Category: Business Practices

Three Common Data Terms Defined

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, Cloud and IT Consultants, Cloud Computing, data center, IOT, IT Regulation, Software Development

Data is growing exponentially

image courtesy of itpro.co.uk

Today’s business leaders can be inundated with large data sets presented to them and challenged to determine the best tools to manage and analyze the data. To stay competitive, they need to use historical information to reveal patterns and trends for the future. Understanding and interpreting data have become a vital process for business although some may become intimidated by the amount of data available. Traditionally, data is owned by the IT department of the business. Today, other departments within a business such as human resources (HR), marketing or sales require this information and want it without the delay of IT intervention. This has created the need for non-IT business managers to be acquainted with technical terms and processes previously understood only by the IT department. The vernacular of IT and the speed it changes can be as overwhelming as the data itself. In this brief article, I will introduce three of the most common data terms and define each.

Big Data

Big data is one of several terms in the cloud computing category whose meaning has been diluted with its overuse. I define big data as data sets that are stored by a business for analysis to predict future patterns and trends. I believe the term big data was first introduced as the data businesses needed to manage became too large for its traditional data processing applications. This can be partially ascribed to the fact that in the last two years 90% of the current electronic data has been created. Data capacity and data transmission speed have changed more than any other single technology in IT. For instance, my first computer had a 30 MB hard drive, enough storage for about 20 of the 500 pictures on my smart phone today. It seems like each year we are forced to learn a new term for data capacity. Here are the terms we hear most often today as it relates to the size of data files:

**chart courtesy of techterms.com

In addition to the vast amounts of data businesses need to analyze there are other challenges to big data. First, the variety of forms the data can take such as text, images, and video can test a company’s systems. Additionally, today’s regulatory trends protecting data privacy complicate procedures and policies for the enterprise to store big data. Businesses today storing and analyzing the data must be familiar with the regulations and best practices to protect the identities of all users within the data. Big data has become a tool for creating critical insight for business, but if not managed well it can be more problematic than useful.

Metadata

The simplest definition of metadata is information about the data. Metadata is typically considered to be one of two forms, descriptive or structural. A common example of descriptive metadata is contained in the pictures we take with our smart phones. The picture has additional information attached (metadata) that will describe the time, location and even information about the camera that took the photo. An example more applicable to business users is a column heading of a spreadsheet, this metadata contains vital information needed in understanding the primary data in the spreadsheet. Information stored in a Word document describing who created the document and when it was created is another common example of metadata. These examples provide good insight as to some of the privacy concerns of stored data. It is not uncommon for personal identifiable information (PII) to be hidden in metadata in data files. If not properly secured it will create exposure to breaches and violations of IT regulations.

Structural metadata can be more complicated, it describes data objects or components of the files. Like a book has a table of contents, chapters and pages, structural metadata can guide managers through and help define the components of large data files. Structural metadata is often used in big data applications such as databases which can offer little value without systems to identify components of value to the different business units within an organization. These systems, most times based in a software package, are referred to as data modeling.

Data Modeling

Data modeling is defined as the process of creating a software framework for data information systems by applying formalized techniques. The data modeler will define and analyze the requirement for each unique business unit and initiate processes to allow them to get the most benefit from the data. Data modeling is typically a customized application. There are some off-the-shelf data modeling packages, but they tend to be of little use without customization by an expert.

As data grows so does the insight it offers the business for their future trends. It can also grow out of control if not managed properly, creating substantial risk for the business. As businesses collect and use the data they also need to engage experts to mitigate this risk. A trusted advisor and expert can offer best practices for storing, retrieving and analyzing big data. Two Ears One Mouth IT Consulting will meet with you, discover and understand your data needs and guide you to the right partner and processes to provide these services.

Contact @ Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131     jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net

www.twoearsonemouth.net

we listen first…

 

5G affects cloud

5G or not 5G- What, When and How it Affects IT and Cloud

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, BYOD, Cloud and IT Consultants, Cloud Computing, data center, disaster recovery, Edge Computing, IOT

 

Before entering the cloud and IT business I spent more than a decade working with wireless technologies for business.  During this time, I saw the advent of data to cell phones and the transitions of the generations of data offerings that have been delivered. Generation 2 (G2) brought very rudimentary data to cell phones such as text messaging. G3 brought the internet and its many applications such as mobile email. G4 brought us the high-speed internet we use today offering instant access to applications such as real time video. With each transition of the technology, corporate marketing and spin became more extraordinary creating more time between the introduction and the practical delivery of the new product. Now comes 5G and I expect this trend to continue. Although we hear of the current availability of 5G from wireless carriers the products are not fully developed for practical use and are likely years away for business applications.

What is 5G and who will provide it?

