clare computer solutions Office 365 cloud migration

Reasons Why You Should Have Already Migrated to Office 365

/in , , /by

Enterprise IT has remained much the same although with incredible innovation, and invention, to improve on what has been made readily available to smaller organizations. Sadly, lots continue using outdated technology, underpinning the platforms and solutions that have been implemented to improve your experiences with technology. Businesses presume current platforms are good enough, staff must know how to accomplish their work. Although clunky at times, businesses no longer feel the need to change if it isn’t broken. One of the largest misconceptions is that, migrations will always be a struggle – but we both know that’s not the case.

In some cases, sticking with legacy platforms mean you’ll receive less and less support over time, eventually having to play catch-up with technology at some point. Nowadays experts like us provide businesses more productivity than ever. Utilizing the common business applications, your team has grown to love.

Office 365 has more teamwork and collaboration environments, changing the way businesses work. We’ve put together a list of top reasons moving to Office 365 for collaboration and teamwork will supercharge your teams.

Read more

cloud computing

A Look Back in Time: The Cloud in Review

/in , , , /by

For years you’ve heard how the cloud is coming to save you, and how the landscape is demanding hybrid & private clouds more than ever. It’s time we take another look at cloud computing for businesses, and where the landscape is in comparison to when I originally published this article in 2017. See how private […]

Read more

The 12 Tricks to You Succeeding in Managing Office 365

/in , , /by

Although it’s never recommended, some local businesses have taken their chances at managing and manipulating Office 365 configurations. With so much knowledge needed before making any moves, most of the time we only hear the horror stories from how things went from bad to worse. When it comes down to Office 365 management for your business, you need someone with a proven track record of knowing how to monitor, manage and grow your Office 365 tenant effective, this includes not OVER sizing/charging.

If you’re serious about managing more seats and growing your business, the time spent can quickly add up. Luckily for you, with a time-tested procedure, your business can take the pain out of managing mutilate Office 365 tenants or sites. I would not advise anyone, without expert knowledge of these products to tinker with the settings, so our team has pulled together a list of the 12 tricks to you succeeding in managing Office 365. Read more

The Benefits of Using Assessments like Azure HealthCheck

/in , , /by

Assess physical and virtual infrastructure, provide in-depth reporting, make informed decisions on costs, and plan smooth cloud migrations. Expand your efficiency and effectiveness around the fastest-growing cloud platform, Microsoft Azure. It can be hard to know where to begin the conversation— especially if your organization doesn’t have deep experience in infrastructure.

Thorough Reporting

Our pre-migration assessment, also known as “Azure HealthCheck,” provides the data needed, to illustrate the true ROI of the cloud, building a migration plan with the corresponding workloads, and consumption. Explore the immediate advantages of Azure with consumption-based models, flat-rate billing, and regional data centers, allowing businesses a better cloud experience than ever before.

Collecting workload and usage data over the course of 14 days, to identify trends and patterns that allow for the accurate sizing of your network including, drives, computing power, processing speeds, and storage. Identifying virtual and physical server dependencies, workloads, architecture and shadow IT.

Detailed Cost-Analysis

Tracking maximum, minimum, and average workloads to accurately project the total cost of ownership in the cloud. Adjust data center regions, and capacity planning tools to make sure, your business-line applications have everything it needs before taking off to the cloud.

Planning Tools

Optimize configurations based on performance needs, NOT matching them to existing hardware, to show best and worst-case scenarios. Explore multiple configuration mappings for migration strategy plans, choosing optimal migration settings and firewall rules to prepare for a smooth transition.

How It Works

Step #1: Scan
We deploy BitTitan agents for Azure in the provided environment, scanning and collecting detailed information about each physical and virtual machine, and any additional nodes on your network.

Step #2: Report 
See live costs for moving to Azure by measuring Infrastructure-as-a-Service(IaaS) or active workloads. Providing businesses with access to detailed reports about individual nodes, processing time, memory/app usage, disk mapping, network usage, ingress/egress speeds and active ports.

Step #3: Plan
Find dependencies between nodes and applications, learning the cloud readiness of each node, optimal migration settings, and network recommendations -planning your move to the cloud has never been easier.

 

Get started with our Azure HealthCheck Assessment for on-premise and virtualized networks

Learn more at www.clarecomputer.com/azure-healthcheck

 

How Hybrid Cloud Computing Has Taken the Market by Storm

/in , /by

If you’re still viewing the hybrid cloud as something outside of your IT strategy, or adoption plan, it’s time to change your thinking. In a recent study conducted by Cisco, and several other partners. The report uncovered, of the IT departments surveyed, 65% hope to prioritize the cloud as we begin 2018. This was a shocking number to most, as hybrid clouds have been around for some time.

Hybrid Cloud Wants vs Needs

The hybrid cloud has become a critical component of companies’ efforts in moving towards a “digital transformation.” Regardless of business size, technology leaders in your business need to begin weighing their options when it comes to on-premise infrastructure and cloud platforms.

For most, cloud platforms were enterprise-class in all respects and should encompass Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform (PaaS), and Infrastructure (IaaS), with a high level of integration between them all. Many believe hybrid cloud solutions using public and private platforms offer the greatest benefits and commonality with on-premises infrastructure. Enabling your business to move workloads once stuck on-premise between private and public clouds.

That’s a serious list of requirements – thankfully, cloud providers are already moving in this direction. With Microsoft offering Azure, Microsoft 365, and a hybrid-stack for those with AWS. It’s no wonder they have taken off as the cloud leader. With Azure recently boasting several SQL Server enhancements, including in-memory support and the ability to move SQL Server applications to the cloud for seamless hybrid cloud use.

What Does It Mean for Business Owners?

With a growing list of cloud vendors in the market, we have already begun seeing solutions that over-promise, and under-deliver. Many are still skeptical of the cloud, having given Azure’s Active Directory a try. Using the security management of Azure and Microsoft, businesses can secure the identity of employees, their access, and some minor support. Encouraging the adoption of the hybrid cloud and safer computing networks.

With these innovations in cloud computing, you get vast transformative capabilities. With scalable platforms that enable you to deploy new applications, augment resources, and move apps between clouds. It’s these tools we see as the first steps in workload and process automation. It’s time your information technology began working for you – if poised correctly, the hybrid cloud can be the answer to the technology innovation your business has been lacking.

Clare Computer Solutions has provided the SF Bay Area with IT support and consulting services for over three decades. Realize the power of your technology today – Contact us to begin using the cloud to answer some of your largest technology questions.