Category Archives: Cloud Computing

Going into the Cloud

Posted on November 21, 2011 by admin| Leave a comment

We’re always looking at new ways to add product functionality and a plan we’ve had for a long time is to introduce a cloud version of our product.

Why? Well currently Qlockwork is an Outlook add-in for time tracking, which is great. It means we get to leverage a great piece of software that everyone knows how to use. It’s very rare that I come across someone who has never used Outlook (though it happens occasionally!). So we get a lovely user experience and super-security (your data never leaves your email system). All great and we’ll never stop developing Qlockwork for Outlook.

However, you do have to have Outlook to use Qlockwork at the moment. Wouldn’t it be nice to track activities on machines that didn’t have Outlook? Our accountant uses Outlook Express and he’d really love to try out Qlockwork, why should we deprive him?

So, we are currently going into early testing on a web version.

For you techies out there, it’s based on the Django web platform and yes, it will still record your activities when you are  not online (it’s very clever). It will run side by side with the Outlook version and won’t interfere with it.

If you would like to join our beta, please drop us a line.

 

Posted in Beta Trials, Cloud Computing, Qlockwork, time tracking

3 Benefits and 3 Risks Of Cloud Computing

Posted on March 3, 2011 by admin| Leave a comment

For small businesses, cloud computing offers some great benefits and also some risks.

Benefit 1 – You Don’t Have to Manage Your Servers Yourself

With a cloud service, someone else is taking care of the servers. That means you don’t have to buy them, house them, maintain them and upgrade them. This is a huge benefit for a small business that doesn’t have large premises and an internal IT department.

Benefit 2 – You Don’t Have to Worry About Backups

Have you got good and regular off-site backup for your business data? It can be pricey and needs to be regularly tested. With a cloud system, usually your service provider takes care of that for you. A nice load off your mind.

Benefit 3 – You Don’t Have to Worry about Disaster Recovery

What if a plane crashed into your office tomorrow? Or, more likely, it just burned down. At least your cloud system will still be there..

Great benefits. So what can go wrong?

Risk 1 – Losing Control of your Data

With a cloud system, your business data is in someone else’s hands. Make sure they are a trustworthy company. If you have any doubts, make sure you can get hold of your own data and keep backups yourself.

Risk 2 – Security

With a cloud system, often your company data is accessible to anyone with just a simple user name and password. Make sure your staff use properly secure passwords. Not “password”!

Risk 3 – Hidden costs

Remember to consider how much the service will cost as your usage increases. Don’t be lured in by a cheap or free service that ends up costing you an arm and a leg

Risks aside, cloud computing can be a good idea for small businesses, but go in with your eyes open.

Posted in Cloud Computing, small business, Software, Software Development

What Is Cloud Computing?

Posted on February 10, 2011 by admin| Leave a comment

what is cloud computing - a cloud with a question markThe idea of cloud computing is that a service you use is not physically  installed and running on your own computer servers on your own premises. Instead, the service runs on someone else’s servers on someone else’s premises.

You access that service over the web from your web browser or sometimes from an application installed on your PC.  

Why is it called “cloud”?

It’s called cloud because you often say that the service is running in the cloud, which is a euphemism for “I don’t have the faintest idea where it physically is and I don’t much care”. Cloud is really just a marketing term for “somewhere out there in the internet”.

What kind of application or service can run in the cloud?

Most services can run in the cloud. A good example is a hosted Exchange service. This  is a cloud service where someone else runs and maintains Microsoft Exchange on their own servers and you access that Exchange server from either your web browser (Outlook Web Access) or Outlook installed on your PC. The benefits to you are fairly similar to the benefits you get from any Cloud service:

  • you don’t have to manage the server yourself
  • you don’t have to worry about backups (that’s usually provided by the service)
  • you don’t have to worry about disaster recovery (if a meteorite crashes into your office tomorrow then provided you weren’t in it at the time you can move into a new office the next day and you haven’t lost any email)

GMail is another example of a cloud-based email system, but the cloud isn’t just for email. You can use cloud based services for anything from backups to accounting systems, you can manage your warehouse with cloud based systems or even use cloud based CRMs. 

Cloud services can be very useful for small businesses because there is usually no up-front cost. There’s no big server to buy and no expensive software license to cough up for before you can get started. It’s also very easy to keeping upgrading to the latest version of the service.

What’s the drawback of the cloud?

Like everything, the cloud does have some drawbacks.

  • You are handing over responsibility and physical possession of your data and services to another company, which means you need to be confident they are going to look after it securely, back it up, provide disaster recovery (what if a meteor hits them?) and not go out of business and leave you without access to vital data.
  • With a lot of cloud services, you can only access your data and use the service while you are on line. If your internet connection goes down, you are cut off from that service. The cloud has become popular in the last few years because internet access has become faster and more reliable. This used to be much more of a drawback.
  • In most cases, anyone can access your data over the internet if they have your username and password. That means you and your staff have to be really careful about secure password policies. No Admin, 123 or the whole world can get at your data.
  • The per-user costs can be quite high. For a larger business with a lot of users it might be worth buying Exchange (or whatever) up front and installing it yourself rather than paying a monthly fee for each person in your business.

None of these problems is insurmountable and the cloud is definitely a very useful resource, particularly for small businesses.

We certainly plan to add cloud functionality options to Qlockwork in 2010, but we’ll never make it compulsory. We have too many users who don’t want their Qlockwork data to leave their business.

Posted in Cloud Computing, Qlockwork, Software