ATECH MSP Blog

Traditionally, if a business needed a solution to a problem, they would research which technology is the best for the problem they had and go out and buy it. If a company didn’t have the money to buy that solution, they would borrow to buy it so that their business wouldn’t stagnate and fail. In today’s tech-driven business environment there is a much better option than mortgaging your business just to save it.

Digital file storage has been a game-changer for many small businesses that rely on dynamic file retention. Instead of storing paper records in a huge room dedicated to file storage, businesses are focusing on digitizing their records and storing them electronically in cloud-based storage systems. This is a great alternative to all those printing costs. 

As businesses have been allowed access to more advanced tools, the cloud and its capabilities have been shown to be among the most useful to operations. Let’s examine some practical applications of the cloud to see why this is.

Cloud computing is a tremendous tool for modern businesses. It provides users with anytime-anywhere access to the applications, storage, and processing they need to keep business running efficiently and productively. It is billed as-a-service, meaning that it also comes with the flexibility and scalability most businesses need to control their computing costs. Unfortunately, it’s not always that cut and dry. Today, we are going to look at the hidden costs that businesses might see if they select to use cloud resources. 

Collaboration has always been key to the success of businesses, and with the cloud technologies now available, collaboration is possible in more ways than ever. COVID-19 has made business connectivity more important than ever, so we saw it fitting to recognize some of the cloud’s collaboration options. They come in a few distinct flavors:

There are a lot of businesses that use cloud computing. In fact, the latest figures say that over 80 percent of businesses are now using some type of cloud platform for their operations. Of course, there are a lot of different options available to organizations, but one particularly useful solution that may not get a lot of attention is the unified communication platform. This month, we’ll take a look at the cloud-hosted communications platform.

Cloud computing is generally accepted today as a good option for businesses. While we aren’t arguing that this isn’t the case, we wanted to make sure that your cloud use--actual or theoretical--was sufficiently secure. Many will neglect to consider how secure their use of cloud solutions is, which is something that we’d like to fix.

From its very beginnings, Microsoft has been creating devices and software to help users accomplish their goals. This is one reason why their solutions are so commonly found in businesses. Today, we wanted to focus on just one, OneDrive, and highlight some of its features that any business could find useful.

Upgrading your business’ technology can be extraordinarily expensive. If you’ve been using the same desktops for years, but don't necessarily have the money to upgrade your whole business’ IT, an option that you can consider is deploying a hosted desktop. Today, we will define exactly what a hosted desktop is, and why it is a good solution for companies that are in a bind. 

As we come up on tax time, we’re reminded just how important the professional services are. There is very little that businesses do without consultation. After all, consultants are just professionals in a field giving you advice on how to navigate forward. Lawyers, financial consultants, accountants, and advertising and marketing specialists are just a few of the crucial people that provide the average business with outside expertise.

If your business is taking advantage of the cloud to meet its operational and data storage needs, then you’re already doing something right. The cloud has changed the way businesses function, but this also needs to extend to the way businesses think about data security. How is your business or cloud provider securing your critical business data and applications stored in the cloud?

Remember when the biggest concern society had about car byproducts was regarding CO2 emissions? While reducing emissions from vehicles will always be a priority for the environmentally-conscious, on the horizon there looms an even bigger challenge that car manufacturers are responsible for. Namely, what’s to be done with the vast amounts of data to be generated by autonomous cars?

To give you an idea of what the near future of Big Data holds, consider that a single autonomous car can generate as much as 100 GB of data every single second, this according to Barclays analyst Brian Johnson. This could mean as much as 4TB of data generated by a single autonomous car each day. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich sees the immense challenge that this deluge of data presents to the automotive industry and says that it will require “an unprecedented level of computing, intelligence, and connectivity.”

Granted, autonomous cars are a novelty that few of us have encountered on the roadways, and far fewer actually own. However, this won’t be the case by 2020 when autonomous vehicles are expected to enter mass production, according to Topology. By the same year, 75 percent of the world’s cars will be connected to the Internet via embedded Wi-Fi.

While a human-controlled car that’s connected to the web is unlikely to generate quite as much data as its self-driving counterpart, these connected cars will nevertheless generate vast amounts of data in their own right--data relating to in-vehicle (such as fluid levels, speed and acceleration, GPS positioning, etc.), driver/passenger (use of infotainment systems, HVAC, seat preferences, driving styles, etc.), and environment information (such as LiDAR scanner, cameras, and sensors). All of this data presents value to groups like automakers, insurers, government agencies, marketing firms, and even makes for an improved driver experience, and therefore, must be stored and analyzed.

