Contemporary Fail-safe Solutions – An Ode to the Cloud

It’s late and you’ve just pulled a marathon 18-hour session putting together the finishing touches of a major project. It’s the eleventh hour and the deadline is looming, so it’s time to get those deliverables sent. You’ve poured your blood, sweat and tears into making this project the best that it can be, because you know that you operate in a results-based profession where the skills you possess on paper don’t amount to anything unless you can deliver the goods. Deep down you know that if this goes well you may look back and see this one project as the breakthrough that broke the doors on your career wide open. You’ve dotted every “i” and crossed every “t”. You’ve double-checked and you’ve triple-checked. It’s perfect. You stroll over to the kitchen and pour yourself a celebratory glass of wine. As you stride back to the computer for one last glance of satisfaction, a poorly positioned electrical cord brushes up against your ankle diverting your attention. Suddenly there’s a chain reaction stemming from a momentary loss of equilibrium – an unfortunate byproduct of your mismanagement of time and resulting in a lack of sleep. You go hurtling toward your workstation smashing into your desk and pouring wine all over your computer. The screen is frozen. Nothing moves. All is lost.

There is almost no more important task in modern business than protecting the integrity of your work, and in this day and age there are a myriad of solutions at your fingertips to ensure that all is never lost.

Storage Solutions

Short term: Backing up relevant work to multiple locations should be standard practice for everyone as digital mass storage devices have become plentiful and cheap. Saving to a flash, or USB connectable external disc drive, is always recommended. Any piece of hardware, however, can become lost or damaged, so the degree of importance you place on a project determines the number of devices you use.

Long term: Ah, the cloud! Mystical bands of binary information that float unblemished amidst the digital ether seems the stuff of science fiction, but it’s quickly becoming an essential business reality. The cloud is literally information stored on huge servers that remains at all times part of the expanding universe that is the internet. For pennies a day you can upload and download information like it was your own hard drive. The difference is if you’re computer breaks down, all you need is another computer and it’ll be right where you left it. 

Although there are many cloud storage options out on the market, Amazon Glacier is a cost-effective cloud storage solution worth investigating.

Sharing

Keeping important files and work documents in multiple locations is essential to being able to fail-safe, so file sharing is a great way to spread the safety around and there are several ways to do it. When files are contained on a hard drive they are rooted to that location, but with file sharing it’s easy to pass along important documents that others can get to if they need to.

Free File Transfer Sites: Depending on the size of the files you are dealing with, there are number of great file transfer options through the cloud. With free file transfer sites, unlike cloud storage where you essentially pay for space, there are limitations like a cap on file sizes, or how long files that are uploaded are available to download. There are number of options available to users for easy transfer of files including: WeTransfer, HighTail, and TransferBigFiles.

Dropbox: Unlike with file transfer sites, Dropbox is actually a program on your computer that sets up a folder designed to be shared by your computer and any other computer that you invite to share with it. It’s just like any other folder on your computer and files stay exactly where they are, but as soon as anything is placed in your Dropbox, it’s essentially saved on any of the computers that also share that folder, so you can be sure that even if you lose it, someone else will still have it.

Modern technology has provided so many tools to make sure we can stay on top of our projects and mitigate potential disasters. Hundreds of people have learned the hard way that can go wrong and they have designed so many solutions that there quite literally is an app for that. It’s not enough to just save your work anymore. Nothing should be left to chance, so make sure you’re using all the resources you have available, including the cloud, to your advantage and rest easy knowing that your work will be preserved the way it should be and will be ready for delivery.

Should Your Accounting Go Into the Cloud?

Are you up in the cloud yet? We're not talking about daydreaming your afternoon away, but instead about cloud data storage. The simple way of thinking about cloud data storage would be like having an extra attic added onto your home that you can go up to from time to time to add and takeaway stuff. Best of all this "attic" doesn't clutter up the rest of your home.

Cloud storage allows you to park huge amounts of data and software programs, which can free up valuable storage space on your computer. This is vital for a company that is dealing with massive amounts of accounting data. There is still a kind of hesitancy with some companies who feel like they are "letting go" of their data. Should your accounting go into the cloud? Consider these potential benefits of having your accounting software delivered by way of the cloud:

Real Time Updates

If you have an accounting program on your computer, you'll be notified when an update is available and then you'll have to allow your computer to install that update. Often this requires you to reboot your computer. Do you have time for all of that? Up in the cloud, any programming updates are installed automatically. You'll only notice when you see the new features added to your software.

Ability to Expand

Cloud storage is 100% scalable. This means you can add large amounts of extra data at very little extra cost. The alternative would be expanding your memory in your computer. You can also take away data with the same ease and pay for just what you use.

