Cloud Computing for Small Businesses

In this blog, we will read more about cloud computing and its benefits for small businesses. Cloud computing is an Internet-based capability that allows users to access shared computer applications, storage through a network of remote servers, so each individual user does not need to install hardware and software on their on-site server and personal computer.

This is as good as renting a service than buying a product. This has too many benefits to small business owners like-

• Security,
• Flexibility,
• Accessibility,
• Time,
• Cost,
• Energy Consumption,
• Competitiveness and
• Disaster Recovery.

Security: - Bloomberg business week’s article says that 800,000 laptops are lost or stolen from airports alone every year. If we keep storing all of your data on a laptop or mobile device, this information can be easily stolen. However, If you implement cloud computing, you can access and work on your applications – the data itself will not be stolen with the laptop as you require user name and password to get into the cloud where data is saved.

Flexibility & Accessibility: - Cloud computing gives you the ability to access, modify and save files from any number of devices in any location. Cloud computing opens this up and allow you to access your files from any laptop, computer, phone or tablet which is connected to internet.

Cost and Back up:- In cloud computing, you only pay for what you need and use. When you expand your business and need more, you can pay more and vice versa. It is quick & cheap to deploy, easy to access and customise. The latest versions are always there on the cloud so there is no need to continuously replace out of date resources with more expensive programs and technologies.

         The security aspects of the cloud and disaster recovery are other excellent benefits. Your data is secure because it is saved remotely in the cloud, and recovery times are almost 4 times faster for businesses using cloud computing when compared to those not utilising these services. 

Further Benefits: - For small businesses, Staying competitive can be difficult for when they are lacking resources and finances but cloud computing now makes this a real possibility. The service providers deal with all of the technical side of things, saving you a great deal of money and time to focus on other areas of your business. According to Sales Force, cloud will consume 30% less energy and produce considerably less carbon emissions than those using on-site servers.

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog. Please visit www.indapoint.com for IT Software related services.

What cloud computing really means

The next big trend sounds nebulous, but it's not so fuzzy when you view the value proposition from the perspective of IT professionals. Cloud computing is a type of computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications.

 

In cloud computing, the word cloud (also phrased as "the cloud") is used as a metaphor for "the Internet," so the phrase cloud computing means "a type of Internet-based computing," where different services -- such as servers, storage and applications -- are delivered to an organization's computers and devices through the Internet.

Cloud computing is comparable to grid computing, a type of computing where unused processing cycles of all computers in a network are harnesses to solve problems too intensive for any stand-alone machine.

The goal of cloud computing is to apply traditional super computing, or high-performance computing power, normally used by military and research facilities, to perform tens of trillions of computations per second, in consumer-oriented applications such as financial portfolios, to deliver personalized information, to provide data storage or to power large, immerse computer games.

To do this, cloud computing uses networks of large groups of servers typically running low-cost consumer PC technology with specialized connections to spread data-processing chores across them. This shared IT infrastructure contains large pools of systems that are linked together. Often, virtualization techniques are used to maximize the power of cloud computing.

Cloud Computing Standards

The standards for connecting the computer systems and the software needed to make cloud computing work are not fully defined at present time, leaving many companies to define their own cloud computing technologies.  Cloud computing systems offered by companies, like IBM's "Blue Cloud" technologies for example, are based on open standards and open source software which link together computers that are used to to deliver Web 2.0 capabilities like mash-ups or mobile commerce.

Cloud Computing in the Data Center and for Small Business

Cloud computing has started to obtain mass appeal in corporate data centers as it enables the data center to operate like the Internet through the process of  enabling computing resources to be accessed and shared as virtual resources in a secure and scalable manner.

Why Responsive Web Design Is Here to Stay?

Most Web design trends are just that. But in popularly growing mobile world, with an increasingly large variety of mobile devices, the principles of responsive Web design is becoming more popular. Here are three ways developers need to react to the demands of responsive Web design.

The theory of responsive web design and development ensures a website can be viewed from any device, with any size screen, with an experience that elegantly moves from step-down to step-up. It's about accepting the fact that users want to experience website on their 4-inch mobile smart phone, 7-inch mini tablet screen, their full-size 10-inch tablet device, their laptop screen and even their big-screen 4H HDTV. The design is responsive because it constantly takes into account the properties of the device and the browser.

Responsive Web design sensibly uses grids, which let developers define how an experience will scale up, as well as flexible images, formats and containers.

