Benefits of Cloud Computing to the SME Market
We could bombard you with the features and technology behind cloud computing, but unless you’re in IT, you probably don’t care. As a business owner or IT decision maker, what you care about is what it can offer your business, and also why you would choose it over a traditional IT solution.
The main benefits? Security, Resilience/Redundancy, Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery, Flexibility, and Scalability. Read on for more details… || Read more
FREE Installation of Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) Fibre Optic Broadband services… Limited time offer!
2013
New FTTC free Installation offer – available until August
Following the success of our discounted broadband services promotion earlier this year, Quest Cloud Solutions Ltd are delighted to announce FREE INSTALLATION, worth £80, on all Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) Fibre Optic Broadband orders for the next 3 months! Save yourselves £80 and get super-fast and ultra-reliable broadband for your business.
In conjunction with our preferred connectivity services supplier, Gamma Telecom, this offer is available for all new Fibre Optic Broadband orders, and will run until the 9th August 2013.
What you get with this offer;
- FREE installation which normally costs £80
- Super-fast speeds of up-to 80 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream
- Very competitively-priced business-grade FTTC products || Read more
11 reasons your SMB should use cloud computing services…
While we appreciate that cloud computing isn’t 100% the right choice for all businesses, there are hundreds of reasons to use Cloud Computing services. Below are just a few reasons why “the Cloud” is likely a good choice for your small to medium business.
1. You want an ultra-secure IT platform (especially if you’re storing sensitive client data)
“Cloud systems aren’t secure!” This is a common objection we receive, but it is totally unfounded; at this point we like to ask why you think it isn’t secure, to which the response is usually stumped silence… Quite often we find that non-forward-thinking IT providers who are scared of expanding into “the Cloud” are poisoning their clients against cloud services, which is a real shame. Banking-level encryption, two-factor authentication, Cisco firewalls, intrusion-detection technology, and 24/7 physical security with 6 layers of biometric scanning entry make “the Cloud” much more secure than a server sitting in an office protected by a lock on the door and Windows firewall. Think we’re a big juicy target? 80% of small businesses reported some form of security breach in their systems last year; we had zero breaches and have hundreds of clients on the system.
|| Read more
Lack of Fibre Optic Broadband Rollout Targets for Businesses Angers Gamma Telecom’s Chief
The Head Honcho of Gamma Telecom (Ques
t’s preferred connectivity provider), Bob Falconer, has recently slammed the UK Government for prioritising the fairly trivial needs of home Broadband users (think YouTube and online gaming/gambling) over those of small to medium businesses in the UK, by only setting targets for the rollout of fibre connectivity to residential locations and not to business parks and offices.
Speaking to Comms Dealer at the London leg of the bi-annual Gamma Telecom reseller roadshow, Bob Falconer commented that “there has been absolute neglect from the Government in meeting the communications needs of the business market. Why? Because consumers have a vote and businesses don’t”.
This is a hot topic for Quest Cloud Solutions Ltd; so many SMEs are benefitting from cloud and VoIP services, but there are those in certain areas of the country that are literally screaming out for hosted solutions, but they don’t have the broadband infrastructure in place yet to deal with it. The UK Government is more concerned with making sure we can get on Facebook and Xbox Live at blisteringly-fast speeds at home, and not concerned with the business benefits of superfast broadband in the workplace.
The introduction of 4G and the recent reductions in costs of Ethernet-in-the-Final-Mile (EFM) and Leased Lines are helping out in the meantime with many clients, but the lack of complete coverage of low cost, reliable fibre connectivity on Virgin’s and BT’s network infrastructure is the only thing truly holding back the cloud industry from what is a guaranteed boom. Here’s to hoping the Government sit up and listen to the needs of what are essentially the “engines of recovery” in this market!
Thanks,
Ryan and the Quest Cloud Solutions Ltd Team
Quest Cloud Solutions Ltd are based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, and provide cloud computing services from our UK-based cloud platform. We specialise in providing a range of bespoke cloud computing, virtualisation, and traditional IT solutions, tailored to the individual clients’ needs. We also provide hosted Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telecommunications and Unified Communications, data connectivity, lines and minutes. Check out our website for more information, and get in touch to speak with a consultant.
