CMIT Solutions | Copyright © 2015 | All Rights Reserved 500 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, Bldg 2 Suite 200|

Austin, TX 78746 1.800.399.CMIT | www.cmitsolutions.com/[GEO]

HowSmalltoMedium-SizedBusinessesCanLeveragetheCloudinSecure,

Money-SavingWays

AWhitePaperbyCMITSolutions

CMIT Solutions | Copyright © 2015 | All Rights Reserved 500 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, Bldg 2 Suite 200|

Austin, TX 78746 1.800.399.CMIT | www.cmitsolutions.com/[GEO]

1. Witheverydaythatpasses,cloudcomputingbecomesanevenmoreintegralpartof

ourtechnologicallives.Nowthatit’ssostandard,doescloudcomputingstillrepresenttherevolutionaryanswertoallofourproblems?OrisitsimplyanotherusefulITsolutionthat,whenutilizedproperlyandimplementedcautiously,canbenefityourbusinesswithsecure,money-savingadvantages?Thebenefitsareclear,though.Imaginehavingaccesstoyourmostimportantdatafromanydevice.That’sthepromiseofcloudservices:connectfromanywherewithyourlaptop,smartphone,ortablet.Whetheryourealizeitornot,nearlyeveryoneusesthecloud.HaveaGmailorYahooaccount?You’reonthecloud.UseFacebookorLinkedIn?You’reonthecloud.Ownasmartphoneortablet?You’reonthecloud.Butasmoreservicesshifttothecloud,thereliability,security,andqualityofthenetworkstheyrelyonbecomemoreimportant.Andreliabilityisn’tjustbasedonagoodInternetconnection.Adevicecanrunslow,anapplicationcancrash,evenadatacentercangodown—anyoftheselinksinthechaincanfail.Fortheaverageuser,that’snobigdeal;sowhatifyourlatestFacebookupdatedoesn’tgothroughimmediately?Forasmalltomedium-sizedbusinessthatplacesallitstrustintechnology,networkunreliabilityisanunacceptablebusinesscost.Soquestionssurroundingthecloudstillabound2.Whichcloudserviceshouldyouuse?Hundredsofdifferentprovidersareanglingforyourattention:hostedemail,unifiedcommunications,filesyncandshare,onlinestorage.CMITSolutionsunderstandsthatmanyofthoseproviderswillbeheretodayandgonetomorrow.Whichiswhyweonlyworkwithprovenindustryleaderswhoarecommittedtothecloudforthelonghaul.Thatmeanswecanhelpyoumaketherightlong-termchoiceforyourbusiness.3.Willyourdatabeprotected?Datalosscanaffectanyone.Andifyou’renotperformingregular,remotecloud-basedbackupsofyourinformation,disasterislikelytostrike.Luckily,theclouddoesmorethanjuststreamlineyourbusinessprocesses―itcanalsoprovidethesecure,encryptedbackupbackboneyouneedtothrive.Freeorlow-costconsumercloudstorageoptionslikeDropboxandJungleDiskofferhighlevelsofusabilitybutlowlevelsofsecurityunlesspairedwithencryptiontoolslikeJetico,BoxCryptor,orSymantec.

CMIT Solutions | Copyright © 2015 | All Rights Reserved 500 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, Bldg 2 Suite 200|

Austin, TX 78746 1.800.399.CMIT | www.cmitsolutions.com/[GEO]

Whataretheprosandconsofthecloudforyourindustry?

Justbecausethecloudispopulardoesn'tmeanit'srightforyourbusiness.CMITSolutionsspecializes inidentifyingtherightsolutionstomatchyourneeds.Maybethat'sahybridmixofon-siteserverswithcloudstorage.Maybeit'scloudhosting,whichallowsforflexibleaccesstocomputingresourcesandserversinapay-as-you-growenvironment.Maybeit'sdedicated cloudinfrastructure. Whatever theanswer,wecanhelpyoufindtheaffordable,scalable,andreliablewaytoimplementit.