           By using relative measurements for elements on a page and their containers, the basic design and usability of a page can be maintained while scaling up and down on different browser sizes.

-The IndaPoint Team

PHP on Google App Engine

There is a good news for PHP developers because PHP is now available on Google App Engine for preview. For preview means, it is not necessary to white list applications for deployment.

PHP is the world’s most popular programming languages. Google launched PHP at Google I/O earlier. PHP is the centre of such services like Facebook, WordPress and Drupal.

Google also developed number of new features, such as plug in for wordpress and ability to read-write files from PHP etc. Developers can develop, test, build, run, debug and deploy apps through Google’s App Engine PHP application.

            Developers who uses Google App Engine platform, this update is of lot of importance. PHP is used by 81.2% of total websites but now they are far more focused on mobile and cloud.

For more about, PHP or cloud services that our team can offer, please visit on www.indapoint.com.

-Tha Indapoint Team

Ways to Quickly Increase WordPress Speed

WordPress is a great platform. WordPress site’s speed is important to your success. When a visitor lands on your site for the first time, you only have a few seconds to capture their attention to convince them to hang around.

Now, let us take a look at- how to quickly increase the speed of your Wordpress website!

    

    1.Update Everything- Before clicking update button, create a backup. Updating your WordPress installation, theme, and plug-in will increase speed as every update brings performance, stability, and functionality improvements.

2.  Use a theme that is not bloated- Sometimes, WordPress website loads slowly. Maybe because of graphics or bulky code and inefficient functions.

3.   Limit plug in usage- Keep only those plug in which you require and discard those you do not need.

4.   Try cache plug in- Cache plug ins works fine if you spend sometime figuring out what is working and what is not. 2 plugins downloaded most are- WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache.

This is how WordPress speed directly influences your website authority and may determine the future of your online business.

-The IndaPoint Team

Terrific E-Mail Apps for Android Devices

Android device should come with a few email apps pre-installed but we have compiled few best Android apps for email to make you a more prolific mobile email-ninja! As email is one of the single significant means of business communication. Some of the email clients for Android platform are really good. Some of the following apps are limited to single account/service, whereas others are able to connect to multiple accounts/services.

1.   K-9 Mail: K-9 Mail is an email application which supports IMAP, POP3, and Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2007. K-9 Mail is one of the most highly customizable email clients for the Android platform, and it offers the following features: Search, IMAP push email, multi-folder sync, flagging, filing, signatures, bcc-self, PGP, mail on SD, unified inbox etc.

2.   Emoze: Emoze is a friendly email client that focuses on push email and supports multiple accounts, including Exchange, OWA, Google, Y!, Hotmail, Outlook365, IMAP, and POP3. This is available for free.

3.   Aqua Mail: Aqua Mail supports Gmail, Yahoo mail, Hotmail, plus IMAP, POP3, Exchange, Lotus Notes, and more. Its primary ability is to keep one organized. Its interface is insightful that allows you to quickly navigate around the client, which makes managing email on a tablet incredibly efficient.

4. Boomerang: Boomerang is a free email app for Gmail and Google Apps accounts only, but it offers so many terrific features. Boomerang greatly expands upon the default Gmail Android app with features like support for "Send as," account specific themes, customizable multi-gesture support, snooze email messages, schedule messages to be sent at a later time, track responses to the emails you send, search through all messages across all Gmail folders (Figure E), access to all labels, multi-account support with easy account switching, and much more. 

Read more on Apps in our upcoming blogs.

- The IndaPoint Team

 

Everyone Needs a Private Cloud

Concerns about security and control make the "private cloud” a more pleasant option for many.

One can implement their own private cloud by using a “cloud in a box” solution for office applications that can save the company money in the form of fewer license fees for office software. 

It is popular today to have a cloud of your own, no matter how small you are. When you have been in IT for over 30 years, you see a lot of changes in opinions—and invariably, thought cycles reverse and “old thoughts” resurface in new ways. The fact is, we all appreciate that cloud is here to stay and that it will continue to make inroads into data centers and IT infrastructure. But what we don’t know is where the predictable “pushbacks” can take place down the road. 

It is not too far-fetched for an enterprise to hedge against the turns that technology takes—and to embark on their own cloud journeys with the wish to understand fully what cloud is all about and how it works, regardless of how small they are. For most companies, this means engagement with a private cloud.

-The IndaPoint Team