More SMB Love Needed

September 29, 2017 / G C Network / Comments Off

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By G C Network | November 12, 2017

China has its Cybersecurity Law. Next May, the General Data Protection Regulation – or GDPR –goes into effect for the European Union. Research shows most organizations just aren’t…

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By G C Network | October 24, 2017

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By G C Network | October 14, 2017

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More SMB Love Needed

By G C Network | September 29, 2017

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…

ATMs Are IT Too!

By G C Network | September 5, 2017

That world of homogenous IT technology managed entirely by the internal IT organization has long disappeared. Operations today require efficient and global management of technologically heterogeneous environments. The challenges and…

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By G C Network | August 30, 2017

Today’s businesses run in the virtual world. From virtual machines to chatbots to Bitcoin, physical has become last century’s modus operandi. Dealing with this type of change in business even…

The Game of Clouds 2017

By G C Network | July 30, 2017

The AWS Marketplace is growing at breakneck speed, with 40% more listings than last year! This and more insights were revealed when CloudEndure used their custom tool to quickly scan the…

Managing Your Hybrid Cloud

By G C Network | July 14, 2017

Photo credit: Shutterstock Runaway cloud computing cost may be causing an information technology industry crisis. Expanding requirements, extended transition schedules and misleading marketplace hype have made “Transformation” a dirty word. …

American Airlines Adopts Public Cloud Computing

By G C Network | June 30, 2017

Did you know that the reservations systems of the biggest carriers mostly run on a specialized IBM operating system known as Transaction Processing Facility (TPF). Designed by IBM in the…

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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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