Proponents of blockchain can be certain that the day will come when articles will not start with a round of definitions
Maybe we are not quite there yet, but I don’t intend to add my definitions to those already out there, so for blockchain, distributed ledger technology (DLT), Cryptocurrencies and Smart Contracts Wikipedia offers a decent introduction.
Definitions aside, I firmly believe that these terms are well on their way to becoming as ubiquitous as another tech-term of recent times (epic, baritone voice)… ‘The Cloud’.
Now considered mainstream, Cloud and its multitude of use cases, applications and nuances continues to grow apace. Household names such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon dominate with their ‘as-a-service’ solutions and leading brands like Netflix made the move long ago, reaping the benefits to this day.
Maybe the definitive yardstick is that my Mum can offer a pretty good explanation of what The Cloud is (maybe less baritone, no less epic).
Of course, it wasn’t always so, and the early days of Cloud technology saw frenetic activity and a great deal less clarity.
A stampede of nebulous ideas burst from The Corral of The Traditional Way We Do Things, and as the dust settled businesses first adopted then adapted their approach to the cloud.
Elastic resources and OPEX commercial models brought about a shorter time to market for greater product range and choice. Service industries grew around the core tenets of Flexibility and Customer Choice. We now see Cloud Service Providers, Cloud Brokers and Cloud Consultants thriving in delivering vital advice, support and knowledge.
Now blockchain has knocked down the gates of its pen and is on a disruptive cross-vertical rampage. Whilst Bitcoin rapaciously consumed the column inches like a misbehaving Hollywood starlet, the Healthcare, Logistics, Legal and Manufacturing industries all embraced new decentralised processes and methodologies. The notorious cryptocurrency may have calmed in recent months, but many developments continue for blockchain elsewhere.
Various territories are openly and progressively addressing issues of regulation with Malta recently becoming the first country globally to establish regulatory frameworks offering supportive legislation for innovative blockchain pioneers and established players alike.
Some things however will not change. The decentralisation of transactions does not remove the need for connected, secured, and supported networks. The need for flexible, elastic and easily deployed IT resource does not cease to exist. Having knowledgeable, capable and experienced suppliers to provision, monitor and manage the underlying infra remains vital, and in some instances becomes even more crucial.
As with the Cloud beforehand, technology providers will evolve and adapt to this nascent technology
BMIT are Malta’s leading provider of Cloud, Data Centre and Managed Services, operating our own PCI-DSS and ISO:27001 compliant Public Cloud, Private Network and Data centres. From spinning-up a single VM to hold your wallet, to hosting your platforms and applications, we offer unparalleled expertise and experience in keeping online businesses online.
Think of a computer. At what point does a computer stop being worthwhile to repair? Is it after 2 generations of superior computers have been released? Or perhaps after the 3rd time the motherboard needs to be changed? There is a point of diminishing returns with almost everything, and enterprise level IT is no different. Is it time for your business to start reconsidering your data centre strategy and think about getting out of the data centre business altogether?
A business’ data centre has always been of central importance to the enterprise but given the huge business potential of the internet among other factors, it has become even more so. A large number of businesses have added space, power, cooling, servers, storage, virtualisation, and more, over the space of a few years and at vast expense. However, in essence, we could say that all they’ve done is fix their data centre, rather than replace it with something much better.
The more practical and money saving alternative to the never-ending rat race of data centre upgrades is to buy what you need from a service provider, just as you do with water and electricity. Imagine if every company built their own networks, buried their own cables or fibre and set up their own networking equipment. An approach like that would have greatly slowed business growth and a great many companies would still be running on 14.4 modems today while any companies brave enough to make technology upgrades would still be struggling to justify the exorbitant costs incurred. Clearly this approach is not the best.
Of course you have to know what your requirements are, and those requirements will reflect which provider is the best fit for you, your business and also importantly, your budget.
Businesses and enterprises would do well to look for a service provider that can offer a combination of Cloud, Committed, and Dedicated resources; storage facilities that grow as your needs do (i.e. scalable) and application platforms. The chosen service provider should be one that continually advances technology and allows their clients to take advantage of these investments.
Another factor to keep in mind is that of unforeseen circumstances. Disaster recovery is a collection of technologies which ensure that your business’ data is prepared in the case of a disaster. Certainly a well-reputed cloud provider such as BMIT has much more comprehensive and watertight disaster recovery strategies than most businesses can, primarily because we can afford to do so across hundreds of clients, thus reducing the cost per client to a fraction of what a single business would have to pay, but also because we live and die by our reputation.
A business can save huge amounts of money by outsourcing its data centre requirements. Premium service provides will offer 24x7x365 availability, maintenance, support, upgrades and much less hassle, for one low, all-inclusive price.
As a business which provides services to hundreds of global organizations, we know and understand that not only must BMIT provide 24/7 IT, but also enterprise-strength IT support and disaster recovery on a round-the-clock basis.
Ensure full peace of mind. Contact BMIT now.
The possibility of reducing costs by migrating data from private machines to the cloud is a thrilling proposition for many companies and businesses. Cloud services can not only help to reduce infrastructure costs, they position a company uniquely so as to increase its ICT responsiveness and efficiency, providing greater flexibility and transparency, all while freeing up ICT resources for innovation.
A 2011 study by Clabby Analytics, an IT research and analysis firm, demonstrated that almost 50% of data center costs are due to management labour, as well as the costs associated with equipment. While in the past we used so-called dumb terminals to access our applications and data on the mainframe, today in majority of cases, we use an Internet browser to access all our applications and data on the Internet. However, our back-end, instead of evolving accordingly, has become a server farm, which in and of itself is expensive both to set up and maintain. The cloud, on the other hand, can assist organizations in their drive to reduce several expenses, including those related to system administration and operations, power and cooling, as well as those of space and real estate.
Over the past few years, cloud providers’ research as well as the lowering costs of dependable technology, have allowed the cloud to become versatile, powerful and affordable. Its reliability is now second to none, yet it requires fewer administrators and at less costs to the user.
A cloud provides highly scalable cloud services that are flexible and subscription-based, so you only pay for what you use. In this way you can predict costs and keep funds allocations on-track even when your requirements change rapidly, as is wont to happen in many business scenarios.
Cloud services help your business meet its goals for a well connected, secure and reliable yet cheaper infrastructure. Collaboration is eased across the organization, while focus can be placed on business-critical needs, while reducing ICT costs. Perhaps most importantly, however is that one can remain confident in a crisis as cloud applications don't depend on your own servers or on-site staff.
The implementation of cloud products is relatively cost-effective when compared to on-premises software, owing to the fact that cloud apps are multi-tenant, meaning that the IT platform and its related costs are shared by customers. Moreover, the large variety of commercial cloud products ensures a better fit right out-of-the-box, which in itself cuts implementation costs. Furthermore, several cloud providers, such as BMIT, don’t charge any implementation fees.
Most cloud apps are often ready to be used immediately or in a few hours, which is another cost cutter and time saver. Moreover, most cloud providers don’t charge for maintenance and provide 24x7 support. Many operate on a subscription model and, since they want you as a long-term customer, they will spend time and effort to keep your company satisfied. Choosing the right cloud provider helps to avoid maintenance and cut costs in many ways.
Not sure how this applies to your business? Contact us now and we will help you reduce your IT costs.