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Technology to meet the challenges
of a dynamic economy
In the short to mid-term, the direction of the economy remains poorly sign-posted. Anyone that has an interest in economic forecast-
ing appreciates the problem. Often, forecasters are standing on shifting sand. The economic data at hand may lag behind by a fiscal
quarter or more. When youre not sure of precisely where you are to start with, its hard to know where the economy is going to be 6
months later.
Unless were talking about the recent boom years in China, when growth was often expressed in double-digits, another factor is that
at the top level, economic fluctuation is typically expressed as growth or shrinkage in a range of between zero to three percentage
points. This means that with a margin of error greater than 3 percent, which is more than statistically plausible, it is possible a
forecaster could predict expansion when the economy, is in reality, seen to have contracted.
Global economic uncertainty notwithstanding, the UK economy has to face up to the uncertainty multiplier known as Brexit. In the
light of uncertainties, such as yet to be negotiated trade deals with the European trading block and the rest of the world, perhaps the
best any UK business can do is to get its head down and get on with things, while continually reviewing the likely impacts of what is a
dynamic and continually evolving situation.
Its difficult to find a business of any real scale where technology does not play a pivotal role in enabling day to day operations and
ensuring the business is able to meet its commitments to customers or clients. So, a key element in being able to meet the coming
challenges is to ensure businesses are as efficient and able to respond to change as possible.
The cloud has a crucial role to play here. In this guide we discuss 7 of the strongest reasons why migration to the cloud is a necessity
to maintain competitive advantage and why it is important to identify the right Managed Services Provider (MSP).
In business of 10 - 100 staff, IT support staff ratios are likely to be anything from 1:25 to 1:50. This could the services of 2, 3 or
perhaps 4 people might need to be engaged. This might mean a mix of full time, part time, permanent and non-permanent staff is
required to cover holidays and sickness. The point is, its a lot of money tied up when it could be more efficiently and effectively spent
by offloading the support overhead.
40 Beaufort Court Canary Wharf London E14 9XL Email: talk@servicedcloud.com Phone: 02070936020 www.servicedcloud.com
2. Eliminating the need to invest significant
capital in IT again
Cloud services are paid for by subscriptions. The best solutions bundle in support for administration, maintenance and upgrades as
well as covering software licensing and the data centre infrastructure required to deliver IT services and productivity to the desktop of
each user.
This is not just for productivity and data processing systems. Cloud PBX systems offer excellent ways to integrate voice communica-
tions, including virtual switchboards, seamless multisite support and a variety of interfaces including softphones, an application that
lets the user interact from their computer or mobile device. All can be obtained by way of subscription, removing the need to plough
profit back into or to secure a line of credit to finance IT.
Thin client computing devices do not store any data and the copying of data on and off the network to pen drives, etc. can be
monitored and controlled. A Two Factor Authentication (2FA) logon protocol, which provides one-time codes from personal digital
devices, eliminates the potential for access to the system with stolen laptops, tablets or smartphones, or hacked passwords. 256-bit
encryption is used to protect all data that is transmitted across the network or stored in the cloud.
This enables rapid recovery should a disaster situation develop. If it becomes impossible to obtain access to the users end point
location, the business can simply relocate to an alternative location. Should the primary data centre go down, then services are
delivered from the secondary site. Services and data access may be restored in minutes (the Recovery Point Objective or RPO) and
data loss (as defined by Recovery Time Objective or RTO) is kept to a minimum.
40 Beaufort Court Canary Wharf London E14 9XL Email: talk@servicedcloud.com Phone: 02070936020 www.servicedcloud.com
5. Superlative flexibility and scalability
Business agility may be summarised as the ability to respond quickly to changes in the business environment. This may be changes in
the marketplace, the business growing suddenly due to M&A for instance, or an increase in the compliance burden.
The ability of the cloud to scale up and increase the resource available to the business rapidly, is one element of agility. Flexibility is
another, because employees have the ability to work anywhere from any suitable internet connected device. Temps, freelancers,
contractors and associates can be easily plugged into meet short term spikes in resource requirements without necessarily providing
office facilities in a bricks and mortar location. A mobile and geographically dispersed workforce is totally enabled, with all the
business tools, by the cloud.
This formal recognition comes in the shape of specific guidance, provided by the regulatory bodies that oversee regulated businesses.
This includes the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This enables firms to exploit the
advantages of cloud whilst remaining safe in the knowledge that they are continuing to meet their compliance obligations.
Some MSPs charge many thousands for this service. For example, a firm of 70 users could incur costs of 20,000 in migration fees.
However, some MSPs are likely to take the long view and dispense with such charges. To make sure the best value is obtained when
migrating to the cloud, it is advisable to ensure this factor is taken into account when doing the maths.
40 Beaufort Court Canary Wharf London E14 9XL Email: talk@servicedcloud.com Phone: 02070936020 www.servicedcloud.com
Summary
Embracing the efficiency and competitive advantage of the cloud puts businesses in the best position for meeting the challenges that
mid to short term variations in the UK and global economy might potentially throw up.
In what is a continually evolving threat environment, the cloud beefs up security; and, where it touches compliance, it able to carry its
burden.
The cloud lets organisations obtain more value from the in-house technology function and makes the latest tools available to assist
efficient productivity. Furthermore, it provides agility, enabling organisations to flex quickly, and adapt to changes in the operating
environment.
Finally, the cloud cuts costs, squashes the investment requirement and is able to be provided without migration fees by those MSPs
that take the long view.
It is our confirmed belief the cloud offers outstanding opportunities for services sector firms to leverage technology so it returns more
value to their businesses. Where the short-mid-term fortunes for the UK and global economy remain uncertain, migration to the cloud
equips businesses to meet the challenges that may lay ahead.
The business benefits of the cloud are regularly highlighted in the press and deliberated upon in boardrooms. Cloud technology is a
topic about which the vast majority of business leaders are likely to have more than a passing interest.
Based in the heart of London in Canary Wharf, Serviced Cloud was incorporated in 2009 with a clear and simple vision. We are
dedicated to helping business leaders in financial service organisations find the best way of successfully adopting cloud technology in
their businesses.
We offer best of breed Hosted Cloud Services in our ISO 27001 London data centres, and help clients to create their own Private Cloud
systems in their own offices or data centres.
Our friendly and professional engineers and consultants have extensive experience, proven track records and can-do attitudes. We
offer independent advice but partner with the leading cloud technology companies to ensure seamless support. We are serviced
focused; our clients satisfaction is paramount.
40 Beaufort Court Canary Wharf London E14 9XL Email: talk@servicedcloud.com Phone: 02070936020 www.servicedcloud.com
References and further reading
The FD's dream IT budget
Serviced Cloud
https://www.servicedcloud.com/white-paper/the-fds-dream-it-budget
6 ways Serviced Cloud enables legal firms to meet the specific regulatory requirements for outsourced IT solutions
Serviced Cloud
https://www.servicedcloud.com/blog/6-ways-serviced-cloud-en-
ables-legal-firms-to-meet-the-specific-regulatory-requirements-for-outsourced-it-solutions
40 Beaufort Court Canary Wharf London E14 9XL Email: talk@servicedcloud.com Phone: 02070936020 www.servicedcloud.com