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New Computing Models, and What They Mean to the Small and Mid Sized Business Consumer

How your business can make practical decisions between “The Cloud”, Utility Computing and Hosted Services

Panelists

Jeff Winn, CPA Account Executive

Adam BellusciDirector of Engineering

Kevin EllisVice President - Sales

Business Computing’s Major Paradigm Shifts

1960’s and 1970’s− Mainframe / Centralized Computing

1980’s and 1990’s− Client - Server Computing− Local and Wide Area Networking

2000’s and Today− “As a Service” Computing− Web based business technologies (Web 2.0, etc)

2010’s and Beyond− IT as Utility− “The Cloud”

The Cloud Hype is in High Gear - 2010

Technology Hype Cycle

The Cloud Hype is in High Gear - 2011

The Cloud = Utopia?

Cloud Computing – Key Concepts

Cloud Architecture Lightweight Entry / Exit Elastic / flexible Multi Tenancy Reliability and Business

Continuity User Experience

Mobility Device Independence

Economics CapEx converted to OpEx Consumption based /

metered Reduced IT overhead

costs Applications

Maintenance Security

Cloud Computing is a way of doing business, not a destination.

Cloud Computing – Deployment Types

• Public Cloud• Third Party• Off premises

• Private Cloud• Virtual

Infrastructure• On Premises

• Hybrid Cloud• Best of Both

Thrive believes that Hybrid Clouds are the best way for SMBs to adopt business work flows to The Cloud.

Public Cloud – Service Models

Software as a Service (SaaS)− Most common / well known model− Ex. Salesforce.com & NetSuite

Platform as a Service (PaaS)− Solution stack in the Cloud− Ex. Amazon / Google

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)− Combination of Hardware and Cloud Services− Thrive

Business Process as a Services (Cloud Enabled Services) − Cloud Inputs/Outputs− Hubcast

Cloud Computing – Common Issues

Cloud Architecture Compliance Privacy Security Sustainability Siting

User Experience Availability Performance Support

Applications Open Standards – no

established common standards

Open Source Software

Authentication, no single sign on

Cloud Computing has a lot of promise, but there are several factors to consider before adopting

Questions To Consider: Cloud Services or Offerings

What kind of Cloud is right for my business?− From a P&L perspective, does your business have a higher

tolerance for Capital or Operational expenditures?

− Have you considered current business workflows, identifying ones that are critical to ongoing business operations?

− Have you analyzed the IT cost per user per month for those critical workflows?

− Can you recover business critical workflows in under 48 hours in the event of hardware or site failure?

What kind of Cloud is right for my business?− Are your business and IT operations governed by regulations

specific to the industry in which you do business

− Do matters related to data privacy and security impact or influence your customers or your ability to bring on new customers?

− Do you have an existing IT staff?

− Has your business recently made a large investment into IT infrastructure?

Questions To Consider: Cloud Services or Offerings

Questions To Consider: Cloud Services or Utility IT Offerings

How Can My Business Begin Leveraging the Public Cloud?

− Have you talked to the providers of your business applications about the availability of their products as SaaS offerings?

− Have you considered other options from companies who have similar products offered as SaaS?

− Have you considered leveraging Infrastructure as a Service for critical IT elements that you may lack internal expertise to support?

Questions To Consider Relative to Cloud Services or Offerings

Is it time for my business to create a Private Cloud?− Have you started Virtualizing your current IT infrastructure as

new servers are brought online?

− Have you performed or had an IT provider perform a Cloud readiness assessment on your existing IT infrastructure?

− Is your IT infrastructure resilient enough to keep all business critical functions online if you lose a network server?

− Can your employees access productivity data and applications from anywhere they have an Internet connection, from any device they choose?

Questions To Consider: Utility IT or Hosted Services

Is my business a good candidate for these types of services?− Does your corporate HQ’s power, connectivity, or environmental

controls impede your ability to keep your IT services online?

− Does the idea of having IT equipment “under lease” as opposed to owning it appeal to you or turn you off?

− Do you currently maintain internal SLA’s to your employees around uptime, repair time, and other metrics around IT availability?

− Are you presently on a 3 year hardware refresh cycle? Is a 3 year refresh cycle something that appeals to your business or is advantageous to it based on your needs?

Q&A