5. Whatarethebenefitsofthecloudthatcanimmediatelyhelpmybusiness?Simplymovingaserveroutofaclosettoadatacenterintheskydoesn'tseemlikethatmuchofagreatleapforward.Orisit?Cloud-basedcomputingmeansthatyourserver—thecloudserver—isnowlocatedinaworld-classdatacenter.Thatmeansyouhaveredundantnetworkpaths,powersources,serverswithfailover,datastoragewithRAIDstoragearrays,andahostofothertechnicalbellsandwhistlesatyourdisposal.Didyourlaptopdie?Goodthingyourfilesarehostedinthecloud.Smartphonecrash?Fireupanotherdeviceandgetrightbacktowork.

Or,toputitanotherway,thebenefitofthecloudisthatyouhavetradedinyoursingle,loneserverforasliceofamuchlargerenterprise-classserver,withalltheprotectionandredundancythatFortune500companieshaveenjoyedforyears.AtCMITSolutions,we'repassionateaboutbringingsuchhigh-levelsolutionstothesmallandmedium-sizedbusinessspace.

Inaddition,ourcloudservicesdelivermorecomprehensiveinfrastructure,unparalleledredundancy,easyaccess,andtheflexibilitytoscaleondemand.Butdon'tforgetnetworkbandwidth—itmattersmorethaneverywhenusingthecloud,andexpandingtomeetdemandmighteatintoanycostsavingsthatadoptionofthecloudmightachieve.

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CLOUDSTATISTICS

• GoogleAppsnowhasmorethan50millionusers,including5millionbusinesses

• 60%ofbusinessesnowutilizethecloudforIToperations

• MicrosoftOffice365passedtheone-million-usermarkinjust100days

• 82%ofcompaniesreportedlysavedmoneyaftermovingtothecloud

• Cloudusagewillgrowfrom6%oftheapplicationmarketin2012to65%by2020

• 2014markedthefirstyearthatmorethan50%ofITworkloadswerelocatedonthecloud

• Thecostofcloudstoragehasdroppedbyupwardsof50%asadoptionofthetechnologyincreases

• By2015,end-userspendingofthecloudisexpectedtobemorethan$180billion

• Anestimated1exabyteofdataisstoredinthecloud—that'sequivalentto10,000,000copiesoftheUSLibraryofCongress'printedcollection

• Amazonhasmorethan5timesthecloudcomputingcapacityoftheaggregatetotalofitsnext14biggestcompetitors

CMIT Solutions | Copyright © 2015 | All Rights Reserved 500 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, Bldg 2 Suite 200|

Austin, TX 78746 1.800.399.CMIT | www.cmitsolutions.com/[GEO]

10WaystoMaximizeCloudComputingforYourBusiness1.HostedemailSure,freeoptionslikeGmailorYahooMailmightbesufficientforyourpersonalemailuse.Butasuccessfulsmallbusinessdeservesahigherlevelofservice,security,andsupport.Hostedemailinthecloudoffersadvancedcapabilities,includinganti-malwareandanti-spamfiltering,guaranteeddowntimeprevention,dedicateddatacenters,and24x7support,thatwillkeeptheheartbeatofyourbusinessrunning.2.FilesyncandshareEveryoneexpectsimmediateaccesstodocumentsanddata,afactborneoutbyourprimary2014research,whichfoundthat70%ofsmallbusinessownersandmanagerswereusingsomeformoffilesyncandshare.Butlikeintheemailrealm,manyofthemostpopularfreeoptionscan’tsatisfybusinessneeds.Enterprisefilesyncandsharesolutionslookatamuchbiggerpicture:controllinghowdataistransmitted,whocanaccessit,anditslevelofsecuritybothintransitandwhileatrest.3.OnlinestorageandcollaborationThistakesfilesyncandshareonestepfurther—thinkthekindofcloudservicesthatallowforreal-timecollaboration.Liketheemailandfilesyncandsharelandscapes,enterprisestorageandcollaborationoptionsofferthemostcapabilities:definedandtime-limitedread/writeaccess,two-directionsynchronization,conflictresolutionincaseofcompetingfileversionsornamingconventions,androle-basedprivilegesforfilecreationandediting.4.AccesstocloudserversSayyourcompanyrunsintensiveaccountingprocessesattheendofeachmonth,whichrequiresthreeserverstomaintainuptimefortheentirecompany.Doyouneedthosethreeserversin-houseeverydayofthemonth?Orjustavailablefor8hoursononeday?WiththerightITpartner,youcanutilizethecloudforextraresources—butonlywhenyouneedthem.5.UnifiedcommunicationsIfanyofyouremployeesorco-workersoperateremotelyorworkinthefield,unifiedcommunicationsareamust.Definedastheintegrationofallvoice,video,data,andmobileformsofcommunication,unifyingtheseavenuescandowondersforthestreamliningofcollaboration,bothpersontopersonandinlargegroups.Thatcanresultinmoreproductivityandefficiency—andmoresatisfiedemployeeswhocanrelyonthecloudtogetthingsdone.

