Member Article

Does size matter?

Mark Jackson is Sales Manager at Perfect Image. Here, he ponders whether size matters and how knowing how you shape up when it comes to your IT, can really benefit your business.

Does size matter? It’s a question that many have pondered over the years and no doubt will continue for years to come. But in answer to the age old adage, when it comes to your IT, the answer is a resounding yes!

At Perfect Image we offer a true cloud computing solution through Amazon Web Services (AWS). It’s something that our clients and potential clients frequently want to know more about. How does it work? Is it safe? Will it really benefit my business? The list goes on.

When we’re consulting with our customers about the best IT infrastructure for their business needs, we’re finding more and more that once we recommend AWS as a solution and people can see how it would be of benefit to their business, one of their main concerns is then measuring up. Let me explain…

AWS is a true cloud computing solution, meaning there’s no servers stashed away in the corner of your office and no off-site datacentres either. Because true cloud is quite an abstract idea, people often struggle with the concept. After all, how do you measure something that you can’t see? And if you can’t measure something so abstract, do you know where to begin when it comes to choosing the right ‘amount’ of cloud computing power?

Well, through Perfect Image, clients can have access to a new service that has the answers to all your questions around size and whether or not it matters - when we’re talking about your IT! It’s called Cloudamize and is a software tool that runs alongside your current IT infrastructure for one month. After the 30-day period, it then tells you how much computing power you need to invest in when migrating your systems over to AWS and how much it would cost to run on a monthly basis.

This in turn helps you to put a business case together, clearly highlighting the ROI of true cloud computing with AWS; if you’ve got too much tin in your existing servers, you need less. If your systems are stressed and at capacity, you need more. Just think, if the report showed that you needed more computing power, how much extra would it cost to buy in another server? Or, if the report showed that you’ve got too much computing power for your needs, think about how much money you’ve wasted in buying the bigger server. Wouldn’t it be great if someone could have measured this and told you in advance before making the purchase?

True cloud computing with AWS is totally Pay As You Go – you only pay for the computing power that you use – no wastage, no fuss. It means that you’re never going to be over paying for a piece of kit that’s totally redundant.

In addition, because AWS is so flexible, the amount of computing power you use can be quickly dialled up and just as easily dialled back down to help meet peaks in the demand of your IT infrastructure. Again, you’re only paying for what you use, so if you don’t need a little extra capacity it’s absolutely fine! If you do dial things up for a period of time, capacity levels will go back to normal as average levels resume, you’re only charged for what you’ve used, and in turn haven’t needed to buy in an extra server that is now sitting doing nothing in the corner of your office as the peak period is now over

At Perfect Image, we’re expert at helping our clients to achieve real business benefits through the intelligent use of IT, and AWS along with Cloudamize are just a few of the tools we have in our kitbag. To find out more about how we could help you (and how your size really does matter), visit: http://www.perfect-image.co.uk/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Perfect Image .