The Size of the Cloud Matters

By now, the advantages of using a cloud-based solution to backup your company's data are well known. It's easy to use, scalable, and cost effective. However, not all cloud-based backup solutions are created equal. There's still a level of risk, albeit a small one, that comes with cloud computing. It's important that your cloud service is thoroughly explained to you.

Take the Time to Know What You're Getting
Implementing a data backup plan for your business is a decision that should not be taken lightly. The temptation that a business owner will face when choosing a cloud service provider is to pick a company solely based on a slick advertisement. It's the nature of marketing to make big promises with catchy slogans, but marketing fails at communicating the complete picture. This is why many advertisements are legally obligated to include fine print with disclaimers.

When choosing a cloud-based data backup provider, take the time to be thorough with your questions to the company's representative. It's vital that you go over all the details of your business continuity plan. Can they meet the unique demands of your business? Can their data backup service survive every possible disaster? How prepared is the cloud computing company for a disaster of their own? What if the cloud computing company goes out of business? Considering how valuable your data is, asking questions like this is essential in staving off a disaster that can close your business.

Get the Attention Your Business Deserves
Gathering this kind of information about your cloud-based backup service can be a cumbersome task. Especially when you're dealing with a major provider running commercials on national television. After all, their IT services are just another feather in their corporate cap. This personal touch is where SMART Services has the advantage over the big cumulonimbus clouds in the entrepreneurial sky.

At SMART Services, IT consulting is our specialty. We strive to build and maintain a relationship with your business so that we can provide you with the best possible service. This means taking time to do a complete assessment of your data needs in order to determine the right solution for your company.

How an Incomplete Cloud Service can Harm Your Business
Assessing your company's data backup needs is a critical component to any successful business continuity plan. For example, let's say your office is hit with a natural disaster that takes out all of your server units. An event like this is a major setback to your day, but you don't fret because you know that your data is backed up to one of those big cumulonimbus clouds from the Super Bowl ad. The company provides data recovery, so you call them up and tell them about your situation, expecting to have operations up and running in no time.

As it turns out, your office has a mediocre bandwidth connection, so restoring the 1TB of data you need to get operations up and running again will take a very long time. All of that time you spend sitting there watching the load bar is time not spent accessing your business critical applications and making money. This is a classic example of downtime. Downtime is extremely expensive and will quickly eliminate any perceived savings that you may have experienced from going with a cumulonimbus cloud computing company.

Combining Clouds and Consultation
By taking the time to properly assess your business, SMART Services is able to inform you if your bandwidth is up for the task of quick data recovery. If not, we will work with you to get your Internet plan upgraded. We also offer a solution that will virtualize your backed up data to a terminal. SMART Services's Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution is a secure and reliable way to backup your data to the cloud, and BDR can virtualize your data so that you won't have to wait on data recovery times. The importance of virtualization is one of those fine-print details you don't see in the big-budgeted cloud computing commercials.

For a mission critical task like backing up your data, you deserve to partner with an IT service company that prioritizes in watching out for you, instead of prioritizing impressing shareholders with their bottom line. SMART Services cares about your success because your growth leads to our growth. Therefore, we will happily take the time to assess all of your technology needs in order to provide you with the best solutions possible.

To have SMART Services provide you with great cloud services like BDR, or to arrange for a meeting where we take a proper assessment of your IT infrastructure, then give us a call at 586 258-0650 .