What is ITaaS?

Cloud computing has completely transformed the way organizations deal with IT and software services. There’s been a sharp decline in conventional and one-time, fee-based IT solutions, signaling a change in the IT landscape. We’re now moving toward a more advanced solution: ITaaS, or IT as a service.

What Is IT as a Service (ITaaS)?

IT infrastructure forms the backbone of any organization. However, the increasingly expensive upfront costs and complex maintenance processes of traditional IT solutions are a serious obstacle for most organizations.

Thus, greater demand for the latest technological features, lower costs, upgraded security protocols, and dedicated customer service has led to the rise of ITaaS solutions.

Put simply, IT as a service provides immediate and direct access to IT solutions while affording customers the convenience of having to only pay for what they actually need.

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ITaaS providers now have a catalog of solutions for collaborating, communicating, computing, hosting, connecting, using professional services, improving business capabilities, and providing service support.

Overall, it’s safe to say that demand for ITaaS is on the rise. For example, according to a McKinsey report, 77% of organizations primarily used traditionally developed IT systems for a minimum of one workload in 2015; by 2018, this number witnessed a sharp drop to 43%.

A Golden Opportunity for MSPs

The increasing demand for ITaaS has positioned MSPs at the forefront of this industry-wide change. In short, passing up this opportunity is the equivalent of handing out customers to your competitors.

Consider this: Only 10% of global enterprises relied on ITaaS for their primary workloads back in 2015. Fast forward to 2018, and the number increased to 51%!

Modern-day organizations depend upon information and data for survival. This has led to a rising emphasis on applications that provide solutions for a wide range of problems, such as increased load on IT infrastructures and threats to uptime.

Research by IDC found that 71% of businesses in the United States are faced with an average downtime of approximately 10 hours per year. For small- or medium-sized businesses, this loss in productivity can result in up to $125,000 in lost revenue; for larger enterprises, that number can be as high as $17 million.

As a result, organizations are increasingly opting for ITaaS-based solutions, which is evident in the 12% increase in ITaaS adoption rates from 2015–2018.

Research shows that large enterprises have also increased allocation of their off-premises workloads to ITaaS providers. Large enterprises have also exhibited a marked interest in trusting hyperscale providers such as Google, Amazon, or Microsoft. Overall, 48% of large enterprises have handed their IT services to one of these three hyperscale providers, and it’s predicted that this number will rise to 80% in 2019.

What Differentiates ITaaS from Other Alternatives?

As a rapidly growing alternative to conventional organizational IT solutions, ITaaS has several differentiating factors that have been instrumental in its rising popularity. Let’s take a look at what distinguishes ITaaS from other options.

A Subscription-Based Model

The concept of subscription-based IT services is one of the key factors that sets ITaaS apart from the traditional IT service model. ITaaS providers typically charge a monthly fee based on the number of users and the number of solutions required. This means that small businesses, despite their size, can have unrestricted access to high-quality services. As those businesses scale, their subscriptions can be upgraded or downsized to suit their needs. For large organizations that rely heavily on IT, this means that they have a direct line to an expert and a reliable vendor—thus reducing, if not outright eliminating, extended downtimes and productivity loss.

Around-the-Clock Prioritized Support

Another hallmark of high-quality ITaaS solutions is the prioritized expert advice that enterprises can tap into anytime. In a first-line capacity, the service desk serves as the main point of contact between the IT solution provider and the client for technical faults, answers to queries, or other such issues. In the case of a larger company, priority support can be extended to an in-house team.

While most organizations operate from 9 to 5, ITaaS support is available 24/7, around the clock. With the growing focus on remote working and global business models, prioritized support has emerged as one of the defining points in favor of ITaaS.

Active Monitoring

Proactive monitoring dedicated to identifying IT problems enhances the security of an organization’s core servers and network. ITaaS utilizes monitoring platforms that track utilization and network health metrics and conduct in-depth trend analysis. This continuous monitoring results in vastly improved uptime. Most importantly, active monitoring leads to a significantly reduced mean time taken to repair (MTTR) in the event that a bug is discovered in the system.

