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Moving Seasonal Businesses to the Cloud – Case Study

Lillian White was a florist but not the usual type – she sold flowers through the internet. Hers was a budding enterprise which she wanted to expand. There were a few thorns in her bouquet though. Lillian had to maintain a hundred odd online servers through the year though her business flourished only seasonally, peaking during the Valentine’s Day. New Year was always hectic, with lots of orders flowering during the season. The problem lay in paying for a hundred servers for the year though she hardly utilized their capacity. However, during the season all the servers were loaded to the gills.

Fluctuating traffic and cloud computing

Ms. White had heard of cloud computing and how she could save on her server costs with this technology. The problem of seasonal demand could be nicely handled with cloud infrastructure. She was not technically savvy and therefore opted for a small cloud service vendor who would help her find the way around. This was very important for her because her server administrator was too much of a geek and could never explain the working of the servers to her. Moreover, the technical staff cost a bomb. Lillian was surprised to learn that it was quite simple to use the control panel provided by the cloud service provider. Things which she could not understand, like load balancing and round robin, were taken care of by the vendor. Obviously she paid for the services but they were a pittance compared to the money she paid for traditional servers.

Choosing the right time to migrate

Lillian could play around with the online infrastructure since the cloud vendor provided the services   free for a month. There was another advantage to cloud technology: Her staff maintained different servers for production and testing. They had to dedicate several servers for testing purposes and since testing was a sporadic activity, these servers remained idle for long periods of time. With cloud infrastructure, they could set up a test server in a couple of minutes, do their testing and release the server instances once they were done with it. This saved her a bunch of cash.

Lillian finally decided to switch over, in the month of August – a lean period for her business. Things went smoothly and she was poised to changeover completely by October. She decided to keep her emails on traditional servers since the load was constant throughout the year. She also kept her finance and accounting work on the same server. She still had some doubts about the security aspects of cloud technology.

Bouquet of services

From one hundred odd servers deployed through the year, Lillian brought down the count to twenty. During the peak season, she pressed over a hundred server instances into service. This arrangement saved her over $100,000 per year – a lot of money. Lillian found that playing around with server configurations was fun and did not need in-depth knowledge. It was indeed as colorful an experience as her flower business.

There are other seasonal businesses like Lillian White’s which can easily take advantage of cloud technology. Small businesses think that cloud technology is only for big players. This is a huge misconception. In fact, cloud infrastructure is tailor-made for small entities that have meager resources. Cloud infrastructure is flexible, easy to deploy and cost effective. For more on the advantages of cloud computing, visit GMO Cloud’s cloud hosting page.

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About the Guest Author:

Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.

E-Commerce Venture and Cloud Technology – Part 2

It’s easy to talk about cloud technology and the benefits you can enjoy, but when it comes to actual implementation, people like John have a tough time. Moving to the cloud from traditional infrastructure is like moving shop from one part of the city to another. Businessmen don’t like to take risks with their established businesses. John was even ready to shell out a few thousand extra dollars if he could somehow ensure that his business won’t suffer while migrating to the cloud.

Big vs small cloud players

It’s the stability and reputation factor which made John look at some established players in cloud technology. One established brand offered the stability of a known entity but there was one problem – this provider focused on exclusive and licensed technology and his technology consultant had cautioned that he would be stuck with a limited suite of tools. This meant that he could not move to open source software in future, if he wanted to do so.

He then looked at another option closely. Here he had a bouquet of services which he could choose from. The control panel was user friendly and there was sufficient flexibility in utilization of resources. Here again, he was told that if he was looking for some hand-holding, this was an unlikely place. Big players depend on automation and their help desk is only for solving routine queries. At the same time, smaller cloud providers provided tailor made services. Though the cost was a bit higher than the big players, John was ready to pay more if he was getting personalized service.

Reliability was the only factor which seemed to bother John. What if the small cloud provider decided to close shop one fine day, leaving John’s business in a lurch? John Grope was advised to carry out sufficient research before settling for a cloud service provider. It’s important to find out whether a cloud provider has his own infrastructure or they are only franchisees of some others. A cloud provider with their own infrastructure means they are serious about their business. Moreover, they can offer a variety of services and be flexible. The decision on choosing a cloud provider was proving to be more complex than John had thought.

