Tag Archives: Cloud Solutions

Small Businesses, Big Data—Data Analysis that Fits Your Business

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So by now, there’s a good chance that almost all of you are acquainted with the concept of Big Data—the name for comprehensive information gleaned from numerous interconnected, ubiquitous devices. The common misconception is that data projects are a lofty, corporate concept, and that only big businesses with dedicated analysts can create and make use of them.

This is, of course, untrue; the growing prevalence of cloud computing and data networks means that any company can adopt some sort of analytics program without need for specialized training or extensive resources. The key is finding a program that fits your business.

Before analyzing any data, however, you’ll need something to work with. Now, this can vary depending on your business, but common useful data can include lead metrics, ROI statistics, social media engagement or, in the case of a Washington zoo, weather patterns. The goal here is to cross-examine multiple factors and create a picture of past trends in your business, allowing you to extrapolate future possibilities.

Don’t worry; this isn’t as complicated as it sounds. All you need is solid analytics software.

For e-commerce businesses, multiple viable options are available, including Google Analytics, which is customizable, easy-to-learn, and, perhaps most importantly, free. I mention GA because, for businesses that lack any sort of data specialist, choosing an analytics suite that can be easily used and interpreted is key. Google’s Analytics certification also provides an inexpensive and quick way to train employees on the basics of web metrics.

As for gathering the data, there’s no need for modern devices monitoring every facet of your business to make it work; things like POS systems will generally already have the information that you need. Your small business objectives are similar yet distinct from larger businesses, as you will likely be attempting to drive sales and improve your web presence, but through smaller promotions and with less capital to dedicate toward marketing material.

But, on a more practical level, what do you do with these analyses once you’ve seen them? Part of using Big Data is making an actionable plan based on your findings. Some data is completely useless on its own and must be compared with similar data to get a better picture of how your business is doing.

For instance, online click-through rates are nice, but you’ll need separate figures from ads, email campaigns, and social media posts to really get a sense of how to best reach your audience. The bottom line is that no data exists in a vacuum; you will always need to compare all business channels to create a useful picture.

I wish I could tell you that there was a magic bullet for small businesses to take advantage of the data boon, but there really isn’t. That said, I’m far from pessimistic about data usage. It’s certainly easier than ever for small businesses to make use of data, but the really tricky part is figuring out what your business wants to measure and how to use it in the long run.

Leveraging The Cloud Against Cancer

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Big data has a number of applications in healthcare, from mapping out the genotypes of populations for public health initiatives to creating a more seamless and interoperable medical records system. As part of Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Task Force, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft are collaborating to leverage the cloud against cancer.

Cancer Moonshot Header Image

via LLNL.gov

There are a number of variables that go into cancer research: the molecular structure of cancer cells, to environmental and social factors, to personal genetic factors–and this is just scratching the service. The applications of cloud technology and big data stand to revolutionize the rate at which we can comprehend cancer, and greatly accelerate the rate at which we can one day eradicate it

There already is a vast amount of data on cancer research, but it is segmented and spread across various databases and formats. Even if researchers are able to access data, it is often the case that their computers simply do not have the storage capacity to take advantage of the large quantities of data available.

Earlier this year, the NCI launched the Genomic Data Commons (which collates several large genomic datasets and allows researchers everywhere to add to it) and the Cancer Genomic Cloud Pilots (which provides innovative method for parsing through cancer data). Together these two initiatives breathe new life into cancer research and grant researchers heretofore unheard of access.

NCI Genomic Data Commons

NCI Genomic Data Commons

It’s a known fact that the most successful companies using cloud technology opt to share their data with others. To see government organizations freely share data, collaborate with private sector organizations, and to overall use their resources to contribute to a culture of innovation in cloud technology is a truly inspiring sight. With further collaboration between government and private sector organizations, we can one day hope to have a system of a system of compliance that pushes data-sharing and collaboration across the board.

 

Scott Maurice

How SaaS Can Maximize Your Business’s Success

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How SaaS Can Maximize Your Business's Success by Scott Maurice

SaaS models are more than convenient tools for businesses, they’re drivers of productivity and revenue.

When SaaS—i.e. Software as a Service—models first came to market, they were designed to function with the cloud. This provided clients with a number of benefits that software providers previously couldn’t achieve. As the popularity of SaaS solutions grew, and customers began experiencing their true value, tech companies of all kinds began to follow suit. Software providers of all levels, from established enterprises to burgeoning startups, began launching cloud versions of their solutions and developing new cloud based products to compliment them.

Most people know that cloud services have taken the world by storm, but not everyone understands the true value of these solutions.

Increased Productivity

Productivity is a huge motivator for SaaS adoption. In fact, according to CDW’s 2015 Cloud 401 report, productivity software is second only to email among SaaS deployments. Of the IT professionals surveyed, more than 30% reported that they had deployed productivity driven applications (such as those bundled in Microsoft Office 365) in the cloud.

Less Maintenance, Easier Access

Because the cloud provider generally performs support and maintenance as part of the subscription fee, IT staff members don’t have to bear the burden of responsibility for overseeing SaaS servers.

All data is house in the providers data center, where clients can access all information through their browser. No need to worry about storage, support, or maintenance.

Updates are Immediate

SaaS also gives enterprises access to the most current software versions without extra cost and without delay.

Deployment & Upgrades are Simplified

There’s nothing worse than suffering through a lengthy application deployment schedule. With SaaS solutions, the provider performs all upgrades, and users get the most current software versions delivered to them in an immediate, seamless fashion.

Because IT doesn’t have to spend time laboriously installing new versions, they are freed up to focus on training your employees to capitalize on the newest features.