Enhanced Performance and SLA-Bound Performance

Unlike in-house IT experts, an ITaaS contract is governed by a service-level agreement (SLA) that sets out certain standards of service that the customer can expect. SLAs also inlcude specific factors such as hours to immediate response, prioritization of faults, and the time required to fix bugs. The scope of the SLA is typically aligned with the organizational expectations of individual IT departments, which greatly benefits both parties invested in providing their clients with the best-possible alternatives, MSPs are now focusing on providing ITaaS solutions. As we move towards a specialized economy, and enterprises look to allocate resources more efficiently, there is a vast potential for MSPs to emerge as the principle IT support providers.

In short, making sure you can offer the best possible services to your customers is one of the simplest ways to, not only keep them happy and satisfied, but also grow your business. Contact us today to learn more about how a partnership with LATVIK can help you.

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Latvik Blog Team

LATVIK TECHNOLOGIES ™ 

www.latvikhost.com | https://latviktechnologies.blogspot.com
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Why are Businesses Shifting to Hosted Desktop solutions?

What Actually are Hosted Desktops ??

A hosted desktop looks, feels and behaves exactly like a regular desktop PC, while the data and applications used are all hosted
in our data-centre, on a high availability network.

The desktop can be accessed from anywhere in the world using an internet enabled PC or laptop, or for maximum benefit, a specialized low cost computer known as a thin client can be used.

The hosted desktop experience of the end-user will not be noticeably different to that experienced when using a standalone desktop PC. Not only will it match the applications that can be run, but it will also provide similar performance levels. Once logged onto their remote hosted desktop, the user can use the full range of options provided by the Windows OS to customize their desktop and the applications they use upon it.

Why are Businesses Shifting to Hosted Desktop solutions?

Hosted desktops are luring more and more businesses and public sector organisations to make the leap from a physical desktop infrastructure to the virtual, all thanks to a game-changing and money-saving opportunity. It’s the chance to move past the endless tide of ditched PCs, faulty updates, burned money and wasted time and embrace the speed, security and efficiency of the cloud.

Evolving beyond the buy, use and replace cycle

Organisations with hosted desktops can forget about the costly and time-consuming process of buying new desktops and laptops, only to replace, them again a few years later. Then there’s the constant process of patching, updating and maintenance to deal with, and that’s without even mentioning the complexities of a network infrastructure.

Switching to hosted desktops means that there’s no replaceable hardware on site and software is managed centrally by the provider. Latvik Technologies hosted desktop support enables users to use thin clients – essentially a monitor, mouse and keyboard connected to the web, without the need of a hard drive – or they can turn any device into a client, removing the need for unnecessary hardware upgrades.

Save time and money

Those involved in IT provision or decision making will know the drawbacks of having to implement an infrastructure replacement, an office-wide hardware upgrade, or just having to endure the daily drudge of updates and difficult-to-apply patches. More generally, it’s hard to work in any part of a modern business today without being aware of the constant hold-ups and disruptions that come as a result of on-site IT infrastructure. A big part of the lure of hosted desktop solutions is that all of this goes away.

Financial decision makers will be aware too of the ever-increasing cost of throwing away one lot of hardware as it becomes obsolete or stops being supported, only to replace it with new machines. With thin client devices and cloud-based desktop systems, these costs disappear, along with much of the cost of IT personnel.

A significantly reduced environmental impact

Around 70% of a computer’s total CO2 output over its lifetime is caused during its creation (more for desktops, slightly less for laptops). That means the buy, use and replace cycle is terrible for the environment, as well as for the wallet.

Because hosted desktop systems handle all processing and memory centrally, there’s no need for PCs with hardware that rapidly becomes obsolete, such as processors and RAM. That in turn means far fewer replacements and a more sustainable company. Sustainability in itself has become a major business goal, as it reduces the cost of waste disposal, comes with potential tax reductions due to a decreased carbon footprint, and ensures that your business is working in an environmentally friendly way.