Moving legacy software to the cloud

John had built up his business over a period of time. When he had started his e-commerce business, internet technology was still in its infancy. The programmers who had made the initial code were into Perl and related scripts. Due to this reason, his -commerce platform was built on several bits of scripts and programs. Actually, no one really understood how the different pieces worked together. John suspected that there was a lot of waste and useless code running on his systems. John considered shifting to LAMP – Linux, Apache, MySql and PHP suite giving up his old rickety software which had become difficult to maintain and upgrade. Cloud technology provided a great incentive for this move. Moreover he could use ready, off the shelf utilities for his shopping cart and payment gateway, making things simpler.

Migration headaches

John decided to err on the side of caution. He chose a small cloud provider who could hold his hand during the migration process and continue to provide personalized assistance thereafter. Moreover, he decided to keep his old system going until he had thoroughly tested the new platform. John also decided to carry out the migration process in the month of August/ September which was his lean period. John commissioned a pilot project which worked in parallel with his established server setup. After testing for a good three months, John was ready to shut down his old infrastructure. The move not only helped John to reduce the overall cost of infrastructure, but it also improved efficiency, speed of access and made his e-commerce site more user friendly.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.

E-commerce Venture and Cloud Technology – A Case Study

John Grope, a veteran in e-commerce was running a profitable online venture selling women’s clothing. However, he faced fierce competition from others. It was imperative that he reduce expenses and work with razor thin margins. John had heard of cloud technology from other sources. Though he was skeptical about venturing into new technology, he had no option but to have a closer look at the cloud.

The process of discovery

John Grope was a firm believer in the process of discovery. Though not a technical man himself, he appreciated the nuances of technology well – at least to the extent which affected his business. He also believed that automating processes can considerably reduce manpower requirements and lead to savings.

Automating online server administration

John could easily grasp the advantage of cloud technology as far as automating online server administration was concerned. Obviously, there are different ways in which cloud service providers present their management suite. But overall, the control panel provided by them could be managed by a junior technical staff.

Presently, John had employed four technical staff to oversee the server infrastructure. Managing fifty traditional online dedicated servers needed a senior server administrator and three junior hands for round-the-clock monitoring of server health. The risk of operating with only a single junior staff was unacceptable to John. Last year, just before Christmas, his peak sales period, his online servers had crashed leading to a loss of over ten million dollars in business, which he could ill afford.

The senior server administrator not only looked after the servers but also offered advice on increasing or decreasing number of servers and capacity. John also realized that servers came in different flavors and there was no standardization.  Managing online infrastructure seemed more like a  crazy art than technology.

John was told that cloud technology offered a solution to all his problems. The server instances were standardized and even John could understand the standard configurations. The control panel could be handled by a junior staff since issues like DNS, round robin and addition/ reduction in capacity could be automatically handled without human intervention. Managing four technical staff meant that they needed back-end support for preparing salary statements, accounting, taxes and meeting government statutory requirements. Cost could certainly be slashed if he opted for a cloud offering. On a yearly basis, John calculated that he could save over two million dollars.

Scalability advantage

John Grope knew very well that his was a cyclical business. Sales and profits bulged during Christmas, New Year and Valentines, while it lay supine during other times in the year. This situation created a piquant state of affairs. While his online business could normally make do with only a handful of servers, the time between December and February required more than fifty traditional servers. Scaling up meant paying for additional servers. John could never understand why they required fifty servers and why not forty or thirty. His senior server administrator advised him to err on the side of safety. John believed in the policy of ‘Better safe than sorry’. With his experience he knew that cutting corners could cost him his business.

Load balancing, DNS configuration, capacity of servers and equally complex jargon left him confused. Cloud technology seemed to offer a neat solution.

John also had to figure out how to migrate safety to a cloud environment. Should he go for hybrid configuration? Should John opt for a big cloud service provider like AWS and Microsoft Azure or go for a small provider who will hold his hand while traversing the last mile? I will discuss these important issues in my next post.

Meanwhile, to further understand the dynamics of high availability and scalability, you may refer to GMO Cloud’s high availability page.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.

Eight Scenarios Surrounding the Effective Use of Cloud Technology

Cloud technology is a powerful tool which has empowered different enterprises and businesses. Each and every business entity is unique with distinctive requirements. The cloud has a robust set of features which meet the demands of different people and enterprises. Here is a list of eight situations which explore the diverse and extensive capabilities of cloud technology.

E-commerce venture

An e-commerce venture will only be successful if the customers experience a flawless and smooth shopping experience. This means faster downloads, well-integrated payment gateway, a secure and safe environment. There is also a need to cater for an extensive database which connects well with the front end. All these requirements can be effectively met with cloud infrastructure.

