Virtualized office allows employees to go mobile
Posted on June 18, 2012
Virtualized offices are growing in popularity, especially during this continued economic uncertainty. As businesses look to cut expenses while increasing reliability and accessibility to applications, virtual offices help reduce overhead while still offering a high level of professionalism.
By converting to a virtualized office, a small-to-medium-sized business (even a large business, for that matter) can avoid paying for a full-time space and ‘virtualize’ – blending home and work to gain efficiencies in both. Office expenses are now low while the company’s professionalism maintains the image of a traditional office.
But to virtualize effectively, you need a provider who offers infrastructure and IT services that allows your employees to work in the same manner as they did in the office.
Our last post took an in-depth look at Cloud Computing and a virtualized office is a prime example of how effective Cloud Computing can be. By having us host all of your applications and data, you eliminate the need to buy and maintain costly infrastructure for your employees to use. We host everything on our top of the line IBM hardware designed for 24/7 critical operations. In other words, we ensure that your service is always up and running exactly the way you want and need it to be.
We work with you to design a plan that meets your needs and your budget. The flexibility of our Cloud Computing solutions is not only designed so small businesses can go ‘virtual’ and work from home. They’re also designed so that companies with employees scattered around the world have a centralized way to communicate and share applications and data. So an employee in one city can use the same file as an employee in another – as if they were in the same office. And those same employees can also share calendar application abilities to schedule meetings.
So, let us do what we do best so that your employees – wherever they are – can run applications and retrieve data from anywhere using any computer or device.
Save money – move your applications and data to the Cloud
Posted on May 30, 2012
In today’s cost cutting world, many organizations are looking for solutions to better manage their IT budgets all the while continuing to safely and securely manage their data. Application Sharing (also called Cloud Computing), which uses a web browser to remotely access and use software applications and data, allows you to do just that. It means you can transfer some of your IT responsibilities to someone else at a very reasonable cost.
The greatest benefit of Cloud Computing is that anyone can now run applications that aren’t actually ‘installed’ on their system – software that wouldn’t typically be compatible with their operating system works, as does software that requires much more processing power than their device can normally handle. This is because the user isn’t actually running the application– the user is simply viewing it.
We are the ones hosting all of the applications and data.
Cloud Computing offers you tremendous cost saving – in fact, our Application Sharing solutions have saved our customers as much as 30% on their IT budgets. We will work with you to design a plan that meets your needs and your budget and then we host your applications and data. Whether your company has just a few employees or many employees, Cloud Computing allows for everyone to go mobile with greater ease, increases productivity, and saves you money and time. And, updating your software requires no effort on your part whatsoever – we do it all.
You can also rest easy knowing that we host your applications and data in a highly secured facility specifically designed for servers. So, we have multiple power supplies with back-up generators to ensure that the power is always on and we use several brand name internet connection providers to guarantee that your applications and data are available to you 24/7.
You come in every morning and make sure the lights flick on in the office; leave it to us to make sure your systems work exactly the way you need them to.
Choose a cloud provider that exceeds your business needs
Posted on May 15, 2012
Choosing a cloud provider can be a difficult decision. There are dozens of options out there – from the corporate giants to personal companies like us. So how do you decide?
At the end of the day, you have to choose a provider that meets your business needs. But while you’re at it, why not choose a provider that exceeds your business needs.
Most of the big corporations offer secure and reliable services. Store your data and cloud your infrastructure with one of the corporate giants and you know it will always be there. (Although, you should read through our last blog post to find out where exactly ‘there’ might be.) But, with the big guys, you may have to mould your exact needs to fit one of their pre-determined offerings. And when you need IT support, you’ll likely be routed through an international call centre.
With a smaller, more personal company like us, you’ll get to know the people taking care of your data. We mould our offerings to fit your exact needs and you can rest easy knowing that we’re available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer any questions or concerns you may have. And you’ll know that your data and infrastructure is always stored on secure servers located in Canada on our top of the line IBM hardware designed for 24/7 critical operations. In other words, we ensure that your service is always up and running exactly the way you want and need it to be.
We work hard to not just store your data and maintain your infrastructure but to gain your trust and build a personal relationship with you. In short, we become an extension of your company and we care about the well-being of your company just as much as you do.
Where do you keep your data?