Benefits to the End User (Hosted Desktops)

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Latvik Blog Team

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Cost of Server Ownership: On-Premise vs. IaaS

Take a good look at those servers sitting in that closed room at the end of your office hallway. They’ve probably given you a lot of good service during the last few years. Think of all the data you’ve processed and stored there, not to mention the applications that ran on them every day. Have you ever stopped to wonder how much time and money you’ve invested to keep those machines running? You might be surprised by the numbers if you did. There’s a lot of talk about cloud server solutions these days and you might be tempted to take the leap. But, before you make any kind of decision, you should have a clear idea of what you’re spending now and how it compares to the price of cloud solutions.

The first thing you have to do is look beyond the initial costs of an in-house solution vs. the monthly cost of the cloud. The real picture of what’s cheaper goes far beyond the cost of a new in-house server or an annual subscription to cloud servers or Infrastructure-as-a-Service.
Look at ongoing costs instead. What are you really paying to operate, maintain and upgrade an on-premises solution over its lifetime (usually a five-year period)? What other costs are involved in a cloud solution? Only then will you be able to make a sound decision. Need to know the total cost of your infrastructure right away.

How to calculate total cost of ownership of servers

The best way to calculate the cost of ownership is to take a look at all your costs: direct, indirect or hidden. Here’s a breakdown, in case you’re wondering what we’re talking about. Direct costs are linked to any of the hardware required for an on-premises solution. This can range from your actual servers to the server room where you store them. It also includes electricity and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning). On the other hand, indirect costs are related to the salaries you pay your System Administrator and any other IT staff member who maintains your hardware or fixes software bugs. And hidden costs? Lost productivity due to downtime is a good example.

How much does it cost to move to the cloud?

No matter which costs you want to analyze, our cost calculator tool can help. It evaluates all the factors involved in building your own solution and compares that with the overall cost of the cloud.

How much vCPUs, RAM and disk space do you need to run your operations? Using our cost calculator tool, we entered sample amounts of resources that most SMBs would use every month (2 vCPUs, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of disk storage). Then we played with the uptime target numbers to reflect a typical SMB situation. We looked at availability and what this meant for downtime hours each month. The numbers vary. Some providers offer 98.0% of availability, which equals about  14.4 hours of allowed downtime per month.

 A respectable on-premises solution is also around that previous percentage, so when you compare to switching to the Cloud, you can start with that data as your guaranteed uptime. On the other hand, other providers give their customers a service-level agreement of 99.9% of availability. This means only about 44 minutes of downtime a month. After all, downtime is a hidden cost for your business. When your site is down, your data is unavailable. In 2017, every hour of downtime cost organizations $100 K 000 on average. In May of that same year, a power system in British Airway’s data center failed. The result was a loss of approximately $68 million in fare refund followed by a drop of 2.8% in stock prices. The higher the percentage of availability, the better up time your site has and ultimately, the better it is for your business.

In our scenario, and using our tool, we took into account the recommended hardware refresh rate for an on-premises server (generally 3-5 years). As part of our price comparison for cloud servers, we set the refresh rate to 48 months. Most in-house servers would start to lose their ability to adapt to increasing workloads after four years. However, with a cloud server, you can scale your resources up or down to suit your needs. Finally, we entered another important indirect cost: the average annual salary for a system administrator or technical employee. For this example, we used an average number of $61,000. That number was rounded off from a researched by Payscale.com

The tool calculated that the average cost for this on-premises configuration would be $1,476.31 a month. In contrast, the monthly cost for a cloud server with the same configuration is $313.90. This translates into an average monthly saving of 79%.  The total cost of ownership tool also displays tables and graphs which compare this on-premises solution to a cloud solution proposed by LATVIK.

