Storing information in the cloud could be using Microsoft SkyDrive, Apple iCloud, Evernote, Dropbox, etc. Many executives use online backup such as Mozy, Carbonite, or CrashPlan.

Many companies are using applications that run in the cloud, referred to as SaaS Software as a Service. Popular examples include CRM products such as Microsoft Dynamics Live and SalesForce. GoogleDocs and Microsoft 365 are other common examples. If you aren’t paying another company to host your Exchange, you might should.

Using hosted virtualization may allow you to eliminate all servers from your organization. With this solution you pay a hosting provider a set fee per user each month and they handle everything your servers used to do for you. Additionally, the hosting provider generally provides additional services that you may have deemed too expensive in the past—such as generator power, strict physical security with armed guards, and servers with automatic failover if one server dies. And, you don’t ever have to worry about the servers again! In some models, the ones I recommend, the provider even keeps all of your licensing, including Microsoft licenses, up to date for you. No more worrying about buying licenses, no more servers, no more needing server support? Sign me up! Your organizational computers simply act as remote terminals but the feel like powerful computers. Your users can be on a laptop, desktop, Mac, tablet, etc. – it won’t matter that much. Think of LogMeIn or GoToMyPC on a grand scale.

There is a good chance that your organization uses a hybrid—mixing cloud services with your existing technology and that is fine. You may move more to the cloud, or not. The most important part of using the cloud properly is to increase returns, reduce costs, and improve both your users’ and customers’ experiences.

The post Are You in the Cloud Yet? appeared first on Foster Institute.

He didn’t talk about scenarios where first grocery stores run out of food, other stores run out of goods, people get hungry, hospitals are overwhelmed, highways out of metropolitan areas get jammed, tempers flare, people “do what they’ve got to do” to protect their family, police departments are swamped and there is no electricity to pump gas into their patrol cars anyway, spas and resorts are forced to close, etc.—basically the end of the world as we know it.

Eventually, things will return to normal, and how will your bottom line fare the storm?

Whatever the cause, natural disaster, human error, or worse, your employees may not be able to get to your office. This situation could drastically affect your ability to serve your clients.

It is crucial that you have plans in place, practiced in regular drills, to allow your workers to “work from wherever they are.” Workstation Virtualization with products from Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware provide “high availability” for servers. Additionally, they provide ways for your workers to basically “connect from anywhere” as long as they have power for their computer and a connection to the Internet.

Workstation Virtualization is different than “remote control” products such as GoToMyPC and LogMeIn (which are both awesome services) since those services can require computers at your office that “remote users” control from the outside. That means if you have 50 remote users, you would potentially need 50 computers for remote users to connect. With workstation virtualization, the need for those “internal computers” evaporates since users will connect directly to a protected and secure area in your servers.

If your servers are housed in a secure data center with generators then, in theory, your workers can keep working the same way they did before the disaster.

If they are in a metropolitan area, be sure they keep some kind of food in their car and have a plan to “get their family out of town” right away.

Focus, today, on your disaster recovery and business continuity planning.

The post What If Your Employees Cannot Come to Work? appeared first on Foster Institute.