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6.RemotedesktophostingForlargercompanieswithmorecomplexneeds,remotedesktophostingcantakeunifiedcommunicationstothenextlevel.Virtualinfrastructurescandeliverefficientmanagementfromasingleconsolewithpersonalorpooleddesktops.Andallappscanresideindedicateddatacenterstominimizetheriskofdatalossorcompromise.7.ApplicationhostingBeforethecloud,productpackageslikeMicrosoftOfficeandAdobeCreativeSuitecamewithprohibitivepricetagsandlengthyinstallationperiods.Buttoday,newSaaS(SoftwareasaService)optionslikeOffice365andCreativeCloudallowfortheuseofcriticalapplicationsinacloud-basedenvironment.Thiscanlowerinitialandrecurringcostswhilealsosimplifyingtheupgradeandintegrationprocess.Likewithunifiedcommunications,thiscanresultinmoreworkbeingcompletedinlesstime.8.ProductivityboostersWhetheryou’relookingforacustomerrelationshipmanagementsolutionlikeSalesforce,adocumentservicelikeDocuSign,aproject-trackinginterfacelikeSageOne,auser-interactiveanalysistoollikeAdobeForms,orathousandotherofferings,thecloudprobablyhaswhatyou’relookingfortoboostproductivity.5.FinanceandaccountingcapabilitiesQuickBookshasbegunmovingtotheonlineSaaSmodel,butthereareplentyofotherfinanceandaccountingoptionsthatworkbestinthecloud.Payroll,expensereporting,invoicecreation,billablehours,inventorycontrol,clientrecords…it’sallavailabletoyourbusiness.Bestofall,manyoftoday’scloud-basedoptionsworkfarmoreefficientlythanolderpaper-basedordatabasealternatives.10.PasswordmanagementWeallhavefartoomanyonlineaccountswithfartoomanyuniquepasswordsthatallrequiredifferentcombinationsoflowercaseanduppercaseletters,numbers,andcharacters.Giventheglutofrecentdatabreachesandhacks,thoseareamustintoday’sonlineworld.Buthowdoyoukeeptrackofthemall?Thebestpasswordmanagersrunoncloudcapabilities:browserandtoolbarplug-ins,automatedformfill,mobiledevicesyncing.Youmightnotthinkofpasswordmanagementwithinthecloudrealm,butitscriticalnaturemakesitamust-havepartofanybusinessstrategy.

CMIT Solutions | Copyright © 2015 | All Rights Reserved 500 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, Bldg 2 Suite 200|

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ConclusionWhilethese10differentcloudaspectsmayseemeasytonavigate,considerthis:lastyear,Dellidentifiednearly125differentcloudsolutionsthatcouldbebeneficialfortheirenterprisecustomers.NowimaginetryingtonavigatethatlandscapewithoutatrustedITproviderbyyourside.That’swheretheexpertiseofacompanylikeCMITSolutionscomesintoplay.Wehaveextensiveexperiencedeployingcloudsolutionsforourclients,whichrangefromsmalltomedium-sizedcompaniesineveryindustryacrossNorthAmerica.Wetakeprideinpinpointingtherightcloud-basedservicestomeettheneedsofyourbusiness.Letusbeyourexpert-leveladvisorwhocanqualifyvendorsandlockinthekindofadvantageouspricingandelite-levelsupportmodelsyoudeserve.Weunderstandthecomplexitiesofthecloud,andwewanttoputthemtoworkforyourbusiness.Contactustodayifyou'dliketolearnmore.