More SMB Love Needed

September 29, 2017 / G C Network / Comments Off

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Animoto = Automated Imagery PED

By G C Network | December 3, 2008

Over the past two days, I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Stevie Clifton, Co-founder & CTO of Animoto. Besides being one of the coolest things I’ve seen in…

World Summit of Cloud Computing 2008

By G C Network | December 1, 2008

Video by Animoto using cloud computing technology. (Done in 20 minutes for free)!! Follow me at https://Twitter.com/Kevin_Jackson

2008 World Summit of Cloud Computing

By G C Network | November 30, 2008

After a uneventful trip , I’m now in Israel for the World Summit. With over 500 people expected to attend, it promises to be an exciting time. Unfortunately, I arrived…

CloudCamp Federal ’08

By G C Network | November 28, 2008

| Get your Presentation Pack Follow me at https://Twitter.com/Kevin_Jackson

NCOIC Cloud Working Group

By G C Network | November 26, 2008

The NCOIC will be holding a cloud computing working group on December 10th during plenary session in Costa Mesa, CA. The session focus will be “Requirements for Enterprise Cloud Computing”.…

According to Cloud Computing Journal, and Red Herring, IBM will now rate other cloud providers. Using the “Resilient Cloud Validation” program, IBM will validate their facilities, applications, data, staff, processes…

Cloud Computing vs. Cloud Services

By G C Network | November 24, 2008

In September, Frank Gens provided an excellent overview of the the new “Cloud Computing Era”. In preparing for an upcoming talk, I re-read the post and found myself appreciating it…

Inaugural “Inside the Cloud” Survey

By G C Network | November 21, 2008

Appistry and CloudCamp recently released results from the first “Inside the Cloud” survey. Key takeaways were: Amazon perceived as cloud leader, with twice as many votes as Google Infrastructure providers…

FIAC Presentation Mentions Cloud Computing

By G C Network | November 20, 2008

At the recent Federal Information Assurance Conference, Bob Gourley, CTO Crucial Point LLC, and former Defense Intelligence Agency CTO, recently provided his views on the state of Federal IT. His cloud…

Sun Cloud Czar

By G C Network | November 19, 2008

Earlier this week it was announced that, Sun, Senior Vice President, Dave Douglas, was appointed to lead the Company’s cloud computing efforts. A JDJ Article also stated that, in addition to becoming Sun’s…

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In a recent post, titled “10 Surprising Facts About Cloud Computing and What It Really Is”, Zac Johnson highlighted some interesting facts about cloud computing in the SMB marketplace:

Cloud Computing is up to 40 times more cost-effective for an SMB, compared to running its own IT system.
94% of SMBs have experienced security benefits in the cloud that they didn’t have with their on-premises service
Recovery times for SMB are four times faster for businesses using cloud computing when compared to those not utilizing cloud services.
For SMB, energy use and carbon emissions could be cut by 90% by using cloud computing, saving the environment and energy costs.

These advantages show a strong indication that SMB information technology should be dominated by the adoption of cloud computing services. Although one of the most prominent of these cloud services is Microsoft’s Office 365 (O365), a recent survey cited by CIO.com suggests that 83% of U.S. small and medium businesses (SMBs) have yet to use any form of O365. If cloud services can deliver such remarkable improvements, why are SMBs holding back?

According to the survey, part of the reason is that SMBs often lack the required internal resources needed to analyze the cloud migration opportunity. This type of analysis often requires the testing of multiple cloud-based business and productivity services as well as more focused attention on data protection capabilities. Many SMB executives see cloud computing as nothing but marketing hype and are more focused on running their businesses. Cloud services may also be perceived as being very confusing, technically overwhelming, and even frightening. Another key technical challenge is dealing with a more sophisticated networking environment that may require virtual private network (VPN) management and remote infrastructure access.

The networking challenge is further exacerbated by the requirement to support a distributed mobile workforce with secure mobile device access to company network resources. NETGEAR is making an impressive bid to address this challenge by their recent release of a new line of small business switches, access points, and NAS devices equipped for native cloud management via a new mobile application. The app, called Insight, is designed to let administrators or unskilled end users discover and configure multiple wired and wireless network devices. The users can then monitor and manage these network resources remotely through an intuitive touchscreen interface. Insight is designed to fill a critical gap in the networking market for simple SMB solutions that provide robust functionality.

Switching from software or CPU license-based pricing to the subscription-based utilization models offered by cloud service providers can also require an SMB to conduct a careful economic analysis of the change. This change can potentially divert finance and IT staff from their core jobs. The reality is that most cloud services aren’t designed for SMB consumption. Small businesses are therefore likely postponing cloud migration because they don’t know where to start or don’t possess the internal resources to manage through the transition.

This small business industry challenge is bound to become harder. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the small and medium business spending on IT hardware, software, and services, including business services, is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2%, reaching $668 billion in 2020.

As SMB cloud adoption grows, the need for more cloud transition support for the SMB marketplace will also continue to grow. As a historically underserved market, more SMB tailored cloud services and cloud adoption support are desperately needed. Unfortunately, the SMB market is typically seen as an afterthought by enterprise vendors, and small business solutions are designed as dumbed down versions of the enterprise solutions, let’s hope that more companies like NETGEAR will wake up and serve this clear and growing SMB marketplace need.

( This content is being syndicated through multiple channels. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of GovCloud Network, GovCloud Network Partners or any other corporation or organization.)

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