The latest technology of 5G wireless data will be provided to us by the same carriers that delivered wireless service in the past, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. Although the primary standards for 5G have been set there is still much to be developed in the technology and will likely be introduced as different versions. This will be similar to 4G when it was first launched with its distinct alternatives of WiMAX and LTE.  5G has already been split into different delivery types, 5G, 5GE, and 5 GHz. Verizon’s first introduction to 5G is designed for the home and small office while AT&T is focused on mobile devices in very limited markets. Most believe there will be fixed wireless versions for point to point circuits for business. At this point, it isn’t clear what versions each provider will offer in 5G as it matures and becomes universally delivered.

The technology of 5G

Similar to all previous generations in the evolution of wireless data 5G offers greater speeds as its primary driver for acceptance. What may slow widespread deployment of 5G is the fact that 4G technology continues to improve and provide greater speeds for users. However, the wireless spectrum available to 4G providers is running short so the transition to 5G is imminent. Most of the 5G technology will be provided on an alternate wireless spectrum, above 6 GHz, and not provided to wireless consumers previously. This new swath of spectrum will offer much greater capacity and speed but won’t come without its own challenges. To achieve these higher speeds the carriers will need to use much higher frequency transmissions called millimeter waves. Millimeter waves cannot penetrate buildings, weather, and trees as well as the previous frequencies. To overcome this wireless carriers will need to implement additional, smaller cell sites called microcells. Many wireless carriers have already implemented microcells complementing the macrocells used in previous offerings of wireless service. Building out additional data network and cell sites such as microcells is expensive and time-consuming. This will add to the delay of a fully implemented 5G offering from the carriers.

Business advantages of 5G

To say that one of the advantages of 5G are greater data speeds would be true, but there is much more to it for business applications. The following are the primary advantages, related to speed, that 5G will provide for businesses for cloud computing.

  • Lower latency – Wireless 5G networks will decrease latency, the time it takes data packets to be stored and retrieved, greatly. This will benefit many business applications such as voice, video and artificial intelligence (AI)
  • Multiple connections- The base stations, or cell sites of 5G, will handle many more simultaneous connections than 4G. This will increase speed for users and capacity for providers.
  • Full duplex transmission- 5G networks can transmit and receive data simultaneously. This full duplex transmission increases the speed and reliability of wireless connectivity enabling new applications and enhancing exiting ones.

Cloud and business solutions enhanced by 5G

It is difficult to say exactly how businesses will benefit from 5G service since it is still being developed. However, the advantages listed above lend themselves to several applications which are sure to be enhanced for business.

The increased speeds and decreased latency 5G offers will expand options and availability for disaster recovery (DR) and data network backups for businesses. When speeds previously only offered to business via wireline can be delivered without wires business continuity will be increased. Many businesses outages today are caused by accidental cable cuts and power outages that wireless 5G will eliminate. It is also possible wireless point to point circuits could replace traditionally wired circuits for the business’s primary data and internet service.

The technology and increasing number of the internet of things (IOT) applications will be enhanced by 5G. The increased speed and connectivity capacity will allow this ubiquitous technology to continue to grow. Similarly, the trend for more and faster edge computing connectivity will benefit. This will enhance applications such as autonomous vehicles that require instant connectivity to networks and other vehicles. Content delivery networks like the ones used for delivery of Netflix will be able to deliver their products faster and more reliably. These are just a few examples of the technologies today that are demanding 5G’s advantages and will expedite its availability.

While the technology to deliver 5G is mostly completed, the timing of widespread implementation for business is still unclear. This is attributed in part to the improvement of 4G speeds in its ability to satisfy today’s consumer’s needs. More importantly, new technologies are not accepted in the marketplace because the technology is ready but rather because the business applications demand them. 5G technologies will be driven by many business applications but widespread acceptance won’t occur for at least another two years. If you want to consult with a partner that has expertise in all aspects of telecom, wireless and cloud technologies, give us a call and we will be glad to find the right solution for your business.

Contact @ Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131      jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net

www.twoearsonemouth.net

we listen first…

 

customer case study

InfoCase Case Study

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, Cloud and IT Consultants, Cloud Computing, customer case study

About InfoCase

For over 24 years, InfoCase has been an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of cases, harnesses, and other protective solutions for mobile devices. Their mission is to help reduce the damage of their customers’ mobile technology while increasing the efficiency of its use. They accomplish this mission by crafting innovative, solution-oriented products that exceed the expectations of their clients. To follow is the InfoCase Case study for the solutions provided by Two Ears One Mouth IT Consulting.

The Challenges

After more than twenty years of continued growth, InfoCase’s growth has accelerated in the past several years. This has caused the company to outgrow some of its communications and IT platforms and require a review for updates for each. Their premise-based Cisco phone system, while still working, was aging and out of support by the manufacturer. If a failure would occur, it could be days or weeks to get their phone service restored. InfoCase’s internet service was a shared cable service at a price point that was competitive when purchased but is no longer advantageous in a time of price reduction for telecom services. The cable company also provided their four analog phone lines that were restrictive in growth and didn’t offer today’s features such as direct inward dialing (D.I.D.) and calling party identification. Similarly, their Cisco firewall support contract had expired, and manufacturer support was not available. The company had aging file servers in an un-virtualized environment. Finally, many of their business applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and their accounting software needed to be enhanced for off-site access available to cloud-based versions of the software.

