Everybody wants to achieve maximum efficiency and cost savings these days, but nobody is keen to increase spending on the latest tools that could help them achieve these goals. Thankfully, when it comes to IT, investing large capital sums in the purchase and maintenance of such tools or systems is no longer necessary. Yes, it’s our new best friend cloud computing again. ABI Research forecasts that the number of mobile cloud computing users will jump from 42.8 million people in 2008 to more than 998 million in 2014. No doubt you will already be aware of the reasons for this, but it doesn’t hurt to list them again: maximum efficiency of resource usage; manageable monthly expense rather than huge initial investment; mobility; scalability; speed; convenience; freedom; simplicity. The benefits and advantages offered by IT services from the cloud are already being enjoyed by early adopters – the forward-looking, those who look to exploit new innovations rather than clinging to the old solutions.

Choosing the right partner or provider is, of course, very important. You want a company with experience, expertise and unrivalled support. One with guaranteed service levels, and personnel on hand 24/7 to advise on cloud solutions to fit any requirement, with a whole range of services (hosted desktops, phones, software, storage and servers etc.) to choose from. This invaluable guidance will help you to gain the maximum benefit from the cloud. For end-users and for IT resellers, these services can provide you with the opportunity to pull ahead of the pack, offering cost savings and new revenue streams alongside a position as a fast-follower of this major transition in computing. Those who fail to keep up with such advancements in the modern business environment are at a serious disadvantage.

Recent research from the IDC has led to predictions that spending on IT cloud computing services could reach US $42 billion by 2012, with a significant proportion of this market expected to be in the Asia-Pacific region. The study reveals that more than 80 percent of respondents from large enterprises are at the very least in trial stages for public and private cloud computing deployments. However, it is the fact that it is being embraced by the US government that could place the final seal of acceptability on the cloud.

This week the Obama administration announced a far-reaching and long-term cloud computing policy intended to cut costs on infrastructure and reduce the environmental impact of government computing systems. According to various news reports, the US government spends more than $20bn a year on infrastructure alone, and the aim is to slash this figure considerably. As an example of the sort of savings to be had, US Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra cited a recent revamp of the USA.gov website. Traditionally, the US General Services Agency (GSA) would have spent six months on such an upgrade – and $2.5m a year maintaining the site. Using an unnamed cloud-based solution, the upgrade took 24-hours, and the site can be maintained for only $800,000 a year. Clearly, the US government has seen how private industry has reaped the benefits of cloud computing, and has effectively said: “I’ll have some of that, please!”

The global recession has provided impetus for the shift from capital to operational expenditure, and the unpredictability over jobs and spending makes scalability and truly elastic computing resources even more desirable. The advantages and opportunities that cloud computing brings to the IT marketplace are now being recognised all over the world – even by the most cautious and conservative of organisations. At ThinkGrid, we’re playing our part in its growing global adoption by continuing to open new points of presence all over the world, and have just entered the Asia-Pacific market via our new Australian base. Our data centre facilities in technology hub Sydney will extend and improve our capability to provide IT services from the cloud, allowing us to reach more customers than ever before. The switch from a traditional IT model to the cloud appears to be inevitable – it’s time to stop fighting it.

Because of the increasing demand for this model of IT provision, there are huge opportunities for those who wish to become channel partners – whether they’re IT companies, Value Added Resellers or Systems Integrators. Instead of swimming against the tide by relying on dwindling numbers of one-off purchases of hardware and software, that are actually giving resellers access to slimmer margins than ever, it is possible to stay ahead of the competition by offering cash-strapped customers cutting edge IT services from the cloud, backed up by expert advice and technical support around the clock. By switching to services delivered from the cloud, customers’ budget worries can be alleviated, as they simply pay for their IT as a monthly operational expense, with no need to invest in expensive equipment or software licences. They get value for money, and partners save too.

The company you choose to partner with should provide you with all the help and guidance you need to fully understand and start offering cloud-based IT services. Overheads are low because transactions are all virtual, and marketing collateral or even lead generation tools are often included. This ‘IT on demand’ delivery model, with its recurring revenue stream, means that customer retention is a priority, so ensuring their continued satisfaction is key to both parties. To give an example, the symbiotic relationship that exists between a company like ThinkGrid and its channel partners means that customers’ needs can be met quickly and smoothly. They benefit from the highest quality service levels, leading to greater trust and loyalty, while partners (who have accumulated years of experience in building and maintaining such associations) retain total ownership of the customer relationship.

Cloud computing may well be a completely new way to deliver IT, but the concept of good customer service is as old as the hills. Combining expertise should mean that everyone’s a winner.

