This is a question that comes up a fair bit, with security around cloud applications raising questions inside most companies today as more and more companies place information on the cloud what will you do?
Most of us, some unknowingly, are using cloud applications, business solutions in the cloud and personal solutions in the cloud, Facebook, Salesforce, Google Apps, Linked In, Xero. The list goes on. The question many people ask is not so much around will my data be safe but where will my data be stored. Google Apps for example is not hosted in Australia the closest data centre for Australia is in Singapore yet millions of Australians use Google Apps every day meaning your data is off shore.
Big business is embracing the cloud
I just read recently QANTAS CIO Luc Hennekens gave the thumbs up to some trials completed by QANTAS with several cloud solution scenarios over the past 18 months. the article said….Qantas chief information officer Luc Hennekens has laid the foundations to shift many of the airline’s IT workloads to public cloud services, after being impressed with the results of three proof of concept trials. “The reality of cloud computing has taken over the initial hype,” Hennekens told iTnews. “We’ve been talking about this for a decade but we are the point that it is working. The technology is not a bottleneck any more. It’s tangible. It’s very rich, it is at a great cost point and there is sufficient expertise in the market.”
Should you use a cloud Visitor Management System or an internal Visit Management system?
Some applications could work equally well on cloud or on your own servers, the 2 key issues with data on your own servers is scalability and cost. As soon as you want to scale the cost goes through the roof on in house systems. Go forward to a cloud solution and you can scale at a very low cost. Imagine trying today to implement a CRM like Salesforce across 100 locations and 5000 users with traditional systems from the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s….we all know the cost will blow out into the millions because this is what this type of implementation would have cost. Not only would the implementation cost millions it would also take years to implement.
What if your Visitor Management System was installed on your servers in your building?
Hosting Visitor and evacuation management software inside the building puts the data at risk in the event of an emergency. As soon as an emergency takes place in your building you may find you cannot access the data for the evacuation procedures. Visitor Management in the cloud really lends itself to making all of the information available in the event of an evacuation from any smart device with a user name and password from anywhere in the world.
Where do our Visitor Management System customers have their data stored?
We host Australian customers on Australian servers, USA customers are hosted on USA servers, Canadian customers are on Canadian servers, UK customers are on UK servers and so on.
What cloud products do you use in your business?