The Solutions

With several tasks to complete, priorities needed to be set for InfoCase. Two Ears One Mouth IT Consulting (TEOM) recommended the voice communications system be upgraded first. InfoCase agreed that they would be best served with a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) offering. Familiar with InfoCase needs as well as the UCaaS providers TEOM recommended and presented three UCaaS solution providers. TEOM’s discovery upfront enabled InfoCase to make an informed and quick decision for the best provider for this service. The winning provider had a reliable feature rich UCaaS solution and included a dedicated fiber Internet connection to support their voice and data communications. This dedicated service offered advantages to their voice communications unavailable from their existing service.

Next InfoCase needed an IT solution partner to replace aged hardware, create backups for business continuity and offer ongoing IT services. The best provider for InfoCase was selected under the direction of TEOM and provided an overview of the customers’ needs. The IT provider systematically identified the most critical hardware replacement needs, presented a plan with pricing and started the upgrades.

A typical engagement with TEOM, as with InfoCase, does not end with any single project. We continued an ongoing dialogue addressing less urgent needs and recommending plans for keeping all technology current. InfoCase appreciated TEOM’s personalized approach and their wide variety of supplier/partner options. In this approach, TEOM has established the groundwork for a long-term partnership and allowed InfoCase to focus on their business. 

About Two Ears One Mouth IT Consulting

TEOM provides insight to organizations to determine  the best suppliers for cloud, datacenter, and telecommunications. We provide a personalized strategy and solution saving our clients team lost hours of investigation and negotiation with potential suppliers. We offer our clients a wide breadth of provider partners and create an ongoing and long-term business relationship.

jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net (513) 227-4131

 

Disaster Recovery, Which Option is Right for Your Business?

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, Cloud and IT Consultants, Cloud Computing, data center, disaster recovery

 

Active-Active performs the quickest recovery
An Active-Active Disaster Recovery Solution

 

In a recent article, I described how an outsource, or hosted provider can deliver Disaster Recovery (DR) as a Service. In this article, I would like to look at the advantages a business can achieve by creating their own Disaster Recovery and answer the question, which option is right for your business. First, a reminder that DR is not a backup of data but rather a replication of data to ensure its availability and business continuity. DR solutions that are created by using the business’s own IT infrastructure can be divided into two primary categories, active-active and active-passive. Since active-passive was covered in the previous blog, I will focus on active-active here. While both attempt to achieve the same goals, keeping the business IT systems up at all times, they are created and maintained differently. Because of the unique nature of DR solutions, it is generally accepted to engage an expert such as Two Ears One Mouth IT Consulting to determine the right DR solution for an organization. I will compare the two DR strategies through complexity, cost and the most common metrics for DR Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO).

Active-Active Disaster Recovery

An active-active, or stretched clustering, configuration is the deployment of a second identical live infrastructure which continually replicates with the first site. This framework will typically consist of only two sites.  Because of the simplicity of the concept and the speed and ease in which recovery can occur, it is usually the clients first choice. Ironically, after all the pertinent information is uncovered, is rarely selected by the small medium business seeking disaster recovery.

The two primary reasons it isn’t chosen for most businesses is its cost and the requirement for high bandwidth with low latency. Its high initial cost is due to the purchase of a duplicated set of hardware infrastructure for the primary site. In an active-active scenario, either site can handle the entire workload for the business. Every time a request is made in a software application at one site it must be written to the other site immediately before completing the request. An active-active solution requires a high level of connectivity, or bandwidth, between sites such as dedicated fiber optics. Even with dedicated (dark) fiber between sites data latency is still a consideration. Best practices dictate that the distance between active-active sites should be less than 100 miles. These two requirements eliminate many prospects from considering an active-active solution.  

Advantages of Active-Active

Now I will describe the advantages of an active-active configuration and the businesses that can benefit from it. There are many benefits to this configuration as it is a remarkable process for business continuity. After realizing the upfront cost, many businesses need to determine if it’s a nice-to-have or need-to-have solution for their business. To follow are some of the benefits of an active-active DR solution. 

1)      No “big red” button to push-

One of the most difficult processes of any DR solution is knowing how and when to declare an IT outage a disaster and quickly executing the DR plan. Many solutions will require a detailed process and action plan that involves the entire IT team. An active-active configuration is much simpler to invoke the DR plan because it transfers all workloads to one of the continually running and replicated systems. In addition, it requires very little testing and can be engaged automatically with minimal human intervention.  

2)     Cross-site load balancing-

Although it can be simple to transition to DR mode an active-active DR configuration is very complex to design and create. Some of the factors that make it difficult to create are the very same that provide additional benefits beyond DR. On such benefit is “load balancing” of the data transmitted between sites and offsite. Since both sites are always actively processing data it can be designed so that any process being run can occur at the optimal site available at that time. This can eliminate challenges of slow data responses and maximize bandwidth availability for the business.