Posted on May 9, 2012
In the United States, the USA PATRIOT Act allows law enforcement officials, for the purpose of an anti-terrorism investigation, to seek a court order that allows access to the personal records of anyone without their knowledge. Under the Act, U.S. officials can access information about citizens of other countries, including Canada, if that information is physically within the United States.
Why is this information important to you? Because there is no similar law in Canada. In Canada, privacy has long been considered a fundamental right and the Canadian government is committed to the protection of Canadians’ privacy. This means that your data is yours and yours alone.
When you host your data and your infrastructure with us, we store it all on secure servers located in Canada. All of our servers are top of the line IBM hardware designed for 24/7 critical operations to ensure that your service is up and running at all times.
Many other companies – even ones with Canadian offices – store your important data on servers located in the U.S. (or in other countries where it’s subject to the laws of those countries). With us, your privacy is guaranteed and no one from any country can view it without your permission.
Understanding Cloud Solutions
Posted on May 1, 2012
Much has been written about Cloud solutions – including on this blog – but do you really understand how it can help your business or are you lost somewhere in the technical mumble jumble? Just for a minute, forget about everything technically speaking and let’s take a look at how Cloud solutions can help your business.
First, there’s the data sharing capabilities. This means that your email, your calendar and your contacts list become platform independent. You, and anyone else you designate, can access these three vital tools from anywhere – a desktop, a laptop, a tablet or a Smartphone.
Next, there’s the application sharing. This means that rather than buying expensive licenses for every piece of software for every computer in your office, we ‘cloud’ it. You simply pay a per user per month fee and everyone can access the programs using only a web browser. Another major advantage to application sharing is when the software needs updating, it only has to be done once – not on every single computer.
Finally, there’s the cloud storage. This means that when you save a file, it can be accessed by anyone from anywhere on any device. It ‘lives’ in the cloud and not only can anyone access and work on that file, it’s also simple to revert back to a previous version of the file, if needed.
All of our systems are completely secure. Password policies are in place to ensure data protection and all communication between your computer and the cloud is encrypted. What’s important to understand about the three types of Cloud solutions is that we’re experts in the field as we’ve been offering these solutions for more than five years – long before the term Cloud became mainstream – and we work with you to meet your individual budget, requirements and security needs.
Proper IT Technologies: From Burden to Asset
Posted on March 8, 2012
Written By: Caitlyn Young
www.essentialdata.ca
Many small and midsized business owners are seeing IT technology as a strategy to help improve their ever growing business. These improvements include:
• Saving Money
• Saving Time
• Freeing up other resources for you and your staff
• Improving customer service
• Saves your company from a disaster (flood, fire, hacking, deletion of important files) by backing up your company’s files regularly
• Using Application Sharing , also known as Cloud Computing, to work at anytime from anywhere in the world.
The 2008 International Small Business IT Survey polled 1,361 IT decision-makers from companies of 100 employees or less. The study showed that 96 % of respondents thought IT was important to their growth, and 91% felt small business owners could benefit financially from a greater awareness of IT (International Council for Small Business. “Results of the 2008 DELL/ICSB International Small Business IT Survey”).
However if you’re still cautious to make the switch to outsourcing your company’s IT needs , think about these drawbacks that come with using the same old hardware and software or just simply trying to do upgrades your self.
• It keeps you from determining if you’re spending your IT budget wisely.
• It provides no line of sight into the benefits and ROI you’re getting from your IT investment.
• It leaves you with no reliable way of tracking user expectations and satisfaction.
• It doesn’t help you ensure that your staff is working as efficiently or productively as possible.
Merely recognizing the importance of IT for your company isn’t enough. If small and midsized companies are to get the most out of their IT investment, they need to partner with knowledgeable, reliable and experienced third-party providers that can deliver on the IT needs of smaller businesses, freeing up decision-makers to focus their time and resources on growing their business and making it more profitable.
It’s important for small and midsized business owners to visualize what their company would be like if they no longer needed to worry about their IT problems and were using 
their time more efficiently in order to make the most profit for their company.
What if:
• You worked with an IT service partner who recognized problems before you did and proactively alerted you?
• A problem occurred in the middle of the night, but the first you heard of it was when you arrived at work the next morning and read an email saying it had already been resolved?
• You had a virtual CIO (Chief Information Officer) who could advise you on all your IT-related business decisions and help you deploy technology to improve efficiency throughout your organization?