Instant Access

A cloud-based accounting program grants you instant access from applicable devices anywhere there is an internet connection. This means you can work on a plane, at the beach or your favorite java joint.

Ease of Use

Stepping into the cloud is easy to use. You'll also be getting the added bonus of your software provider managing storage space, security and all your backups without you having to stress out over that. In other words, peace of mind knowing that your accounting needs are being met.

Affordable Options

The cloud accounting software you'll be utilizing will be running as a service. Translation: you'll pay a small subscription fee as opposed to a huge purchase price. You also won't have to worry about paying for upgrades when they are available. All for one low price. 

It's The Wave of The Future 

Cloud technology is improving by leaps and bounds every day. As a user you'll be benefiting from all of those upgrades as they happen. It would be like having the latest iPhone delivered to you every time there is a change as opposed to standing in line for hours at the Apple Store.   

How Twilio Will Change the Telecommunications Industry

Twilio has quickly become the newest darling among the communications investors. The cloud communications company is reinventing telecom by merging the worlds of cloud computing, web services and telecommunications.

Using Twilio's cloud-hosted API, developers can build software apps that integrate an operator's telephony infrastructure with Web apps. It bridges the old world with the new, and it lets developers interact with voice calls, send text messages, and add IP voice communications into their mobile or Web apps.

Simply put, it's changing the way businesses handle their telecommunication needs because the infrastructure offered by Twilio is allowing web programmers to integrate real-time phone calls across a wide range of platform applications.

For developers it all comes down to a matter of exploiting open source programming which many companies are finding remarkable benefits from.

Pay-As-You-Go

One of the most beneficial ways that Twilio is transforming the telecommunications industry is with its Pay-As-You-Go pricing structure. Under these terms a customer pays for the amount of cloud space capacity they need in the moment. In other words, there isn't any waste paying for extra storage or data compilation space when you don't need it.

Because Twilio's cloud solution eliminates programming, operational and contract hassles rapid growth is easier to come by. There won't be trouble with traffic spikes which is exactly what every company is hoping for. Twilio scales usage in both directions whether you experience highs or lows in your traffic.

Reducing the Learning Curve

Twilio cuts back on the learning curve needed to build out dependable voice communications applications. Think of this as "if it's not broke, don't fix it" approach to programming. Twilio is enabling developers to integrate business communication, VoIP and messaging right into web, desktop and mobile software applications.

There is no longer a need for a startup developer to square off against the telecom giants to help with the testing and developing phase of their products.

Bridging the Gap

Twilio is bridging the gap for software developers to create new communication applications without the burdens of complexity and expense that might have proven to be a hindrance just a few years ago. This puts Twilio on the forefront of helping development quickly move on ideas that can be the most benefit to the end users. It is this kind of direct and rapid response to the development process in the cloud which is making Twilio the go to source for a wide range of mobile communication applications. 

How cloud computing can help your business

Technological advances have provided opportunities for small businesses that have previously been very expensive and only available to big companies with large IT departments. A great benefit for cloud services, which is any infrastructure, platform or software service that is Internet based, is that you can start your company with minimal upfront resources and can scale up as your business grows. For a business owner, cloud computing allows you to:

• save money,

• scale your business,

• increase your services

• and minimize risk.

This allows the entrepreneur to compete as a much larger company while still remaining small. Some of the benefits of cloud services for your small business go beyond just hosting your website and you will be able to take advantage of a myriad of services that allow you to run your business more efficiently. Some of these advantages are:

Price: One of the major advantages of using cloud services are savings in operating costs. You can reap the benefits of lower operating costs by not having any in-house IT infrastructure such as:

• expensive servers,

• networking equipment

• or even the need to hire IT staff.

In the past, businesses had to manage their own internal computing resources, which created huge overhead costs that were insurmountable barriers for small business owners. However, with cloud computing and the myriad of services that you can choose from such as:

• marketing automation,

• project management,

• accounting

• and CRM applications,

Business owners can now lower the upfront costs of running their businesses and provide great value for their customers.

Scalability: One of the benefits of cloud computing services is the ability to purchase services according to your business needs. Many cloud service providers offer a pay as you go pricing, allowing you to manage upfront costs. You only pay for what you need, and as your business grows so does your usage. There is also is the option to integrate their services with other platforms through open APIs.

Flexibility: Cloud services allow you to automate a lot of your operations, freeing you to focus on your business. You can try new business strategies with minimal risk quickly and see if it works. You will be able to work more efficiently and at a lower cost without having to be tied down to services that you don’t need.

For your small business to grow, you need to be able to scale quickly and at low cost. Cloud technology allows you to do that without the need to have an expensive in-house IT team or hardware. With cloud services, you can be more competitive against larger companies by being flexible, responsive and accessible.