3)      Less management means less cost-

The argument can be made that the active-active DR solution is the more cost effective for the long term. The time and technical resources to test, maintain and initiate an active-passive DR solution is much greater than the active-active. Additionally, in analyzing a DR solution, most don’t consider the operational task to “fallback” to normal mode after DR has been implemented; this can be more difficult than the original DR transition. Although expensive initially, the active-active solution has very little ongoing costs.  

Active-Passive Disaster Recovery

An active-passive DR solution creates an environment that is not intended to be live for IT production until a disaster is declared by the business. The infrastructure is over subscribed for resources and dormant until needed. This creates large initial cost savings on hardware. Many times, a business will re-purpose their aged IT equipment and servers for their DR site to realize even greater financial benefit.

One of the most popular active-passive software platforms for disaster recovery today is Zerto. Zerto’s DR solution creates DR at the hypervisor level of the virtualized environment. This allows for a quick and complete transition to the DR resources when an outage occurs. Zerto works with the most popular hypervisors such as VMware or Microsoft’s Hyper V. An active-passive solution such as Zerto can create a more customized solution. A business may select only a small percentage of their application servers as critical to the business and enable DR solution for those applications only. An active-passive solution is more accommodating to multi-site or multi-cloud business DR. Active-passive solutions are also used to provide Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) from data center and cloud providers.

When a business looks to create DR solution for their business, they have three primary options, active-active, active-passive and DRaaS. It is not a quick or simple decision as to what works best for your business. You need a trusted advisor like Two Ears One Mouth IT Consulting to investigate your IT environment, understand your budget, to guide you down the path to assured business continuity.

If your business is unique and requires a custom DR solution for IT Support

Contact us @ Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131      jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net

www.twoearsonemouth.net

we listen first…

   

 

MSP model

Is the MSP Model Right for Your Business?

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, Cloud and IT Consultants, IT Regulation, IT Security

mspornot2

In my initial article, What’s a Managed Service Provider (MSP), I introduced the concept of an MSP and its advantages. The article describes how a growing organization evolves when it transitions from calling an individual IT service provider each time an issue presents itself to developing a relationship with a  trusted partner that delivers a full scope of IT services. To review some pertinent definitions: an IT services provider follows a traditional model of being contacted when needed and are paid for their services by time and materials. An MSP provides the full scope of services and in many cases, the outsourced MSP is the business’s IT department. Today the MSP deliverable of a flat fee for services has become widespread and accepted. For a business to transition to an MSP, one vital characteristic must be present… trust. Trust can be difficult to create if the company has no prior experience with the provider. On the other hand, trust can be built when the provider is transparent with their motivations and offerings within the MSP model. In this article, I will dig deeper into the MSP offering to help answer the question is the MSP model right for your business?

Primary Components of the MSP

The concept of managed services has become so popular that some IT providers fail to offer other options to their prospects. A typical MSP agreement will include all phone and remote support services as well as an allowance for on-site labor. Projects out of the scope of the agreement are billed according to time and materials. MSP customers will typically receive a discounted labor rate on project work. The MSP model allows the provider to include a rental fee for certain critical IT infrastructure hardware. Critical IT hardware may be devices such as firewalls, the first defense of IT security and ethernet switches that are the foundation of the IT network. The MSP requires a detailed understanding and control of all the devices on the network in order to manage them properly.

What’s driving the MSP model?

The growth of the MSP model has come from the way it benefits customers as well as advantages realized by the MSP. While the MSP Model is not always the customers first choice, there are factors in the market that are driving customers to embrace this model. To follow are the primary factors that have driven the customer to accept the model.

A scarce and competitive marketplace for talent-

Most small and medium-sized businesses can’t find or can’t afford the IT resources their company requires. When they do find affordable candidates, they typically have a specific skill set that can’t match the depth of expertise the MSP can deliver.   

Organic growth and mergers-

Because of the organization’s explosive growth, sometimes through mergers, it is impossible for the customer to maintain or even be aware of the IT team they require at any given time. The MSP relationship and their technical staff can allow the business to scale up or down quickly their IT support.

Chief Information Officer (CIO) as a service-

Since its inception, IT providers have always looked for ways to create additional value for their clients. One of the first ways they accomplished this is by making recommendations for future technology to test and implement. This is the type of service the CIO provides for a large enterprise, which can take the form of periodic meetings where the provider is updated on the business strategy to help determine technological recommendations. These regularly scheduled meetings or Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) initiate a mutually beneficial relationship that lead to a long-term partnership.

As a service instead of purchase-

Renting technology infrastructure instead of an outright purchase may be advantageous due to IT hardware’s limited life. It can also create positive cashflow and other financial advantages for the business. This is an “as a service” model introduced by the cloud computing industry where expensive server hardware is rented instead of purchased.

The IT provider will also receive benefits from the MSP model. It was in large part designed by providers to solve the challenges of both parties.