Seasonal businesses

There are several seasonal businesses, which are operational only for a few months in a year. For example, a mango seller from India would need to have web access for the months of March to August. A Halloween mask provider from US will only do brisk business during Halloween. These seasonal businesses do not require a huge infrastructure at all times in a year. Such businesses must make use of the scalability features of cloud technology.

Established entities

There are many traditional businesses which have a robust online infrastructure in place. Do these entities need to migrate to the cloud? The decision depends on many factors. One organization may wish to shift all its email functions to the cloud. Another may prefer taking a cautious approach and move to the cloud in a phased manner, while some may decide to give the cloud a miss.

Start-ups and entrepreneurs

Start-ups and entrepreneurs have their own problem sets to deal with. First off, a start-up venture requires funding. Venture capital firms, typically, don’t want to be burdened with capital equipment. They would rather prefer to fund entrepreneurs who are agile and quick on their feet. Moreover, start-ups cannot afford to pay huge salaries to their technical staff. Cloud technology provides a good fit for these businesses.

Technology companies

The proliferation of SaaS has willy-nilly compelled technology firms to migrate to the cloud. Products are fast becoming services and the best way to provide these is the cloud. Flexibility in operating environment, a mix of various resources and software, and an easily managed back end are some reasons why technology companies must tag the cloud.

Social media ventures

Who doesn’t want to be the next Facebook? Or Twitter for that matter. The problem is that for every successful Facebook, there are a thousand failures. Setting up infrastructure for such nebulous entities is suicidal. Scaling up with demand and making payment on actual usage, is the only way ahead for these companies. Moreover, social media engagements can take up quite a bit of server space. Here, again, cloud can come to the rescue.

Music and Video download ventures

There is an eclectic mix of entities who are dabbling with music and video downloads. They may not be as mammoth as YouTube, but they gobble up large amounts of resources. Speedy downloads, streaming capability, flexible payment gateways, need for security and hack-free environment can only be supported by cloud technology.

Gaming portal

A gaming portal is not all fun and games. There may be a need a scale up to gargantuan size when you are dealing with multiplayer, geographically dispersed, graphic-intensive environment. These specific requirements are difficult to manage. How does cloud technology stand up to this demanding environment?

Conclusion

All these eight scenarios are playing out endlessly everywhere on the internet. Entrepreneurs, seasoned business owners and thousands of college students are mulling over the cloud conundrum. To clear the air, I will take each of these eight scenarios in the form of case studies in my coming posts.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.

A Walk in the Clouds: Does it Make Business Sense?

It’s not always so obvious whether or not a business should really embracing cloud computing. In an effort to make things a little more clear, here are some likely scenarios where a walk in the cloud might be favorable.

Is your core business related to IT?

If you are in the information technology business, the cloud is not only imperative but unavoidable. If you are in the infrastructure side of the business, the future lies in the cloud. If you are other IT services side of the business, you still cannot avoid it. You should understand the technology, because it’s not unlikely that your clients will demand some flavor of cloud sooner or later. This experience will put you in good stead when you want to implement your software, application or utility in a cloud environment.

There is another scenario which is likely to play out in the near future. Most desktop software, previously sold as products, will soon be offered as services. SaaS or Software as a service, is the future of IT. It’s interesting to note that 33% of office suites will migrate to the cloud by 2016. This is a definite trend and not a passing fancy. Cloud technology and SaaS are made for each other. IT companies have to understand both if they want to move into the next phase of technology.

Is your business unrelated to technology?

Practically every business today is in some way related to technology. Maybe it’s the pharmaceutical business or auto manufacturing, you are still dependent on technology. Terms like ERP, SCM, BI, and big data have overwhelmed all businesses. Today a non-IT organization may not feel the need to use cloud computing, but their accountants and finance folks might be in need of a change. Cost cutting across this spectrum of activities means finding new ways to optimize and save.

Cloud computing offers a real alternative to traditional infrastructure in terms of saving money. One example is the pay-per-use model wherein the company is only charged for resources that it actually uses. This means that they get to maximize their expenditure. See GMO Cloud’s pricing which reflects this type of model. This factor alone will compel organizations to move to the cloud.

Conclusion

All businesses, whether IT related or otherwise, must explore the possibility of migrating to the cloud. The quicker they accept this change, the better it’s going to be for them. Cloud technology is a reality, one that holds great opportunities for all businesses.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.