We provide our services to small to medium businesses as well as corporate clients all over the UK and Europe; we also network regularly in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire to connect with potential clients as well as to speak with other IT Service Providers and Value Added Resellers (VARs, MSPs, etc.) who are interested in reselling white-labeled cloud computing services.
11 Reasons NOT to use cloud computing services…
So a bizarre title for a blog post by a cloud provider, eh? Why would we suggest reasons not to use cloud computing services for your SME?! Read on, and you’ll see the point we’re making…
1. You believe cloud computing isn’t secure…
“Cloud systems aren’t secure!” This is a common objection we receive, but it is totally unfounded; at this point we like to ask why you think it isn’t secure, to which the response is usually silence… Quite often we find that non-forward-thinking IT providers who are scared of expanding into “the Cloud” are poisoning their clients against cloud services, which is a real shame. Banking-level encryption, two-factor authentication, Cisco firewalls, intrusion-detection technology, and 24/7 physical security with 6 layers of biometric scanning entry make “the Cloud” much more secure than a server sitting in an office protected by a lock on the door and Windows firewall. Think we’re a big juicy target? 80% of small businesses reported some form of security breach in their systems last year; we had zero breaches and have hundreds of clients on the system. || Read more
IT Support Providers and VARs – 12 reasons NOT to use Cloud computing services for your clients…
2013
12 Reasons NOT to use cloud computing services…
So a bizarre title for a blog post by a cloud provider, eh? Why would we suggest reasons not to use cloud computing services and offer them to your clients?! Read on, and you’ll see the point we’re making…
1. You think cloud services risk losing you support fees or devalues your offering as a support provider…
This is a common objection, but is unfounded. Virtual servers still need to be managed and supported in the same way as traditional servers, and we’re more than happy to hand you that level of control over your clients’ infrastructure; they are still your client after all! A major benefit of managing virtual servers over physical ones is that you don’t need to leave the office to perform maintenance on it, freeing up your time and making your business more profitable. || Read more
questCloud Essentials – IT Essentials for Small Businesses, utilising onsite server hardware and cloud services for the best of both worlds…
In our talks with various SMEs it has become apparent that there is still a common misconception that “the Cloud” is too big a place for many small and micro-businesses. This belief is understandable in some respects as the case studies you’ll generally read will talk about the big companies, but this is only because they sound most impressive and help in gaining big new clients. What you don’t read about often is the thousands of small and micro-businesses that are signing-up daily and benefiting from cloud services in the UK and internationally; thanks to cloud services, even micro-businesses can make use of enterprise-level IT services for a fraction of the costs. || Read more
Why did Microsoft kill off Small Business Server?
So the death of Microsoft Small Business Server won’t be news to most IT providers, but it probably worries a lot of them and many companies who are making use of it. SBS offered a cheap solution for businesses
under 75 users as it provided centralised server storage and Microsoft Exchange email services from one physical server as well as easy management; but now what, given that Microsoft have killed off future development?
How Would Your Business Fare Up in a Disaster? Disaster Recovery Planning for SMEs
So we had a lengthy power cut recently at Quest HQ and it gave me inspiration for a blog post - Disaster Recovery Planning for SMEs. (Firstly I’d like to clarify that our cloud platform isn’t at our office, it’s in a secure datacentre with a ridiculous amount of redundant power and generator supplies).
When we talk to clients about disaster recovery and business continuity planning, we usually discuss the big problems – fires, floods, and thefts, for example – and gloss over the more mundane problems that can hit a business, namely power cuts. || Read more
Cloud Computing for Recruitment Companies
All businesses can benefit from some form of cloud computing solution, whether it is simple file backup or hosted email services, all the way to a fully-fledged hosted IT and Unified Communications solutions.
But there’s no denying, some industries can benefit more from cloud than others, and the Recruitment industry is one of them…
Take one of our existing clients; a multi-award-winning, multi-national IT, Banking, and Oil and Gas recruiter with a high position in the Recruiter FAST 50 list. When they became our client 5 years ago, they were a small start-up with 3 Directors, 1 employee, and one office, but with big ambition. Fast-forward 5 years and the company had grown to nearly 90 employees and had offices in the UK, Europe, and Singapore; and the best bit? Aside from their determination to succeed, this was made possible thanks to the decision to adopt a cloud computing solution which enables every office to connect into the same IT platform, || Read more