Consistent revenue–

Historically the small IT service provider has struggled, as any small business, creating a consistent revenue and cash flow. The MSP model with its monthly recurring charge (MRC) helps to relieve this challenge. Predictable revenue in addition to an educated customer who is more aware and consistent with their IT demands helps to build the successful model. In a similar fashion, the MSP model helps with hiring decisions and scheduling technicians for customer service calls. With this partnership, the MSP gets to know the needs of the customer better and can predict their requirements more accurately.

Outsourcing by the Outsource-

Some parts of the total MSP solution are not provided by the local provider but rather outsourced to one of their vendors. These services are typically security and monitoring based offerings that offer great value but are costly to implement without large quantities of clients. These services will take the form of malware and antivirus software for endpoints coupled with proactive monitoring as a service. These services enhance the offering and can add profit margin for the MSP. Some popular providers of these types of services are SolarWinds, Webroot and Datto. These companies have grown significantly as part of the MSP trend. They work exclusively with MSPs, never end-users, which helps protect the MSP product.

The MSP model makes sense for most businesses, but not all businesses all the time. When a client has recently experienced growth and is desperate for quality support it can be an easier conversion for the MSP provider. It will be a challenge to justify the cost if the customer’s experience has been in the pay-as-you-go model. This is where the MSP needs to show flexibility and understand that trust is a major part of the solution. They may need to scale back some services and present a custom solution that eases the customer into the MSP model and builds the trust required. A supplier agnostic advisor like Two Ears One Mouth IT Consulting can assure the supplier selection process is transparent and the best option is chosen that will enable trust and a long term partnership.

If your business is unique and requires a custom solution for IT Support

Contact us @ Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131      jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net

www.twoearsonemouth.net

we listen first…

a cloud buyers guide

A Buyer’s Guide to Cloud

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, Cloud and IT Consultants, Cloud Computing, colocation, data center, disaster recovery, IT Regulation, IT Security, Latency, migration, protecting cloud resources, Uncategorized

buyguide_Cloud

Most businesses have discovered the value that cloud computing can bring to their IT operations. They may have discovered how it helps to meet their regulatory compliance priorities by being in a SOC 2 audited data center. Others may see a cost advantage as they are approaching a server refresh when costly hardware needs to be replaced. They recognize an advantage of placing this hardware as an operational expense as opposed to the large capital expense they need to make every three years. No matter the business driver, the typical business person isn’t sure where to start to find the right cloud provider. In this fast paced and ever-changing technology environment these IT managers may wonder, is there a buyer’s guide to Cloud?

Where Exactly is the Cloud?…and Where is My Data?

Except for the cloud hyperscalers, (Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google) cloud providers create their product in a multi-tenant data center. A multi-tenant data center is a purpose-built facility designed specifically for the needs of the business IT infrastructure and accommodates many businesses. These facilities are highly secured and most times unknown to the public. Many offer additional colocation services that allow their customers to enter the center to manage their own servers. This is a primary difference with the hyperscalers, as they offer no possibility of customers seeing the sites where their data resides. The hyperscale customer doesn’t know where there data is except for a region of the country or availability zone. The hyperscaler’s customer must base their buying decision on trusting the security practices of the large technology companies Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. These are some of the same organizations that are currently under scrutiny from governments around the world for data privacy concerns.  The buying decisions for cloud and data center for cloud seekers should start at the multi-tenant data center. Therefore, the first consideration in a buyer’s guide for the cloud will start with the primary characteristics to evaluate in the data center and are listed below.

  1. Location– Location is a multi-faceted consideration in a datacenter. First, the datacenter needs to be close to a highly available power grid and possibly alternate power companies. Similarly, the telecommunications bandwidth needs to be abundant, diverse and redundant. Finally, the proximity of the data center to its data users is crucial because speed matters. The closer the users are to the data, the less data latency, which means happier cloud users.
  2. Security– As is in all forms of IT today, security is paramount. It is important to review the data center’s security practices. This will include physical as well as technical security.
  3. People behind the data– The support staff at the datacenter creating and servicing your cloud instances can be the key to success. They should have the proper technical skills, responsiveness and be available around the clock.

Is My Cloud Infrastructure Portable?

The key technology that has enabled cloud computing is virtualization. Virtualization creates an additional layer above the operating system called a hypervisor that allows for sharing hardware resources. This allows multiple virtual servers (VMs) to be created on a single hardware server. Businesses have used virtualization for years, VMware and Microsoft HyperV being the most popular choices. If you are familiar with and have some secondary or backup infrastructure on the same hypervisor as your cloud provider, you can create a portable environment. A solution where VMs can be moved or replicated with relative ease avoids vendor lock-in. One primary criticism of the hyperscalers is that it can be easy to move data in but much more difficult to migrate the data out. This lack of portability is reinforced by the proprietary nature of their systems. One of the technologies that the hyperscalers are beginning to use to become more portable is containers. Containers are similar to VMs however they don’t utilize guest operating systems for the virtual servers. This has had a limited affect on portability because containers are a leading-edge technology and have not met widespread acceptance.