Contemplating just how much car-generated data this trend is on track to produce is an exercise that absolutely boggles the mind. Johnson has done the math and shared his findings with CIO:

“If extrapolated out to the entire U.S. fleet of vehicles -- 260 million in number -- autonomous cars and trucks could potentially produce about 5,800 exabytes. In other words, on a daily basis, there would be enough raw data to fill 1.4 million Amazon AWS "Snowmobile" mobile data center tractor-trailer trucks with 100 petabytes of storage each, for a convey reaching 11,000 miles long.”

Now consider that autonomous cars are just one “thing” of the Internet of Things; a trend where manufacturers are finding new ways to connect new devices to the Internet. Predictions vary widely as to just how large the Internet of Things will balloon to by 2020, being as much as 30 billion devices. In 2016 this figure stood at 6.4 billion devices (which doesn't include smartphones, tablets, and computers) and the number of new devices connecting to the Internet grows every day. The inconvenient fact remains that the sheer amount of data that will be generated over just the next few years will increase exponentially.

It’s also worth noting the glaring sense of irony to be had from generating mountains of data every single day, seen especially in the automotive industry’s push for connected cars. In that, these data centers that are constructed to house all of this information consume massive amounts of energy and leave behind no little environmental footprint. Therefore, going back to our opening example of cars historically having a CO2 emission problem, it would seem that purchasing an “environmentally-friendly” autonomous car is a misnomer, due to the simple fact that you would just be swapping out one problem for another.

What’s all of this mean for your business? At the very least, being aware of this trend means that you can better prepare your organization for the IoT revolution, already at hand. For example, if your IT infrastructure is currently at capacity, well, then your operations will experience a significant bottleneck because of it, sooner rather than later. Having accurate knowledge of this trend will also help you better plan for cloud services. By being able to gradually adopt more cloud services (especially data storage), you’ll grow your business in a way that keeps up with the deluge of data that society is guaranteed to experience in the upcoming years. This has the potential to be a make-it-or-break-it difference for your company, especially if your competitors are scrambling to keep up.

For assistance preparing your business for the upcoming data revolution, give Atech MSP a call at (888) 814-4843.

Today’s business environment is more competitive than ever before, and one of the ways that organizations are attempting to overtake others in their industry is through the use of dynamic technology solutions. By effectively leveraging productivity tools, employees can collaborate in never before seen ways and exceed all expectations.

One of the biggest problems a business has with its IT infrastructure is the lack of funds a business has to commit to obtaining and maintaining the necessary computing infrastructure. Whether they’re trying to run resource-intensive application, or simply need more storage space than they can manage independently, the cloud can provide them with the means to do so.

The cloud is swiftly becoming the method by which most computing is done, especially as far as businesses are concerned. You may have been considering adding the cloud to your own IT strategy. However, in order to make your best decision, there are a few questions you need to ask

If you suddenly were to find yourself in a data-loss situation, you would want to have some sort of backup in place to protect your critical data. However, not all backup solutions are the same, and some will do a better job than others at keeping your data safe while remaining convenient to the needs of a business. As an example, let’s compare tape backup to a cloud-based backup and data recovery solution.

Cloud computing has helped many businesses over the past few years. The many benefits it provides have enabled a variety of businesses in many industries to improve their functionality. The retail sector is a prime example of one such industry. Here are a few benefits that the cloud has imparted to those in retail--benefits that your business could enjoy as well.

Businesses today rely on technology, and as a result, their means of getting the resources they need are shifting and advancing. Consequently, cloud-based offerings have become popular because of their capabilities in the workplace. One of these capabilities has become particularly popular due to its utility to businesses: file sharing.

Small businesses rely on technology each and every day to accomplish their business goals, which are largely influenced by the technology that is available to leverage. To continue this cycle, it helps to look ahead and anticipate what will be prioritized next in computing and IT innovation. It appears that today’s businesses are more focused on convenience.

There’s no denying the importance of data management for businesses, but companies that utilize cloud-based data storage and infrastructure access have to be extra aware. How can your business ensure that your data storage methods are working for you, and not against you? For this week’s tip, we’ll discuss some of the ways that businesses can best use their cloud-based data storage without compromising efficiency.