Five-year price comparison

Let’s assume that you refresh your infrastructure every five years. You’ll buy your new server in the first year and as we mentioned, you’ll replace it in the fifth year. Our tool calculated that over this five-year period, a company would save an average of 79% in its IT budget by opting for a cloud solution.

Back to our calculations. In the first and fifth years of the cycle, your expenses include server installation, configuration, initial maintenance and support. But, if you have a cloud server, your staff would spend little to no time dealing with these tasks. That’s why in our example, the company saves 90% in the first and fifth years with a cloud solution. For years 2-4, the costs for both on-premises and cloud solutions are limited to maintenance and support. The costs linked to hardware, such as HVAC, aren’t necessary with a cloud solution. Consequently, the company saves up to 58% with cloud servers.

TCO: Understanding the big picture

A number of key elements should be included in your decision-making process, such as system uptime, technical support, redundancy in case of power failure and the costs involved in refreshing your servers. Most companies replace their on-premises servers every five years. Wait any longer and you might regret it. It could be more difficult to find spare parts or do necessary upgrades. Or, your server might become too slow and inefficient to deal with spikes in demand. Electricity is also a major factor. As we mentioned earlier, power is a direct cost, and an important one at that! +

A recent article by ZDNet showed that in the U.S., it costs about $731.94 per year to run an average server. If you have several on-premises servers, that could translate into a big expense. Price is one thing, but it’s also important to factor in the value you’ll get on top of the price tag.

What other things should you consider? All the gravy that is provided by cloud servers that you don’t necessarily get with an on-premises solution. With Infrastructure-as-a-service, the data centers hosting your solutions are usually better maintained, updated and upgraded compared with what you’re running in an on-premises environment. 

Next up is security. Most data centers running cloud solutions are Tier 3+ and subject to stringent security regulations. In other words, your data will be the safest it can be. Your closest won’t even compare! We’ve talked a bit about hardware and software, but here’s the deal. The platforms used in cloud solutions are regularly updated to conform to industry standards. That’s another thing your business won’t have to worry about. You don’t even need to pay the System Admin doing the work, it’s all included in your price. And if you have any questions? Most providers offer free technical support.

So, crunch those numbers. If you don’t understand what your five-year TCO looks like, you’ll never be able to make a valid comparison of in-house vs. cloud solutions. Our TCO calculator below will help you get a grasp on your numbers.

Want to find out more about the total cost of ownership for cloud servers? Download our free cloud cost estimator here. Do the math yourself and make the right decision for your business!

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Best Regards ,

Latvik Blog Team

LATVIK TECHNOLOGIES ™ 

www.latvikhost.com | https://latviktechnologies.blogspot.com

How does Cloud Storage and Cloud Backup positively impact your Business ?

First, don’t worry! It’s a common question and very confusing one! These days many firms are offering all types of cloud-based services, from Cloud Sync to Online Backup, but what do these buzzwords mean? This article will eliminate the complicated jargon and present the raw facts so you can see how the cloud can work for your business.

What is the Cloud?

With the rise of the internet age, businesses move more and more critical components off-site and out of the office. Everything from financial operations, payroll to data storage. Gone are the days of shipping backup DVDs to a warehouse; tomorrow’s solution uses a network of servers known as the cloud.

Recode.com defines the cloud as: “software and services that run on the Internet, instead of locally on your computer.” It is essentially a group of servers linked together create a ‘cloud’ between them.

The cloud is located everywhere, based out of servers in multiple locations (From the USA to Australia to Africa). Each cloud server backs up, so no centre is a catalyst for server data loss.

Ah, but it gets deeper. As a business, you have two ways to use the cloud. Cloud Storage or Cloud Backup?

Here it is in a simple nutshell:

• Cloud Storage – Make some of your files available online at any time.
• Cloud Backup – Back up all your files and restore them if needed.

Here are the details, with advantages and disadvantages of each.

What is Cloud Storage?