What Kind of Commitment Do I Make?

The multi-tenant data center offering a virtualized cloud solution will include an implementation fee and require a commitment term with the contract. Their customized solution will require pre-implementation engineering time, so they will be looking to recoup those costs. Both fees are typically negotiable and a good example where an advisor like Two Ears One Mouth can assist you through this process and save you money.

The hyperscaler will not require either charge because they don’t provide custom solutions and are difficult to leave so the term commitment is not required. The hyperscaler will offer a discount with a contract term as an incentive for a term commitment; these offerings are called reserved instances. With a reserved instance, they will discount your monthly recurring charge (MRC) for a two or three-year commitment.

Finding the best cloud provider for your business is a time-consuming and difficult process. When considering a hyperscaler the business user will receive no support or guidance. Working directly with a multi-tenant data center is more service-oriented but can misuse the cloud buyer’s time. The cloud consumer can work with a single data center representative that states “we are the best” and trust them. Alternatively, they can interview multiple data center provider representatives and create the ambiguous “apples to apples” spreadsheet of prospective vendors. However, neither is effective.

At Two Ears One Mouth IT consulting we will listen to your needs first and then guide you through the process. With our expertise and market knowledge you will be comforted to know we have come to the right decision for you company’s specific requirements. We save our customers time and money and provide our services at little or no cost to them!

If you would like assistance in selecting a cloud provider for your business contact us at:

Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131      jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net

www.twoearsonemouth.net

we listen first…

Why Pay More?!

Will an Indirect Consultant Cost My Business More?

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, Cloud and IT Consultants, Cloud Computing, colocation, data center

Getting more while paying less

Recently, a prospective customer asked me, “Will an indirect consultant cost my business more than negotiating with the service provider directly?” It’s a fair question, one I can answer with minimal effort. Working on a cloud or telecommunications solution with a supplier agnostic advisor (indirect) doesn’t cost anything additional and often will reduce the total cost of a project.

The indirect model

Most cloud and telecommunications providers today will utilize both the direct and indirect sales consultant models. A direct sales consultant is an employee of the supplier who is given a sales quota and a limited variety of solutions to propose. An indirect sales consultant will represent a variety of suppliers and solutions. The consultant will also typically focus on a select group of suppliers and narrow the prospective vendors down for their client based on their specific needs. The indirect and supplier relationships have no quota or demands that create a false urgency or bias to the buyer. The primary goal for the indirect consultant is to save their client time and utilize their expertise to find the best supplier and solution for their customer. Since all suppliers currently embrace the indirect model the list of suppliers is unlimited. The consultant will focus on a few but is prepared to engage any supplier needed for a unique situation. The past decade has shown a clear trend for suppliers to move to the indirect model and many have engaged the indirect channel exclusively.

Why pay more?!

In What is the Difference between a Direct and Indirect Channel, I covered some of the advantages of the indirect partnership and why it enables long term sustainability. Many times, the indirect consultant will save the end-user the cost of a technology solution. Certainly, as some may surmise, suppliers that utilize the indirect model don’t add cost to the solution because it involves an indirect consultant. All suppliers budget for the cost of sales in their pricing, regardless of the channel it comes from. They understand that the opportunities from the indirect channel are unique from their direct sales funnel and don’t incur any additional cost to sales.

Due to their vast knowledge and experience, the indirect representative is very familiar with the sales process of cloud computing and telecommunications and know where the supplier may have flexibility. It may be in the term contract, the installation charges or the monthly recurring charges (MRC) for the service. The indirect consultant becomes a trusted guide through the discovery, sales, and implementation process. This has its greatest value in a cloud or data center acquisition. The discovery and decision process for this type of service may be completed once or twice in an IT leader’s tenure and many years can pass between engagements. As a result, they are unable to remain apprised of the current technology, sales trends, and processes. Conversely, the indirect consultant may lead his or her other clients through a similar process several times a month. They know how to get the best value and are rewarded by it. Cost is not the best reason to use indirect consultant, but it is never the downside of the indirect consulting process.

Today’s suppliers of telecom and cloud services have come to embrace the indirect sales channel because of its propensity to create a “win-win” for all parties involved. It provides a more customized and less expensive solution to the potential customer while introducing new opportunities and reducing the cost of sales for the supplier.

If you would like to understand more about getting more and paying less contact us at:

Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131      jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net

www.twoearsonemouth.net

we listen first…

Security and Cloud

Security in the Cloud

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, Cloud Computing, data center, IT Security, protecting cloud resources

When cloud computing first gained acceptance and began to gain momentum in business IT security became a headwind holding it back from even greater acceptance. After all, the IT manager may have thought moving his/her data from the premises to an off-site location is sure to be risky. Similarly, they wondered how their data could be secure when they don’t own and manage the hardware it resides on or even know where it is. While these arguments seem logical, logic does not equal security. How the data is protected is far more important than where it is geographically speaking regarding security. Many times, the data center or cloud provider is better at laying the foundation for IT security than the IT leader of a business, but it is best when there is a team effort between the two.

