrived on the scene…Cloud Computing. It became all the hype. And even the most non-technical person on the street was asking if cloud computing was right for them and how could they jump on the bandwagon. Marketers and technical sales people began signing up people and businesses in droves. What is cloud computing really? It’s the internet plain and simple. It been around since the beginning and hasn’t changed its essence since its inception. We talk about hosted email and hosted applications. Hosted email like AOL, hosted applications and file sharing have always been available on the internet. Could Computing is nothing but renaming something that we have always had.

But lets not assume that cloud computing is our one stop shop and exclusive solution to running our household or business. There is a fit for cloud computing just as there is a fit for on premise based solutions. What might fit for one company, might not fit for another, which leads to this discussion. Is Cloud Computing right for me? There are a multitude of factors that have to be considered when making choices on whether to hand off your ability to do business to a cloud managed product or to keep it in house. Is the budget right for you? Do you have the necessary resources or speed to run cloud based products.

Lets briefly explore examples of when it might be right to engage in a cloud service and when not to. Company A has twenty email users. Does company A spend thousand of dollars to maintain their own Microsoft Exchange email server and all the things that go with it (computer room, backup, UPS, IT support, Active Directory servers), or does it make since to purchase a yearly subscription for 20 Office 365 licenses? More than likely a small company will see a huge cost benefit to cloud based Office 365 and far less management required of this product.

What about Company B? They have a web based application that their business runs on. Currently they have one site and all 300 users access the web based application on their desktop PCs via a browser. They already have a substantial network, server room and dedicated IT staff. The web based application only required a single inexpensive server. Company B was talked into moving the web based application to the cloud. The cloud company guaranteed 24x7 up time and full backup and redudancy. To make sure the application was always available, Company B had two internet lines installed, one coax and one fiber, at the request of their IT staff. This basically guaranteed that the application would always be available. For a few months, all three hundred employees were happy with their cloud product and worked day in and out without a care. Then one day, while repairing a water line by the road, the construction crew accidentally cut both the fiber and coax lines buried under ground. It took two days to repair the coax and a week to repair the fiber break. Two days of work was lost, millions of dollars in business was lost, emails were unanswered. The CFO calculated that approximately 100k in wages were lost due to no productivity as well. Was cloud computing the answer in this scenario? Most likely not.

Many IT companies and most Cloud hosting companies will never hint at what might happen in scenario two. Only Platinum ITS will help your business navigate the waters of technical complexity to find solutions that are the right fit and avoid potential for disaster. Contact Platinum ITS today to learn if cloud services are right for you.

Cloud Computing Services

MS Office 365 / Azure
Virtual Server Hosting
Server Co-location
Application Hosting

Benefits of Our Cloud Computing Services

No Need to Invest Time on Hardware or Software You will never have to worry about investing time into researching hardware or software for your business. We fit the hardware and software requirements to your business needs. We also provide you with total solutions that keep your hardware and software up to date with the latest technology so you never have to work about being behind the times.	Ability to Scale Up or Down with Your Business Needs Platinum ITS recognizes that each and every business is unique. Your business has exceptional qualities as a company, as well as distinctive IT needs. You may already have an IT department, or maybe you have no IT professional at all. There are so many factors that go into each company, which is why we create custom IT solutions for each and every business.
Quick & Flawless Migration Remove the stress associated with moving and changing your email, servers and other systems by utilizing our migration solutions. We help make the process quick and easy for your business. Our customers experience no or little downtime with our migration services. Businesses are able to keep working through the entire process without experiencing any downtime.	More Affordable than Hosting Internally Supporting your own IT department can get costly, even if it is just one IT professional. With Platinum ITS, you get access to our entire team of business technology experts for a fraction of the cost. Due to our large scope and constant implementation of new and existing technologies, we are always in the hot seat. This gives us a much wider knowledge base and experience base over salaried employees.
First-Class Customer Support Sometimes things go wrong with IT, and a lot of times it seems to happen at the most inconvenient moments. Platinum ITS understands that your business can’t afford to waste precious time or resources because of downtime. That’s why we offer 24×7 customer support for your IT service needs.	Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity In case of that unexpected emergency, cloud computing is one of the best ways to help ensure disaster recovery and business continuity. It’s difficult to predict when a virus will invade your servers or even when a flood will invade your office. Storing your company’s information in the cloud helps you regain access to lost data and documents. Platinum ITS helps you get back to business as usual.