Much of the hype about browser computing is as if it were a great mystery or new slice of bread but most of us are already involved with various forms of “cloud” computing as we check our bank balance; send email using our Gmail, Yahoo, MSN accounts;  pay our telephone bill online; review our stock selections;  create online photo albums and order books or movies. So the concept of Cloud (browser) computing is not new but rather a different way to leverage the flexibility of internet-based applications. The questions is: will components of cloud computing replace your current hardware/software infrastructure?

One of the innovators in cloud computing that I respect is Scott Barlow, of Reflexion Networks. Scott noted the following in an article in ChannelPro Magazine:

“Technology practitioners increasingly recognize that we are moving toward a purchase/delivery model in which, as former Gartner Group VP Craig Baty observed, customers are shifting from the “acquisition of assets to the acquisition of access.” Of course, what’s driving this shift are the compelling advantages of the model, such as avoiding the time and expense of deploying and maintaining on-premises software and hardware, swapping capital budget dollars for operating budget dollars, and potentially freeing up internal resources for other priorities, even “going green.’“

The assumption is that the hardware and software costs of computer/server, operating systems, and business productivity software can be supplanted by ongoing less expensive monthly subscription web based services. Although we believe this to be basically true it is not all inclusive. Realistically, as a business owner you are looking at two aspects of the situation:

• Are there online applications you will integrate into your network to leverage online computing power for a more reasonable cost without the hassles of on-site network hardware or software management?
• Can you move all of your network computer functions to the cloud?

The first example is most easily demonstrated by Google Apps with a branded (xxx@yourdomainname.com) email, shared calendars and documents. At $50 per year per user this becomes an inexpensive option for a small company that doesn’t have specialty line of business software. Most significant, users no longer need to be in the same physical location to access work tools. Google Apps and Microsoft BPOS (soon to be Office 365) try to fill that all in one niche and although I think they are quite functional, they aren’t as helpful when specialty applications are needed, sensitive documents need to be stored or there are large capacity needs.

There are a number of specialty apps which can complement both a cloud and/or hardware infrastructure, such as customer relationship management tools such as Salesforce, Sugar CRM and Microsoft Dynamics CRM; accounting tools such as QuickBooks Online; secure professional document exchange such as Acct1st.com and Experience Denistry; or collaboration tools from 37 Signals. These niche online tools may serve your needs by not requiring additional hardware or software expenses for your network infrastructure; recognizing that the process of “going to the cloud”, doesn’t have to be an all in one solution.

More specifically, my first question is what is your motivation? In tech parlance we often talk about what is your pain, i.e., what is the problem you are trying to solve? It becomes imperative that you become specific about what’s your motivation is and what problem you want to solve. From my point of view this can be two questions.

For example, it’s time to replace your server or upgrade your workstations or even purchase your first server. Traditional thinking would involve the cost of a new server, the cost of migrating data and services from the old to the new, the time commitment for this change and does it involve any down time effecting staff and clients. A more prudent way of looking at the situation would to consider what functions does the server perform?

• Is or will you be hosting your email on the server? If so, will this include calendar sharing? Can this function be better served with hosted Exchange or another form of hosted email? Will the online solution integrate with your on-site server? Do you need it to? What is the monthly subscription cost?
• Does/will your server host any direct business applications? Are there online offerings from your specialty vendor? Does the online version have the same functionality as the on-site version? Does the online version need to integrate into your on-site software or online email client? Client database? Inventory and price listing? What is the monthly subscription cost?
• Many specialty solutions may not work for your business “out of the box” and may need to be customized; can you do the customizations? What are the costs associated with customizing the user interface or database?
• Is your server used for document storage and collaboration? How sensitive is the information? Do you need to manage various versions of documents? If so, is there an adequate online solution for this? How much data do you need to store online? What is the security level of the stored online data? Where is it the online data stored?
• Does the server manage data backup? Is there a cost effective online backup option? My bias here is that there should always be on site backup for rapid operational recovery and minimum business down time.

You and your technology support person should ask these questions to vendor tech support persons when considering online solutions. Note, I said vendor technology support persons, not the sales person. The motivation for the sales person is often too self-evident but a tech person should know how his/her solution will work with work with your needs and thus minimize the support calls you will have to make to them. We’ve all had some “sales” person offer a product just for pennies a day and that is one of the prime allures for online services, i.e., a subscription based approach is a most cost effective way to handle technology infrastructure. I suggest that you take a long look at the time cost of money. If your server costs you $2500 plus $2500 installation, that is $5000 plus normal maintenance over an expected life time of the server of 3-5 years. On the other hand, an hosted exchange option with SharePoint which costs $14/mailbox, the cost for a 10 user office over 5 years is $8400 plus setup and maintains; whereas, a 25 user office would cost $21000.

In conclusion, we aren’t trying to come up with an outline of specific rules for whether you should “go to the cloud”; because we realize that you are already using various browser solutions in your everyday life. More importantly, we have suggested that you begin taking a serious look at how you use technology in your business. Briscoe Network Solutions runs well with Google premier apps for email for two people ($50/year/person); Constant Contact ($135/year); and Word Press blogging site ($250 setup including hosting). On the other hand, Ebony Knight, Inc. our parent company is server based as we backup documents from workstations, host QuickBooks database, Exchange database, SharePoint, integrated antivirus for the network, and we use a smart host to filter our incoming email. What works for us may not work for you, but asking yourself some key questions can help you find the solution that is both cost effective and compatible with your business needs.