Cost is Operational

SaaS pricing is subscription-based, which means the cost becomes operational rather than a capital. You will never need to devote capital to acquire the latest version of the software, and you can easily pilot new SaaS applications without committing capital resources. This also allows IT teams to thoroughly test run additional features and turn their findings into a strong business case for full deployment.

The Proof is in the Pudding

Forrester predicts that SaaS revenues will hit $106 billion in 2016. IDC estimates SaaS public cloud spending will reach $82.7 billion by 2018. Apps Run the World says SaaS enterprise applications will generate $67 billion in revenues by 2018. And Cisco’s research shows that by 2018, 59 percent of total cloud workloads will be SaaS.

We’ve seen most commercial, on-premises applications convert already, so they can be available as a service in some form, and an increasing number of new applications are being created in the cloud to begin with. The SaaS revolution is here to stay, and now, you know why.

The Top 5 Cloud Skills You Should Acquire in 2016

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The Top 5 Cloud Skills You Should Acquire in 2016 by Scott Maurice

LinkedIn recently cited Cloud and Distributed Computing as the number one skill that can get you hired in 2016.

LinkedIn members with skills like Hadoop, HBase, and Hive listed on their profiles increased dramatically from 2014 to 2015, making it jump from not even being rated (due to a low number of members adding these items to their profiles) to the #1 spot in 2015, and the best skill to get you hired in 2016.

As cloud computing has become a technological cornerstone for businesses across the globe, employer demand for cloud professionals has exploded. In 2015 alone, there were an estimated 18 million cloud computing jobs globally, according to WANTED Analytics.

Of those 18 million, 3.9 million of those jobs are in the U.S., with 384,478 in IT alone. And according to WANTED Analytics, the median salary for IT professionals with cloud computing experience is $90,950, and the median salary for positions that pay over $100,000 a year is $116,950.

Basically, it’s a great time to be working in cloud solutions, so let’s breakdown this flourishing industry into five popular skills required of the modern cloud professional.

Migration

It takes longer for some companies than others to get up to date with the latest tech standards. Millions of businesses are still in the process of planning and executing the migration their on-premise infrastructure. This means there is still a significant demand for professionals with the skills to facilitate the process.

If you’re put in charge of overseeing this migration, you will need a sound knowledge of the different cloud deployment models available to businesses. You’ll also need to understand the existing infrastructure of the organization you’re working with and the knowledge of how to map applications and workloads running on existing servers and relocate them to their cloud equivalent.

Looking for a course you can take to learn the ins and outs? Try Microsoft’s Private Cloud certification, Specialist certification in Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, and MCSA: Windows Server 2012 course (which can be deployed across both public and private cloud offerings.)

Security

According to RightScale’s 2016 State of the Cloud Report, security is a top concern for companies using cloud-based platforms.

The top challenge cited for companies was is lack of resources/expertise (i.e. there’s a high-demand for skilled workers!) which remains a consistent concern across the levels of experience these companies have working in the cloud—experience was divided into 3 subcategories: Cloud Beginners, Cloud Explorers, and Cloud Focused. The second most important challenge (especially to Cloud Beginners): Security.

Security was ranked as the #2 challenge by Cloud Beginners (35 percent), the #4 challenge by Cloud Explorers (28 percent), and the #5 challenge by Cloud Focused users. While security concerns decrease as a challenge as users gain cloud experience, it is still a crucial concern for companies across the board.

To develop your cloud security skills, then (ISC)2’s Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) certification is for you.

Database Querying Languages + Platforms

The amount of data that we create today is almost incomprehensible. Each day, in fact, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data, but this explosion of data is a very recent one. In fact, 90% of the data in the world today has been created in just the last two years. But all that data is meaningless unless it can be analyzed and accurate conclusions can be drawn from it.

Companies need employees with the skills to thoughtfully and meaningfully draw insights into their customers, the market, and their products as well as the ability to store and manage this data. This is where learning a database querying language and an associated database platform come in.

SQL is by far the most important language to learn, and there are courses all over the web that offer lessons in this. Start out with Codecademy, and from there you can see if you need to supplement other courses.

Popular database platforms include Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database, and open-source platforms like MySQL, Hadoop and MongoDB. Oracle has their own certification courses, as does Microsoft. MongoDB provides their own MongoDB University and Oracle provides MySQL training. Cloudera can help you learn Apache Hadoop.

Linux

More than 25% of servers powering Azure are Linux based, which means there’s a very high demand for cloud professionals with Linux expertise in the market right now. Microsoft has been increasingly working in the open-source market, which means the demand is only set to grow.

Learn how to design, architect, build administer, and maintain Linux servers with the Linux Foundation Certified Systems Administrator course. Microsoft also offers a MCSA: Linux on Azure course that will help you develop the skills to create cloud-enabled Linux solutions that take advantage of the full potential of the Azure platform.

Programming languages

Everyone knows that developers are always in hot demand, and working in the cloud has only allowed developers to build, deploy, and manage applications more efficiently. Companies need talented developers to manage these efforts. Languages like Python, Perl and Ruby have become more popular in recent years, but traditional languages like .NET, Java, and PHP continue to have high demand.

Again, Codecademy is a great resource for learning many of these languages, and their courses are free.

Conclusion

As the world moves more and more into the cloud, the need for cloud professionals is only set to grow. No matter if you’re looking to make a career change, shift, or simply increase your value as an employee for a potential raise or promotion, learning these skills will make you invaluable to your employee and the team you’re working in. Don’t miss out on this essential technology shift that’s taking place all over the world.