Even though, in the world of IT, talk has been of little but ‘cloud this’ and ‘cloud that’ for what seems like forever, cloud computing is still new enough that it is a nebulous concept to many. Such bewilderment is not so surprising though, as there are many varying definitions out there, from internet-based computing or software-as-a-service (SaaS) to outsourcing, IT on demand, managed or hosted services. What IS clear is that, despite this confusion, cloud computing is continuing to grow in popularity, as customers look for more efficient, cost-effective ways of using IT.

Being aware of the growing interest in and the need for clarification on this matter, ThinkGrid has produced a whitepaper that can be viewed here.

Of course, being able to precisely define what many consider to be a nebulous concept is all well and good, but you may well wonder how necessary it is to understand the thing inside out. The very word ‘business’ says it all – when they are at work, most people are too busy to devote time to studying concepts, unless they happen to be academics. The most important and relevant information is more likely to be the answer to the question ‘what can this do for me?’ While there are many features and benefits associated with cloud computing, right now the most significant factor is undoubtedly its ability to deliver cutting edge technology at low costs.

Businesses are caught in a Catch 22 situation – they must stay competitive and increase productivity, but they have never been under more pressure to cut costs. In order to survive, you may be competing with other companies who have the IT equivalent of a nuclear arsenal, so there is no point going into battle with a flint-headed spear. How can you access the latest tools that will give you that competitive advantage on a bare-minimum budget?

At ThinkGrid, we offer one of the widest and most comprehensive ranges of cloud-based services in the world. Our support teams are on hand 24/7 to advise and guide you and, best of all, every service we offer is available for a low, predictable monthly fee, removing the need for capital expenditure and reducing per user costs by up to 50%. Cases don’t come much clearer than that!

Building your own truly resilient, n+1 IT solutions can be extremely expensive and, at a time when budgets are being frozen or even slashed to the bone, many businesses would rather take the risk that disruptive events won’t happen to them. That’s fine if they don’t, but it’s highly counter-productive if they do, as such disasters could end up costing a lot more than adequate provision would take to implement in the first place. Happily, for businesses forward-thinking enough to take advantage of the latest technological advances, virtualisation has simplified disaster recovery – and made it much more affordable. There are now cost-efficient hosted solutions that mean you needn’t choose between paying out huge sums of money upfront and paying out the same if and when your business experiences a disaster. Your employees can simply access the server remotely, dramatically reducing downtime.

Opting for a ready-to-use virtual server infrastructure – hosted and maintained off-site in a highly secure, co-located data centre by a reputable provider of IT services from the cloud – can provide you with valuable peace of mind, at a much lower cost than purchasing and managing this in-house. With ThinkGrid, for instance, server resources are completely secure, backed-up, disaster-proof, have guaranteed availability and are supported 24/7 by exclusively UK-based teams. For a straightforward monthly fee, your business will benefit from a world class, fully redundant infrastructure, with no need for capital expenditure, but with the added reassurance of SLA-guaranteed availability. Should the worst occur, your business will be in a much better position to be able to weather the storm – and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

This will hardly be startling news for the channel, however. Even without these latest figures, it has been evident for some time that the way companies are looking at running their IT has been undergoing a gradual but significant change. The economic downturn has simply accelerated the move away from expensive in-house deployments towards IT services and infrastructure delivered from the cloud – principally because of the increased value for money they offer. Customer demand for these cloud-based services continues to grow, and they have the added advantage of providing a ‘sticky’ recurring revenue stream. These benefits, alongside the increasingly slim margins to be made on PCs and servers, mean that for the channel, the opportunities presented by hosted virtual desktops and Software as a Service are a much more attractive proposition.

Concentrating solely on sales of tin as a main revenue source in the current climate is a very risky strategy indeed. By partnering with companies like ThinkGrid, the channel can gain competitive advantage by offering customers an alternative: cutting edge technology for a low monthly fee, without the need to invest in setting up the infrastructure needed to deliver these services. To dismiss cloud computing as simply the latest fad is to ignore the concrete benefits it brings, and to disregard the way the market is going – a blinkered approach adopted at one’s peril.

For small to medium-sized businesses and start-ups especially, it’s a lot to take on board when you’re trying to concentrate on establishing and running a successful business. But a good email system is a valuable business tool. The features and benefits Microsoft Exchange, for example, provides have helped to make it the world’s premier business email platform. Easier collaboration is facilitated by the ability to share files, calendars, task lists and contacts, greatly improving efficiency and increasing productivity. As a business, you have the option of managing your Exchange email in-house, or choosing a hosted Exchange solution from a trusted provider. Unfortunately, for most small and medium-sized businesses, the cost of running an Exchange server in-house is prohibitive. Simply purchasing and setting up the system is likely to cost you thousands of pounds – and then there’s the time and money needed to manage and maintain it.

