Cloud Services

Cloud Services

The cloud has become something of a phenomenon in recent years. Advancements in connectivity have meant that cloud services can really offer a viable alternative to traditional offline/on-site services. The cloud offers compelling benefits that could really transform the way your business works. One example are hosted desktops. These enable your staff to work from anywhere with an internet connection and they can pick up right where they left off. Another popular use of the cloud is for online storage.

Services like Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive offer users with high capacity online storage that can be access from any computer or mobile device. With online storage, your data is kept secure and is backed up to ensure you don’t lose important information. Our experience in working with cloud services means we can work with you to migrate your business onto the cloud to help you save on costs and provide your business with improved resilience and redundancy.

Many people view the cloud as a mythical place where data is floating high in the sky. The reality is a bit less magical. The cloud is no more than specialised and powerful data services that can provide customers with reliable and often low-cost solutions such as storage, hosting, or data processing. As more and more data is being stored in the cloud, and customers shift their daily computing to hosted platforms, it means that businesses no longer need to invest substantial capital on expensive workstations, and can instead use thin clients with hosted computer services.

Another major use of the cloud is for data storage and backup, where more businesses are moving towards cloud-based storage for improved redundancy and data availability. Speak to us to see what cloud services your business can benefit from.

1. Hosted Desktops

In partnership with GoCloud

We all know and are familiar with a desktop computing experience. You log in to your desktop and get working straight away with you files and applications. Imagine having the flexibility of being able to do this wherever you are. This is the power of hosted desktops, where your desktop experience lives on the cloud. These can offer a business substantial benefits as they require lower initial outlay, and are a scalable and reliable computing experience for your staff.

• Safe and Secure
  Being a cloud product, you can expect many of the typical features of a cloud service such as regular backups and failover protection. No longer will your business be held captive to your IT infrastructure.
  
  
• Flexible and Scalable
  With minimal capital commitments, you can scale your workstation requirements on demand by adding or removing users as your business grows. With a simple subscription model, you can rest assured knowing that your workstations will always be on the latest software and hardware. Obsolete workstations will be a thing of the past.
  
  
• Mobility
  Businesses that rely on a mobile workforce or teleworking staff will see immense benefits as they can access their familiar desktops from anywhere with an internet connection. By not having to move business data, you also help to reduce risk of data loss and theft.
  
  
• Cost Effective
  Since a hosted desktop is a cloud service, there is minimal upfront and maintenance costs. You pay as you go. Instead of investing large capital in acquiring full-fledged workstations, you can instead use low cost thin clients to access your hosted desktops. Since all processing and data storage is done on the cloud service, you never have to worry about hardware slowing down or needing replacing.

 
At Ridge IT, we have partnered with GoCloud to provide you with UK based hosted desktops on high resilience ISO 27001 accredited data centres to ensure you can always get access to your desktops. For more information, please contact us.

2. Data Backup

Read our blog article about the Five Reasons to Switch to a Cloud Backup Today.

In today’s digital world, most businesses will rely on some form of critical data in order to run their operation. Unfortunately, many businesses at some point in their lifecycle have experienced some form of major data loss. This can be quite damaging to a business and its reputation. On-site backups are great for rapid backups and retrievals. They are however only as good as the equipment they operate on, and the security of your premises.

On-premises backups also are prone to damage due to natural events such as fires or floods. With cloud backup solutions, you can rest assure knowing that your data is being held on purpose-built data centres that offer both state of the start physical security, as well as the best firewalls to protect from cyber-attacks. Most data centres also operate multi-sites that mirror each other, so should the worst happen to any one data centre, there are fail over solutions in place.
 
We have backup solutions from leading cloud storage providers including Amazon AWS S3, Backblaze B2, Microsoft Azure Storage, and Google Cloud Storage. With a reputable name behind your data, you can have the peace of mind knowing your data is secure and available whenever you need it. All providers have tiered pricing to ensure all budgets and requirements can be catered for. At Ridge IT, we can help your business ensure that data loss does not cripple your operation, and help you recover from IT meltdowns.

For more information, please contact us.