Guess What? You’re Already in the Cloud!

Online services have been around for decades, and web-based solutions for at least 10 years. As a result, the buzz around ‘to the Cloud’ has only confused the slow & steady evolution.
As a result, a recent study from The NPD Group found that less than a quarter of surveyed consumers believed they understood ‘cloud computing’, while more than 75% actually used one or more cloud computing services. Today most people have some exposure to services like email, file sharing (mostly photographs & videos) as well as applications like tax preparation that are served up in the Cloud.

Defining the term to create a common understanding is great. What isn’t so great is exploitation, turning cloud services into the ‘new thing’ in order to justify ridiculous consulting engagements or huge IT budget waste. From the beginning, cloud services can and should save you money. Cloud services, implemented properly are safer and more secure than most on-premise implementations. Proper planning and positioning of the technology is an effort but not huge, and there are many years of case studies that can be reviewed for ‘lessons learned’.
We like to introduce cloud services at inflection points in the business operation. Are you looking to upgrade your email server infrastructure? Are you in need of a more robust backup solution? At these decision points, you should evaluate costs and business benefit.

One way to simplify the cloud services picture, is to think of them as utilities…just like power & phone service. Your electricity provider has generation plants, switching stations, and significant infrastructure that delivers the service to your home or business. Similarly cloud service providers own the servers and infrastructure that provide email, backup, and other services for your use. You don’t need to own the expensive technology. You can just buy it as you need it.

Whether its collaboration technologies, like Office 365, or infrastructure components like online backup. The cloud is here and growing. You’ll need to leverage it to be competitive, but you can take it one step at a time.

We have strategies to get you there without disruption to your business...or your budget.

Rick Huebner
CEO
www.VISTECH.com for cloud service migration

Developing with SharePoint vs. Developing in SharePoint

SharePoint has really captured the market and for good reason. It's a great platform! We use it for document management, website development, and as a component of robust software solutions.

Unfortunately as with many hot technologies, it is accompanied by the sudden appearance of huge numbers of SharePoint experts. Similar to the tsunami of HTML Programmers (as a brief digression--HTML is a word processing language...programmers in that context has always been a bit of a stretch) that arrived with the rapid demand for websites more than a decade ago, SharePoint Programmers are climbing out of the woodwork.

And that's my point. There's a huge difference between programmers that use SharePoint and SharePoint Programmers. Real programmers will integrate SharePoint into software solutions to build durable applications that will evolve, providing opportunities for migration to new versions of SharePoint or transition to yet-to-be-introduced tools that could replace SharePoint. SharePoint Programmers will deliver software that works on the current version with little hope future viability.

Remember software is expensive to build. Tools like SharePoint do make it less expensive, but if these tools are not leveraged properly cost of maintaining the software will quickly eclipse the build cost.

Rick Huebner is President & CEO of VISTECH.com, a technology company based in Hartford, CT. VISTECH.com is an ISV that develops custom software using Microsoft technologies.