• You could accurately forecast IT costs five years into the future?
• You could work with a partner to build an IT plan that meets current business needs and provides a reliable and predictable IT infrastructure for future growth?
• You could build a road map that allows your organization to adapt to the changes of the business environment without having to make additional investments?
As a business owner your focus is building a larger clientele and becoming more profitable. Using a third party IT provider will help allow you and your staff members to achieve these goals without worrying about your IT technologies, and if they are achieving the best ROI for your company.
Remote Backup – Keeping your business growing
Posted on March 1, 2012
Written By: Caitlyn Young
www.essentialdata.ca
Owning a small or midsized business is not an easy task, and small business owners today know firsthand the struggles of trying to keep the business growing and prospering. Keeping track of all your important documents and client lists can sometimes be an uphill battle. But these business owners have to stop with their busy schedules for a moment and ask themselves, “I put in all this work but would my company survive if there was an IT 
disaster?”
With so many small businesses today relying heavily on computers and new technology, it is important to keep your files safe even in times of a disaster (flood, fire, hacking, deleted files etc.). Picture this scenario: many of us are at work for long hours working on this week’s “big project” for an important client, when your tiredness kicks in full gear and you accidentally delete that very important file? Most of us would panic (maybe even shed a few tears) knowing that there is no way you can start over and have it done in time. Well the solution is simple, if you’re a small or midsized business owner you may not have an on-site IT department and the simple answer to this big headache is called Remote Backup Services.
Business owners will never have to worry about losing valuable information again once Remote Backup Service is installed on your company’s computers. Your data and files are saved nightly, or multiple times a day using no human interaction that means you know your files will be saved without any human error. These files are saved using a high-speed online internet connection; your data will be automatically backed up, encrypted and 
transferred off-site to a secure data storage facility. Our clients can now work on their important files worry free, knowing the remote backup is easy to use, simple and secure, and their files can be recovered within minutes.
If your data gets corrupted, lost or infected, your business can be negatively impacted for hours or even days. It is important to ensure that your data is protected from all of those risks and have the ability to recover you data quickly and easily if a loss occurs.
Outsourcing your backup and recovery needs can save you time and money every day, and when you’re a small or midsized business owner you don’t have any resource to be wasting. That’s why Essential Data Services is here to help with all your company’s back up needs. Business owners can stop worrying about lost and deleted files and start focusing on the important things like growing their business!
Cloud Computing – How it can drive your business forward
Posted on February 23, 2012
Written By: Caitlyn Young
Cloud Computing – A model for delivering information technology services in which resources are retrieved from the internet through web-based tools and applications, rather than a direct connection to a server. Data and software packages are stored in servers. However, cloud computing structure allows access to information as long as an electronic device has access to the web. This type of system allows employees to work remotely.(Investopedia.com, 2012)
Cloud Computing or Application Sharing is a term used by many, but some business owners still may be lost and unaware of how this “new wave” technology can help their business prosper. A study conducted by IBM recently predicted that within the next three years, cloud computing will grow by 41% for all businesses they’re calling this technology a “game changer”. But the question on many business owners’ minds is “what does all this really mean for my small or midsized company?” People may believe this technology only helps large corporations, when in fact that is incorrect. Cloud computing helps any business looking to save money, save time, free up IT resources, and it provides the ability to work 
from anywhere, anytime!
This concept allows you to meet your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), Return of Interest (ROI), increase efficiency company-wide, and most importantly, you pay as you grow. This means you only get billed once a month for the usage by your company. Think of it like an electricity bill – you get billed every month only for the power you use. That’s exactly how cloud computing works. This is much more efficient than your company buying servers, building a data center, and hoping that the server is not being over-utilized or under-utilized and therefore costing you more money.
Not only is saving money a huge importance for companies, but so is saving time and focusing on the most important thing – growing your business! With cloud computing you never have to buy/upgrade software and hardware, and many cloud solutions, particularly those related to SaaS, require no effort on your part whatsoever. Updates are done automatically, and applications only need to be installed once to provide multiple user access. This means regardless of whether your company has 10 employees or 200 employees, it’s easily and quickly installed once and all your employees can work within the “cloud” immediately.
Finally there is the aspect of safety. All your company’s files can be backed up and stored in a safe and secure offsite location. Your files are saved using two servers (in case one fails) and are encrypted and backed up nightly or more depending on the clients wishes. You can rest assured knowing your files will always be backed up, and easily accessible if needed.
