Cloud Computing

The 'Cloud' has and continues to be a hot topic of conversation amongst both IT providers and businesses and the term 'Something as a Service' has been overused extensively. Cloud computing is simply utilising processing and storage systems that are not located within your site. The reality is that cloud computing is complex and includes multiple different offerings and technologies that are designed to achieve a number of outcomes, some of which include: leveraging economies of scale, provide enhanced resiliency, reduce capital costs and provide enhanced scalability. O365 is commonly touted by IT providers as 'The Cloud', O365 is a multi-faceted and comprehensive offering and includes a number of hosted components, for more information on 0365 click here. Cloud computing can be on public cloud infrastructure such as Azure, AWS, Google or private cloud infrastructure through bespoke cloud providers utilising data centres.

At Mercury IT, we are highly experienced in delivering all of the variations of cloud services, which enables us to design the right solution for you. Our cloud services and capabilities include:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - replaces on-premise infrastrucutre (such as servers) with hosted infrastructure.

Software as a Service (SaaS) - moves applications from being locally installed to a delivery model utilising (often) a browser based software application. Common examples include O365, Salesforce, Xero etc.

Desktop as a Service (DaaS) also sometimes referred to a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) - provides a complete desktop experience (similar to your Windows desktop PC) that is cloud hosted, these sessions can be accessed via multiple different devices from anywhere that has a stable and reasonable internet connection

Backup as a Service (BaaS) - provides an off-site repository for backup data. BaaS is one of the most important, yet under exposed cloud offerings. Having an off-site, up-to-date backup set in a secure location is one of the best and cheapest insurance policies that a business can have.

There are many other services that utilise either full or partial cloud technology. Examplse include Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) and cloud managed network infrastructure, where there is a physical device installed onsite, however the management interface is provided via a cloud service, thus providing the best of both worlds

At Mercury IT, we understand that one size does not fit all. Cloud computing is absolutely an important component of the technology environment, however, when we work with a client, we ascertain the right technology for them. This may be a public and/or a private cloud offering, an on-premise offering or a hybrid arrangement. We build our recommendations around the specific requirements, objectives, security and operational needs of our customers.

There are many right reasons to move services to the Cloud--doing it because someone else has is definitely not one of them. When we work with a customer we get a comprehensive understanding of their organisational objectives, their operating environment, their users and their current and future technology requirements. We then look at the best solution for them and provide a complete solution that provides the best outcomes for them. For an honest appraisal of your Cloud needs, contact us.