Beginning with Compliance

Many businesses today are faced with the challenge of regulatory compliance in their IT services. Compliance is a complicated and tedious process that includes not only IT operations but virtually all aspects of the business. A regulated business needs to consider processes that affect the datacenter as well as other departments such as employee and visitor access to data, audits and reporting, and disaster recovery. These are functions that data center providers consider as a primary part of their business. These practices are defined by certifications, with today’s most common certification being Service Organization Controls or SOC. Today you will find most data center using SOC 2. SOC 2 is a set of standards the data center complies with and reports on to satisfy their customer requirements. The audits of SOC 2   will authenticate the data center is doing what it says it does regarding monitoring, alerts and physical security. When a business moves or migrates their IT infrastructure to a SOC 2 compliant datacenter they are assured to have met their compliance goals without managing the difficult process themselves.

Encryption, Cloud Securities Best Practice

Many of the most valued processes of IT security in whole hold true for a cloud and data center environment. No single exercise is as important as encrypting the vital data of the business. Encryption is one of the most effective data protection tools because it converts the data into a secret code that renders it useless without a key. The encryption software produces a key that must be used to unlock and read the data. Data can be encrypted at rest, as when it resides in storage in the datacenter or in transit between the datacenter and the data users. Data encryption in transit is typically created by an appliance that creates a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Encryption is a vital technology to secure data wherever the data resides, encrypting the data in transit is an additional layer of security that helps keep data secure as it moves on and off site.

The Future of Security in the Cloud

It is difficult to predict future trends across industries, but this exercise proves to be especially difficult in technology. To consider how security in the cloud will be handled in the future it is important to understand how the cloud itself with be evolving. In cloud technology, containers are the technology that is gaining acceptance and market share at the current time. Containers are similar to the virtual machines (VMs) of today’s infrastructure but are more independent and create an environment for the use of microservices. Microservices is a concept that a single application for a business should consist of many smaller services instead of one monolithic application. This allows for greater overall uptime as the entire application doesn’t need to be taken down due to a single service requiring maintenance or an update. The same benefit can be realized for security. However, microservices can create a very complicated “mesh” of services that will complicate all aspects of the infrastructure including security. To alleviate these complications for security there have been opensource software packages developed. One helpful opensource software package is Istio. Istio is an opensource package that allows the infrastructure manager to secure, connect and monitor microservices. Itsio can be implemented in a “side-car” deployment where it will secure services from outside the service or container. Today we often think of security services, such as anti-malware as another application running within the server or VM it is protecting. Software like Itsio makes security more of an integral part of the application as opposed to something added to a completed solution. Opensource services like Itsio are making complicated systems easier to manage. Containers and microservices are the strongest evolving trends for the cloud, so one should look to them for the future of security in the cloud.

With each change in technology, the landscape seems to get more complicated. Security can add to the complication; however, it can be simplified if it can be considered prior to the service being developed as opposed to after. The cloud computing industry is taking the lead in corporate IT infrastructure as well as the dual role of creating new ways to approach securing a business’s data.

If you would like to talk more about security in cloud strategies contact us at:

Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131      jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net

www.twoearsonemouth.net

we listen first…

What is the Difference Between a Direct and Indirect Channel?

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, Cloud and IT Consultants, Cloud Computing

It’s not just a transaction, it’s a relationship

In my 25-year career in consulting and selling IT solutions most of my time has been as a direct employee of a company. As a direct employee and sales consultant, I received healthcare benefits as well as a salary complemented by commissions or bonuses. My product focus was simply what my company offered, and I would tailor that offering to fit the customer’s needs. There were occasions when I had to take the opposite approach due to the limitations of my company or an offering. I needed to tailor my customer’s needs to my solution. Recently I’ve changed to the indirect channel with an independent organization that allows for many suppliers and their vast array of solutions.

Most IT and telecommunications suppliers utilize both direct and indirect channels. Some, I have found don’t manage this well, which results in channel conflicts. A channel conflict is when a direct and an indirect consultant compete against each other for the same customer. Many times, they are proposing the exact same solution. This situation leaves only two differentiating factors for the customer, relationship, and price. When there is no clear relationship advantage for either consultant then the supplier will be under pressure to lower their price. In this scenario the supplier reduces their margins due to the conflict

This has caused most suppliers to create strict rules of engagement with their channel partners. Like the technologies these suppliers provide, some suppliers manage the channel better than others. In future articles, I will detail some of the suppliers I have had experiences with and how they have dealt with or avoided channel conflict.        

My experience in both channels has found the indirect channel to provide the best alternatives and solutions for the customer. To follow are the three primary characteristics of an indirect consultant that create their competitive advantage.

