Cloud Computing Has You Questioning Your Technology Footprint
Technology has, obviously, changed our world and continues to make a profound impact on how we do business every day. For example, what once held small businesses back has been made possible with software and services now available through cloud computing. Although QuickBooks is available online, there are a number of other affordable deployment options now available bringing down the cost of more comprehensive business management solutions.
Growing Pain #7: Not Enough Flexible Deployment Choices
The number one reason organizations move to the cloud is so they can experiment easier at a lower cost (Harvard Business Review Report: How the Cloud Looks from the Top: Achieving Competitive Advantage in the Age of Cloud Computing), but security is typically a top concern for organizations. Naturally, the systems that run your business needs to be accessible anytime, from anywhere to allow for flexibility, but only to those granted access to that information. Some organizations ease this concern by taking a hybrid approach to cloud computing, putting some of their data in the cloud while other data remains on-premise. But not many business solutions offer this type of flexibility. You know you’ve outgrown QuickBooks if you’re feeling limited by their deployment options.
Business solutions from Microsoft offer choices whether cloud, on-premises, or a combination of both is right for your business. Microsoft and Columbus can deliver on your terms, making sure you have a solution that fits your needs. Here are just a few of the choices with Microsoft business solutions:
- On-Premises: software is installed and run on dedicated servers in-house. Under this model, the company owns and services the hardware infrastructure and the installed software licenses.
- Public Cloud: the solution takes a web-hosting model in which the data and application resides in a remote server and can be accessed via an Internet browser or non-browser applications for your mobile or tablet devices. Public cloud offers a shared or multitenant infrastructure that may be virtualized and is owned by the vendor or the service provider. The customer typically rents the ERP software and infrastructure, and is charged on a pay-per-use or pay-per-user basis.
- Private Cloud: adopts the virtualized, self-service model of the public cloud; however, it typically does so within the company’s firewall and is located at the company or vendor-hosted datacenter. The company either owns the ERP software and infrastructure, or vendors may provide an option for leasing this as a service. An important distinction from the public cloud model is that the service is provisioned exclusively for an organization (i.e., single tenancy) without any sharing of infrastructure among multiple customers.
Microsoft has invested millions of dollars to cloud computing resources over the past few years to ensure our cloud options are what our customers need. With their ongoing commitment to technology advancement, you can be sure your investment is backed by a strong roadmap of future innovation. Join us next week when we explore the next growing pain: system limits not keeping up with business opportunities. Until then, visit our website learn more about Columbus and our out-of-the-box implementation offerings to fit your small and medium sized business.
This ten part blog series addresses some of the common signs companies like yours are outgrowing QuickBooks and how a Microsoft business solution from Columbus helps keep you on the path of growth. If you missed any of our previous postings from this series, you can view them here:
Growing Pain #1: The Rubber Bands Holding Your Business Together Are Keeping You Up at Night
Growing Pain #2: Managing the Books and Cash Flow Isn't As Easy As It Used to Be
Growing Pain #3: A Lack of Control and Weak Audit Trails Create Business Risk
Growing Pain #4: You Can’t Move Forward When You Keep Looking Back
Growing Pain #5: You're Putting Off New Business Opportunities
Growing Pain #6: You Need a Trusted Advisor to Take Your Business to the Next Level