Cloud storage is an ‘end point’ or final destination server for your project files. This is typically after the development of your client’s project; you would host the files on a storage platform, so your client can download them. These platforms can have a robust HTML interface (web portals), so any level of user can access them. (Yes, even the employee who can’t use Microsoft Word!) Additionally, Cloud Storage can be used to run enterprise applications and databases. If your firm has an extensive customer database needing to be regularly accessed, then cloud storage is the way to go.

However, Cloud Storage does not access all the files on your hard drive; you will need to physically select each item to upload (or a whole folder with subfolders). Because of this specification, it is possible to miss critical items.

Advantages:

• Ability to regularly pull data from the cloud storage, which is useful for big data analytics or customer information.
• Most platforms have an easy-to-use interface.

Disadvantages:

• You must build or select the information to place into storage; critical data might be missed, so it is not perfect for intentional backups.
• Most services charge a fee for the amount of data that is accessible at any one time, so long-term storage for large databases is not a good solution.

Example services: Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, Putfile

What is Cloud Backup Storage?

Cloud Backup Storage is an external memory partition for backups to (hence the name!) and is used for the adaptably named ‘disaster recovery’ situations; primarily for backup and restore files. This backup process is usually automatic and does not require input from the user. Backups are done overnight or during quiet hours (some firms may back up more than once a day). It creates a snapshot once a day of the entire system.

Advantages:

• Fixed pricing models, generally cost a fee per month and have a set amount of storage available. Cloud Backup is much cheaper than using Cloud Storage per GB of data.
• You can have different versions of files online so you can roll back to a previous file version if needed.
• No need to drag files to a specific folder; the system software backs everything up.

Disadvantages:

• If you are working for a firm that requires accessing or sharing data quickly, this would not be the ideal solution.
• These services are not very user-friendly; they don’t normally have an HTML web portal and require the installation of software before using.

Example services: Mozy, Backblaze, Carbonite, FTP servers.

What is Cloud Sync?

Cloud sync is the perfect step in-between storage and backup. Syncing is the process of copying selected data files and file structure on your system, automatically placing them on a central server and allowing other users to access it anywhere in the world. It includes your project structure from your desktop computer (for example, an important client project) ensuring that an offsite copy is available at all times.

Advantages:

• Because of the ‘sync’ nature, multiple users can access and work on the same projects at the same time. This can be as simple as a document that users work on together or the entire client resource folder, allowing for truly collaborative work.
• Projects are saved and backed up in real time, meaning once you have completed one part, all team members can access it right away.
• It is quick and easy to set up another workstation or work on the go. Just connect to the platform, and the desktop app/platform will download all the latest information.

Disadvantages:

• A large firm would have significant data costs to have all files synced for the entire business. A solution around this would to only have specific files synced, and previously completed works in a Cloud Backup (deep storage).
• Any files outside the designated ‘sync’ folders would not be backed up and only available locally.
• If a user does not have access to the internet, files might be duplicated, or erroneous versions created (e.g., If two users work on the same file and reconnect, the service will create two distinct copies).

Example services: Google Drive, DropBox, One Drive

Armed with this understanding of the different terms, you can confidently find the best solution for your business. Good luck!

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Best Regards ,

Latvik Blog Team

LATVIK TECHNOLOGIES ™ 

www.latvikhost.com | https://latviktechnologies.blogspot.com

What is Skype for Business ?

Skype is one of the most popular online communication apps, and for good reason—it allows users to seamlessly communicate through multiple channels, including: email, instant messaging (IM), VoIP (voice over IP), voicemail, file transferring, video conferencing and web conferencing. This makes Skype for business particularly attractive for companies looking to streamline their long-distance communication.Skype’s rapid success, coupled with its huge corporate potential, prompted Microsoft to purchase the company in 2011 in a deal worth well over $8 billion. And in 2015, Microsoft released Skype for Business (SFB), formerly known as Microsoft Lync Server, to specifically address corporate communication needs.

Why Use Skype for Business?

Microsoft’s founding ideology behind SFB was to provide a comprehensive enterprise communication solution for all. And one could argue that it succeeded.