Better overall industry and solutions knowledge

When I first left the world of the direct consultation and sales channel I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to stay abreast of current technology and trends. After all, the company I worked for had provided all my “training” to this point. I soon discovered my concern was unfounded and the exact opposite was true. What I have discovered as being an independent consultant is that there is an abundance of information available today to all that take the time to seek it. Each supplier I partner with has their own product training and information available, as well as general industry information, to keep their representatives current.

My initial concerns have also led me to seek out and find an unbelievable amount of unbiased technical information available on the web and certain podcasts. I now listen to my favorite “cloud-computing” podcast at the gym in lieu of music. I receive an hour of high quality, technical and current information on cloud computing every day. What I initially perceived as a shortfall of the indirect model has turned into an advantage.

An unbiased approach to customer challenges and solutions

When the consulting partner you’re working with has a greater knowledge and expertise, coupled with larger solution sets to choose from you are with the right partner. Almost every provider I am aware of in telecommunications and IT utilizes the indirect channel. They embrace it due to its lower cost and increased flexibility in their consulting and sales teams. Many suppliers align with “master agents” allowing the indirect consultants to work with many suppliers and only one partnering agreement with the master agent. If an indirect consultant discovers a solution provider that is not aligned with their master agent most times they can engage directly with that provider to establish a relationship.

Compensation models for direct vs. indirect

I am usually not comfortable talking about compensation; I would not consider bringing it up as an advantage for the consultant. However, the typical indirect consultant compensation plan benefits the customer. That is, if the customer is looking for a long-term relationship. The standard compensation plan for the direct employee is based on a one-time commission or bonus for bringing a new customer to the business. This creates an incentive to move on and find the next prospect, not to build the relationship with that client. Compensation plans for indirect, or independent consultants, are paid as a small percentage of the monthly recurring revenue (MRC) created by bringing the new business to the provider. These payments are in the form of residuals that continue as long as that customer stays with that provider. From the inception of the agreement this incentivizes the consultant to stay in close contact with the customer and assure their satisfaction level stays high. For this reason, the independent consultant tends to provide a better level of service that is more consistent to the customer.

There are several different ways to find the right partner to lead you through the process of making the right decisions for your IT infrastructure. Most companies will choose to work with a consultant that in unbiased for providers, has a deep industry knowledge and is incentivized to stand behind the solution for the long run. The describes the indirect consultant like Two Ears One Mouth IT Consulting.

the indirect sales channel works better
The indirect channel wins…for you!

If you would like to talk more about how the channel does or does not work contact us at:

Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131      jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net

www.twoearsonemouth.net

we listen first…

Mentoring in Business

by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices
Mentorimage courtesy of indianceo.in

I have always valued the act of mentoring and believed it has an important role in business, particularly in the business of technology. Recently I was listening to a business podcast on the subject and it inspired me to write about it. I have always used mentors and I currently have three in my life; in addition, I also am a mentor. (see https://twoearsonemouth.net/2017/10/05/i-found-giving-back-can-provide-you-more) Mentoring is not binary, I believe you can and should be both a teacher and a student in this process. I also believe that a common practice can be developed across all of IT that will benefit the industry and its customers.

I remember the impact of my first business mentor. Early in my sales career, I was insecure and concerned that I didn’t know everything about the technical product I was selling. When I told my boss and mentor about how I felt he responded with the simple affirmation, “you know much more about the technology than your prospect does.” It reassured me, and it has helped me throughout my career as I have had similar insecurities. I think this anecdote is relevant to the act of mentorship, you don’t have to be an expert, just know something of what you teach. However, mentoring is business is more than teaching about technology. It needs to be a defined process that the student understands from the beginning. It should include not only instruction on technology but additionally information of the culture and the politics of the organization where they work. Instructions on how to act and work within the bureaucracy and processes of the company are vital. This type of information can’t be taught in school and eliminates hours of wasted time for the new employee to figure out these details for themselves.

Many believe that a large part of today’s IT careers is a trade rather than a science, not requiring a college education. IT jobs often depend on certifications (certs) that are developed and maintained primarily by the largest IT vendors like Microsoft and Cisco. These certs are developed around new and developing technologies, ignoring some of the more fundamental technologies. Many newcomers to the technology workforce want careers in software development, creating applications such as those that run on their smartphones. IT infrastructure, my focus of expertise, and a far less sexy technology is still required to support these applications. Infrastructure is an example of a technology that may be best passed down through mentorship.

If an (IT) community-based mentorship program can be developed in technology, it could eliminate the challenges of the large vendors running the IT education process. Ideally, a system could be developed such as was utilized for centuries, the concept of a master and an apprentice. Masters, or experts in a trade, were paid to pass their knowledge on to the younger apprentice. For this process to succeed it needs to be started and supported by the hiring companies within IT. Established employees should be compensated for mentoring and expected to teach new employees the many aspects of their job. As these programs become more widespread, an education process for the trade of IT can be developed and maintained where it should be, the IT community.

Mentorship is an art that has been looked over because of today’s requirements and expectations of a college education. I believe mentoring has tremendous benefits and will produce a better and more rounded education for new entrants to the field of IT.