It is obstacles like these that prevent many companies from take advantage of enterprise-class technologies. However, as with the rest of ThinkGrid’s cloud-based services, our Hosted Exchange plans remove all of the up-front infrastructure costs and management hassles. All you do is pay a transparent, low monthly subscription fee and you can enjoy all of the features and benefits of MS Exchange. It can be deployed quickly to as many users as required, and provision can be scaled up or down almost instantly whenever you choose. Email and data is stored in and accessed remotely from our highly secure data centres, providing guaranteed reliability, security and fast connectivity. It can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, meaning you are no longer tied to your desk – you can send and receive messages and use all of the other features from any location, giving you greater freedom and flexibility.

Spare yourself from email trouble – let us take care of it.

Businesses continue to feel the pressure to operate efficiently and to maintain a competitive edge, but with budgets slashed and capital expenditure put on hold until the financial situation improves, how can they enjoy the advantages that cutting edge IT brings? It’s a Catch 22 situation – the latest technologies can help companies to improve productivity and maximise the efficiency of their business processes, but the cost burden is prohibitive. This is why more and more people are turning to the range of hosted IT services (or ‘IT on demand’) available from providers like ThinkGrid.

Let’s focus on one particular segment: according to industry projections, the area of IT expenditure expected to be hit the hardest is hardware, which Gartner predicts will drop 16.3%. This is not exactly surprising. Purchasing items like desktop PCs in this current climate is a highly inefficient use of resources. They use a lot of power, take up a great deal of space, and users are effectively tied to their desks. The machines themselves depreciate in value rapidly, and require maintenance and frequent upgrades. If staff cuts are made – as so many organisations have experienced – this usually results in an excess of hardware, which is then left to stand idle, sold at a fraction of its original cost, or simply dumped.

By way of contrast, Hosted Desktops allow freedom of movement. They can be accessed from any location via a thin client, laptop or an existing PC, which enables remote working and reduced power costs. They are provided on a monthly subscription basis, thus becoming a predictable operational expense, and management and maintenance costs are removed. The number of users can be scaled up or down instantly, and you only pay for what you actually use. ThinkGrid estimates that moving to a hosted desktop infrastructure could save businesses over £600 per user almost immediately. Now there’s a figure worth whistling at!

It may sound simple, but many providers forget that listening to customers is the best way to understand their needs. Experience also plays a large part in ensuring that customers are kept happy, particularly if they are unsure of their exact requirements. When it comes to the actual service provided (e.g. Hosted Desktops, Hosted VOIP, Hosted Microsoft Exchange / SharePoint etc.), businesses should look at the guarantees and service level agreements (SLAs) offered by each prospective provider. Is technical support available around the clock? Will you have to deal with a different person every time you encounter a problem? Will your provider respond quickly, and will they offer the right solutions?

When we established ThinkGrid after spending many years working in the hosted IT industry, it was with questions like these in mind that we developed our service offerings. Our experienced implementation and support teams are on-hand 24/7 to give our partners and end-users expert advice (free of charge, of course), and to help them get the most out of the range of on-demand services we provide. Each customer is appointed their own dedicated support ‘pod’ to ensure continuity of service and the swiftest possible resolution of any issues. All the customer has to do is let us know what they need, and our team will work out the best way of delivering it for the best possible value, saving time as well as money.

It is this approach that has led to ThinkGrid’s success – not simply in winning customers, but in winning their loyalty. For our channel partners, this provides a recurring source of revenue. For us it helps to cement our reputation as a trusted service provider, and sets us apart from the competition.

Through the innovative use of technology, service providers like ThinkGrid – with its hosted model of business IT on demand – can help organisations to quickly become greener and more energy-efficient, with the welcome advantage of also reducing related expenditure. ThinkGrid’s infrastructure, for example, operates at approximately 70% capacity, compared to figures for most in-house servers at 10-15%. Our Hosted Desktop plans allow companies to further cut power consumption by using low-energy thin clients to access their data and applications, and enable existing PCs to be used for much longer, thus extending technology refresh cycles. In terms of software, it is generally accepted that a high-density, multi-tenant method of provision leads to greater efficiency, and that is exactly what we provide. The virtualisation products we use also increase efficiency, along with the Intel CPUs in our processing engines.

Forward-thinking companies that put in place environmentally responsible policies tend to run efficiently, enjoy a positive brand image, and will also protect themselves from the risk of being fined under new environmental legislation. A constantly-evolving IT industry is beginning to recognise the way the tide has turned on green issues, and the capability to deliver more energy-efficient solutions is there if people want to take advantage of it. Whether an organisation is motivated by profit, image or legislative coercion, the ‘greening-up’ of IT appears to be becoming an inevitability that we all need to take on board.