This article is powered by Sonicwall.
-Dhamodaran Palani
Bhubaneswar-based E Square System and Technologies has a specific focus is in E-Governance, Defense, Education, Health, Steel and Mines, Energy, and Utilities as System Integrator(SI) . ESTPL has also led the various team and successfully completed projects like E district, E Registration, Secretariat Automation system, MRR, SAMS, and many other projects in Government, PSUs, and Corporate. Dhirendra Khandelwal, Managing Director of the company speaks on the ways how enterprises are looking after the cloud.
How is the awareness of cloud storage among your customers and how do they see cloud as an alternative for physical storage?
Cloud is the new frontier of business computing and delivery of software and applications and is quickly overwhelming the conventional in-house infrastructure as a reliable, scalable, and cost-effective IT solution. However, the expanding amount of data in numerous digital forms and the desire to have access to it from different devices has increased the importance of cloud storage. The awareness of utilizing cloud storage is caused due to the growth in usage of mobile devices, and subsequent storage and sharing challenges coming along with it. The other catalysts of cloud adaptation stem from the need of having them accessible various multiple gadgets one typically uses. Moreover, the uploaded data serve as a solid backup in case the device is damaged or lost. The core disparities between cloud hosting and traditional physical storage can be characterized by these key factors such as resilience, scalability, automation, running costs, and security. First, the information and applications hosted in the cloud are evenly distributed across all the servers, which are coupled to work as one. Therefore, if one server fails, no data is lost and downtime is avoided. Conventional IT systems are not so resilient and can and to ensure a consistently high level of server performance. They have restricted capacity and are helpless to downtime, which can enormously hinder workplace productivity. Second, cloud servers can scale up or down depending on the degree of traffic your website receives. With the traditional IT framework, if you run out of storage space, the only arrangement is to purchase or lease another server. Third, with cloud hosting regular monitoring and maintenance of your servers – such as upgrades, configuration problems, threat protection, and installations are handled by the storage provider. Fourth, with cloud-based services, you only pay for what is used – similarly to how you pay for utilities such as electricity. I recommend choosing a cloud service provider that is completely transparent in its facilitation of cloud platforms and guarantees optimum security measures which is critical when transitioning to the cloud.
What is the level of importance that placing your data on the cloud in a secure way has gained post-pandemic?
Yes, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic shows expanded use of cloud computing platforms and more firms are in preparation for more remote work options, particularly among tech companies. The cloud lets organizations increase capacity without investing in hardware and facilities. Furthermore, there is less need to increase staff if your cloud provider is maintaining the infrastructure and extending the abilities of your current team. With the disruptions from COVID-19 and the probability of future disruptions, there has never been a more urgent period to move to the cloud. The cloud has long been championed as an avenue for efficiency and savings for the business. But in an era of COVID-19, virtual methods of working are as much about operational continuity as they are about operational spending. In this period of radical change, organizations are now rushing to grasp the opportunity with enthusiasm. Adopting a cloud-based strategy alongside cutting-edge computing capabilities can additionally enhance proximity and provision to meet end-consumer requirements. Cost savings may have driven early cloud adoption, but organizations progressively see the cloud as a way to drive growth while upgrading operational resilience.
How does the adoption of cloud go with small and medium companies?
Business owners are persistently scanning for ways through which their profits can be maximized without settling on quality, cost, and efficiency — the cloud guarantees an entirely perfect platform to meet such requirements. SMEs, which comprise a significant part of the industrial world, can benefit in several ways through cloud adoption. Besides, SMEs are very agile compared to big enterprises, and the cloud provides the perfect opportunity to meet this agility. Cloud technology gives that opportunity—with the pay-as-you-use model, the firm winds up saving substantial money on investment; this becomes even more significant for SMEs as developing businesses, aspiring to reach peaks and dominate the competitive world.
SMEs see ups and downs very frequently when compared to big businesses. Their market is very unpredictable and requires immediate adjustments in scaling. Using the cloud, SMEs can overcome this hurdle. As SMEs expand and plan to begin offices at specific locations, the cloud can be subscribed so that it will charge only for utilized services.
Does cloud security matters even for smaller companies?
Security breaches are a public threat that every enterprise needs to encounter; however, this threat reaches a higher standing when it comes to SMEs. They have the pressure of creating goodwill in the market and sticking out, to flourish. In the beginning, SMEs need to build a sense of unwavering quality in their clients. For this, SMEs must take fundamental steps towards data security. Cloud technology is one such phase that strengthens the security levels of the organization's data. In the cloud, the specialists who manage your data make sure it is encrypted and secured from the reach of hackers. An additional advantage of choosing a cloud is that your data is always backed-up.
What is the need for constant training and certifications for resellers in the cloud space?
As developments in cloud computing continue to transform the market for IT infrastructure, and as more firms seek cloud advisory services from their MSPs, the discrepancy between an MSP and a reseller has become obscured. Offering value-added services like consulting to cloud novices will place you ahead of your competitors with additional training from the cloud providers. Certified Resellers get a variety of discounts and many “Channel Reseller Programs” facilitate selling to government agencies, as well as commercial users, educational institutes, and NGOs. Certified Resellers obtain better pricing on business support, planning, administration support, and credits for expansion. Along with access to the latest access to technology, listing in the cloud providers portal, permission to use the official logo, and an invitation to closed-door events and webinars by the cloud providers. Also, Certified Resellers are qualified for a discount on certification training, so that you can train your contractor, and employees. The more individuals on your team who are certified, the better possibility of offering continuous, seamless service regardless of the employee and contractor turnover.
What is your organization’s cloud strategy in the coming days?
The need to leverage both on and off-premises resources is a top driver of our IT strategy. We are accustomed to operating on cloud, adoption of on-premises data centers marks a major shift in our strategy towards the hybrid cloud. To summarise our recent cloud strategies are:
We have implemented a cloud roadmap to reduce the risk, cost, and complexity of integrating cloud resources as operations become more efficient and more predictable.
We leverage the cloud’s full worth, and the innovation it characteristically offers, by coalescing the cloud strategy with business transformation.
Priority to protect applications, data, and infrastructure while allowing for the ability to move workloads and manage assets across the hybrid cloud is the top priority for our cloud strategy.
Our team is combining the on-premises infrastructure, private cloud services, and multiple public cloud providers to form an infrastructure that caters to the strengths and benefits of each including the operational, security, cost, and access depending on the areas of importance of each for specific applications and data.