With its unique blend of online business communication options, Skype for Business allows you to communicate however you want, wherever you want, and with however many people you need. In fact, you can add up to 250 people to your video conferences—more than 10 times the limit on the ordinary Skype app. Other Skype for Business advantages for both medium and large businesses include:

Extensive Support for Different Platforms

SFB is compatible with a number of mobile and desktop devices, as well as many modern web browsers. This, combined with the overwhelming popularity of Skype, allows your employees to connect with each other from virtually anywhere in the world and on any device.

PBX Compatibility

Skype for Business lets you utilize your existing legacy PBX until the contract expires, which significantly reduces your phone bill. And if you wish to call someone who isn’t online, you can dial them up via Skype Credit, which costs a lot less than the fees charged by traditional phone companies.

Secured Access

The app makes it possible for businesses to secure the enterprise forum by only allowing authorized users into the forum. Skype for Business also gives businesses greater control over user authentication and security. For example, Skype for Business administrators can limit employees to utilizing only approved devices that meet their corporate security requirements.

Exclusive Features

SFB comes with many exclusive features that you don’t get with the traditional Skype app. These include:

• Persistent chat rooms. Easily access, monitor, and participate in dedicated chat rooms for specific topics, such as team projects.
• High-definition video. Makes it possible to hold high quality video conferences/meetings minimizing video lags or inferior quality footage.
• Compatibility with third-party services. Skype for business is compatible with Polycom and Cisco endpoints via RealConnect for Office 365.

Other Skype for Business Features

Skype for Business offers several features that enhance business communication. These include:

• The ability to share files, screens, and applications, as well as use a whiteboard, within a communication session.
• Enhanced presenter controls that are optimized for meeting formats, audience size, and content source.
• Option to control your on-forum presence, based on Outlook Calendar or Out of Office status.
• Push notifications and support for external devices, such as keyboards.
• Auto-attendant system that can answer and further route any inbound calls.
• The incorporation of open video coding standards, such as the H.264 video codec.
• The ability to record and archive messages and conference sessions.

Using Skype for Business

Microsoft offers multiple options for deploying SFB, such as installing it on premises or using a hybrid installation with cloud servers. The deployment can support anywhere from 4,000 to 100,000 users. However, for larger deployments, Microsoft recommends using multiple servers to balance the load and facilitate availability and functionality.

Businesses looking to incorporate Skype for Business with their existing PSTN/ISDN must make use of the Mediation Server – in addition to an IP PBX gateway. The gateway forms the cessation point for the ISDN and further communicates with the platform using SIP, and allows for the encryption and decryption of the Secure Real-time Transport Protocol where the Skype for Business server resides.

Skype for Business Desktop

Skype for Business on a desktop offers users multiple secure communication channels that can provide great value for business. In addition to communication, there are several other services Skype for Business offers. Some of them are:

• Database management
• User registration
• Call routing
• Instant messaging
• Presence services for on-server clients

However, the deployment criteria of the application demands the desktop to at least function a Windows 2012 operating system on a 64-bit server.

Mobile and remote users require an edge server to support the application, whereas external users also require an edge server to download any content from the forum, or files from the Address Book Server.

Skype for Business Web

The Skype for Business web app is available on the following operating systems:

• Windows 7–10
• Windows Server
• OS X 10.8 or later

It can also be accessed from any of the following browsers:

• Edge
• Internet Explorer 11
• Firefox
• Safari
• Chrome

Modern-day businesses are in need of a communication platform that provides increased connective feasibility without compromising on enterprise-grade security. Skype for Business is Microsoft’s offering in an attempt to provide a comprehensive solution to such problems.

While the final verdict rests with the users, the added options coupled with the enhanced security makes Skype for Business an optimal fit for the corporate world.

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Best Regards ,

Latvik Blog Team

LATVIK TECHNOLOGIES ™ 

www.latvikhost.com | https://latviktechnologies.blogspot.com