Cloud computing is a leading way for small and midsized businesses to sell their goods and services using a wide range of different applications including Microsoft programs, Outlook, Adobe, SQL and other databases and any other application used by your organization. It can also be used on many different devices including desktops, laptops, PlayBook, Android devices IPad, Mac desktops/laptops and Smart phones. This makes it simple for you and your employees to get work done from many different locations, at the office or on the go.
After reading this blog you should have a better understanding of what Cloud Computing is, and how it can help improve your small or midsized business while saving you money, time, and space. It’s a new type of technology taking off quickly. Is your company ready for the change?’
Remote Backup VS Tape Backup
Posted on February 17, 2012
Written By: Caitlyn Young
93% of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more due to a disaster filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster. 50% of businesses that found themselves without data management for this same time period filed for bankruptcy immediately. (National Archives & Records Administration in Washington)
We can all clearly see that the statement above can be a scary thought for all business owners. I know some people may think “there is no way that will happen to us” and that your company’s files are safe thanks to your trusted tape backup. The reality is that your documents are not 100% safe if your company still uses tapes for their backup. 
If you’re still using tapes it is time to upgrade and start working using up to date technology, allowing your company to work more efficiently. Not only are you living in the past, you’re also wasting valuable money and resources. Remote Back is the new way for businesses to grow. It’s simple to use and you won’t have to worry about a thing, everything is done for you without any human interaction, therefore eliminating any chance of human error! You can work from any device like a desktop or laptop knowing all your files will be saved and backed up nightly, there will be no more need to worry about changing your tapes throughout the year, taking up valuable time, and spending extra funds.
Disadvantage of Tape Backup
- High chance of human error and mistaken deletion
- There is only a small amount of document space on each tape
- There is no encryption and it is very easy to duplicate saved company documents
- Cost your company more money throughout the year- maintenance, other employee`s resources, need to buy tapes etc.
- Not automatically stored to a safe place- tapes can get easily damaged, as well there is a constant need to frequently change tapes over when full
- Takes time away from your IT department to fix any problems when they should be doing other tasks
Advantages of Remote Backup
- Automated Backup– no human interaction means no human error
- Files are backed up nightly
- Secure & Reliable- all your files will be encrypted and stored in a very secure off-site location
- Saves your company money – you chose which files get saved and for how long
- Daily Reporting- if there is a problem with your server we let you know via email right away, and fix the problem quickly
- Rapid Recovery– recover your lost data from your desktop and laptop (PC and MAC) within minutes
After looking at the points above you can see first hand the advantages of making the switch. As a business owner you know the importance of cutting cost, while still having the resources to help prosper and grow your business for many more years to come. Remote Backup allows you to have the freedom choose which files you want to save and for how long, allowing you to build your own backup plan rather than having limitations while using tape backup.
As a businesses owner it’s important to know your company documents will always be backed up safely and can be easily accessible in case of a disaster. It’s time to stop and really think to yourself is my company’s documents really safe with the tape backup you are using?
Working within the Clouds
Posted on February 9, 2012
Written By: Caitlyn Young
If you work for or own a small or medium sized business (10-150 people) your resources may be limited. This includes office space, time, and money. As your business grows, so may your number of employees, and with a limited amount of space, the new “trend” for many businesses is to have their employees work from home saving you space, time, and money. Many of you may have heard the term “Cloud” but are unsure what it is and how can it help your business.
Application Sharing, also known as the Cloud, now gives business owners and their employees the ability to share important documents using all different IT sources, from desktops to laptops, MAC, iPad, and now even on the go using your smart phone. It can be viewed as a “virtual” office and now companies can be more efficient and work on important tasks from anywhere that provides an internet connection.
Although many businesses may have several employees working from outside the office, it’s still important to allow all employees easy access to all their documents and saved files. Whether you use the Cloud for simple tasks like checking your emails or scheduling meetings, or if you need multiple people working on the same project at once.
It’s now easy for small businesses to use Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook or any other application such as SQL databases, accounting systems, etc. from any device (iPad, Android, Laptop, desktop, MAC, and others) from anywhere at any time, just plug in and go!
“Research and Markets analysts are expecting cloud computing to be a 160.2 billion dollar market by 2015.”
