XFER Blog

With cloud computing being utilized by a majority of businesses nowadays, it’s not as big of a surprise when one wants to move files from a locally-hosted server to a cloud server; or, from a cloud server to a new cloud server. This presents a fair amount of problems that you have to be mindful of if you want to move the data and applications over properly. Today, we’ll take a look at some problems you may face, and how to make sure they don’t weigh down your next cloud migration. 

Of all the technologies currently used by businesses, the Internet is a strong contender for the most important. Regardless of their size, many businesses invest thousands each month into online Software-as-a-Service solutions as a means of more affordably equipping their users. Let’s talk for a moment about another cloud platform that has seen some advancement: Infrastructure-as-a-Service.

Businesses of all sizes have been able to successfully overcome operational challenges by rethinking and adapting the technology they utilize. Let’s consider a huge example and look at what The Lego Group (as in the building blocks) has done to address some of their technological challenges with improved solutions—as well as how your business can do the same.

Traditionally, if a business needed a solution to a problem, they would research which technology is the best for the problem they had and go out and buy it. If a company didn’t have the money to buy that solution, they would borrow to buy it so that their business wouldn’t stagnate and fail. In today’s tech-driven business environment there is a much better option than mortgaging your business just to save it.

Digital file storage has been a game-changer for many small businesses that rely on dynamic file retention. Instead of storing paper records in a huge room dedicated to file storage, businesses are focusing on digitizing their records and storing them electronically in cloud-based storage systems. This is a great alternative to all those printing costs. 

As businesses have been allowed access to more advanced tools, the cloud and its capabilities have been shown to be among the most useful to operations. Let’s examine some practical applications of the cloud to see why this is.

Cloud computing is a tremendous tool for modern businesses. It provides users with anytime-anywhere access to the applications, storage, and processing they need to keep business running efficiently and productively. It is billed as-a-service, meaning that it also comes with the flexibility and scalability most businesses need to control their computing costs. Unfortunately, it’s not always that cut and dry. Today, we are going to look at the hidden costs that businesses might see if they select to use cloud resources. 

Collaboration has always been key to the success of businesses, and with the cloud technologies now available, collaboration is possible in more ways than ever. COVID-19 has made business connectivity more important than ever, so we saw it fitting to recognize some of the cloud’s collaboration options. They come in a few distinct flavors:

There are a lot of businesses that use cloud computing. In fact, the latest figures say that over 80 percent of businesses are now using some type of cloud platform for their operations. Of course, there are a lot of different options available to organizations, but one particularly useful solution that may not get a lot of attention is the unified communication platform. This month, we’ll take a look at the cloud-hosted communications platform.

Cloud computing is generally accepted today as a good option for businesses. While we aren’t arguing that this isn’t the case, we wanted to make sure that your cloud use--actual or theoretical--was sufficiently secure. Many will neglect to consider how secure their use of cloud solutions is, which is something that we’d like to fix.

From its very beginnings, Microsoft has been creating devices and software to help users accomplish their goals. This is one reason why their solutions are so commonly found in businesses. Today, we wanted to focus on just one, OneDrive, and highlight some of its features that any business could find useful.

Today, cloud services can be used for about every facet of business. In fact, your business probably uses the cloud for some very important parts of your business. With so many options to choose from, business owners often develop a cloud strategy that includes software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and many more options. 

When you look at cloud services, it can be easy to wonder how it is so beneficial for businesses. After all, the monthly service charges are attractive, but how do they provide the value outside of cost? To understand how the cloud brings rapid and sustainable ROI, it may help to look at an analogy. 

Servers are the brains of your business insofar that’s where most of the critical information is stored, and a server failure (with no contingency plan in place) could spell the end-times for your business. With that information, you should be looking for the most reliable option that works for you. Today, we’re going to look at the differences between using hosted servers vs. paying for your own in-house server. 

With technology trending up, it’s not hard to believe that there are solutions out there that can give your business a leg up on the competition. Being a decision maker at a small or medium-sized business, it can sometimes be difficult to find technology solutions created with your business in mind. Most software developers understand that the more options their software has, the more valuable it is, but if you are a small business, enterprise software can sometimes be overkill. Let’s look at three technology trends that have small businesses in mind from the get-go.

Microsoft has always offered a variety of business solutions, some which conform to your needs and others that do not. The beauty of this, is you can pick what solution will benefit your business, and leave the ones that will not behind. Here, we will discuss Microsoft 365 and what is offered within the Microsoft 365 package.   

In a nod to the strength of modern cloud networks, businesses are now able to gain significant flexibility when making their IT decisions. There are innumerable solutions designed to speed up business, transfer cost, and provide businesses with workable computing platforms they once paid tens of thousands of dollars per year for. For today’s tip, we will look at how using hosted computing solutions provides significant business benefits.

Useful collaboration tools can alter a business significantly by enabling cooperation that is impossible without them. How exactly these tools fit into your business is a whole other matter.  Today, we’re going to talk about how you can integrate some pretty great collaboration tools without turning your business upside down. 

The cloud is one of the most valuable tools available to modern businesses, but the extent to which organizations utilize it will vary depending on their specific needs. For example, some organizations might be fine with the limited control offered by the public cloud, but others might need more dynamic features and control over their data with a private cloud. We’ll help you determine which is right for you, as well as some of the specific considerations needed for a private cloud solution.

Microsoft has been at the forefront of security through their numerous operating systems for decades. As the security of computing systems and communication gets more important, and with threats to that security growing exponentially, the world’s leading software company has made it a point to introduce a new security platform to help people in many walks of life keep their endeavors secure. Today we’ll look at the new security & compliance services that are bundled with the Microsoft 365 cloud platform.