Today we're starting a new series where we are posting some of newest pages from our updated web site, www.berkeleylogic.com.

To kick it off, here's a very timely subject: Cloud Computing. -- Vern Keenan

Cloud System Integration

The Cloud refers to any Internet-based service that performs a business or personal information function. Yahoo Mail and Hotmail were among the first cloud-based services introduced in late 1990's.

Today you can use the Internet to run practically your whole business with services ranging from Box for file sharing to Salesforce.com for a sophisticated customer relationship management system.

Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Windows Azure has taken it a step farther by offering pure-platform solutions. Today it is possible to have a new Windows or Linux server up and running on the Internet in less than 10 minutes. With this type of service, one may run any type of application. The only bottleneck will be the speed of your Internet connection.

Small enterprises have mixed feelings about the cloud. On the one hand, it's great to not buy servers and other computer gear for the office. On the other hand, one can worry about the security and performance of data stored on someone else's server.

The reality is that a hybrid system of having some of your data stored in a server in the office, and other data stored in the cloud is the best solution. Berkeley Logic helps you evaluate available cloud-based services and create a hybrid environment tailored to your requirements.

Berkeley Logic integrates the business operations of our customers into the cloud in several key areas of technology.

• Email Migration. As a partner with Google Apps and Microsoft's Office 365, Berkeley Logic helps customers find the best way to move from an in-house email server to a hosted service. Every migration is different, and they vary according to usage patterns.
• Advanced Cloud Backup. Keeping backups at an offsite, professionally-managed data center is becoming the norm in IT best practices. Berkeley Logic works with your existing IT infrastructure to install automatic and continuous backup mechanisms. Plus, we can help you re-architect your existing server setup into a Storage Area Network (SAN) that integrates with advanced backup tools like the Amazon AWS Storage Gateway.
• New Application Deployment. Berkeley Logic can help you create a private cloud that makes your proprietary applications more usable, scalable and safe. When you buy a software product from a vendor who doesn't have a hosted version, Berkeley Logic can use Amazon AWS or Microsoft Windows Azure as a platform for your new software instead of buying a new sever.
• Application Migration. If you have Windows or UNIX applications running in a server you own, you may avoid upgrading that server by migrating the applications to the cloud. Berkeley Logic can take those applications and move them to the cloud, and ensure that all your users still have the same functionality they had before.

If you're thinking about making the leap to cloud computing then give Berkeley Logic a call at 510-228-4500 for a free consultation on what combination of on-premises and cloud-based services would work best for you.

Gaining Productivity In Your Business With Information Technology

By Vernon Keenan
August 17, 2010

Let's face it, the economy is still miserable and many small business owners are struggling. While the Bay Area may not have been hit as hard as other parts of California, we are still trying to claw our way out of a hole dug by unemployment rates over 11%.

With this kind of uncertainty, business owners are reluctant to hire new employees even when faced with increased demand. Fortunately, when applied correctly Information Technology (IT) improves worker productivity, helping to stave off the need for new employees.

Top Small Business Productivity Boosters

1. Break out of Email Jail with cloud-based services. If you still download your email to a desktop program like Outlook or Thunderbird, and you cannot view those emails when accessing your web mail, then you are trapped in email jail. Consider switching to a service like Gmail where all of your mail is stored online. You can continue to use Outlook to work with your mail, the only difference that your mail is now stored safely online.
2. Use email instead of fax or letters. Have you ever wished you could simply email a document to someone instead of faxing it or stuffing it in an envelope? You can do it if you have a PDF print driver installed in your computer. With a free tool like PDFCreator anything that prints can be sent as a PDF document. Other tools like Adobe Acrobat or Nitro PDF allows you to create PDF forms that are filled out by your customer and emailed back to you.
3. Upgrade or replace computers. Don’t let frugality in computer buying impact your customer service. Focus on computers that support “customer-facing activities” like a cashier, service ticket writer, or customer service agent. A new computer increases worker productivity, especially if the old computer has been in service for five or more years. Replace customer-facing workstations first and then delay upgrades for back office workers. 
4. Use business-class printers. Nothing ruins a day more than a dead printer, especially when that printer works as your cash register receipt printer. Replace inkjet printers with higher-end laser models that include onsite warranties. Focus on those printers used for customer service to shave seconds off of customer waiting times. Always use original equipment manufacturer toner supplies to avoid glitches from remanufactured cartridges.
5. Make better use of your smartphone. There are several ways to make that iPhone or Android device an even more useful part of your business life. Start with synchronizing your calendar and address books. Learn how to use financial services apps to keep up with your banking and credit card activity. You can even use your smartphone for remote access to your work computer.
6. Use your web site to communicate with your customers. Do you still have a form on your web site that people fill out and fax back to you? Does your “Contact Us” page have a spam-proof form where people can reliably get in touch with you? Do you service customers calling in to check the status of their order? Consider using secure web forms to collect and store customer information. Web forms collect legible order information, validate and process credit card orders, and give your customers ways to perform self-service when making order inquiries.
7. Access your work computer from home or the road. Think of all the times you had to go into the office to retrieve some information you left on your work computer. Or, when you are traveling and play "blind man's bluff" with someone in the office to look up information for you. Remote access solutions range from a monthly service like GotoMyPC, configuring a router, or setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

I hope these Berkeley Logic tips for small business productivity help you make more with less. Please allow me to invite you to give us a call in case you need some assistance putting these ideas into action. Or, you might be interested in trying some of these ideas on your own. In any case, best wishes in your business ventures.

Web 2.0 Conference Notes From The Field

Went to the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco. It was a small show but it had some of the fun elements I look for in a high-tech trade show. There were plenty of companies I had never heard of, and no one could explain what "Web 2.0" means.

According to what I saw on the exhibit floor, Web 2.0 is either Enterprise Social Networking, Web Applications like Google Apps or "Platform As A Service" (PaaS). These are really three completely different things; it looks like the Web 2.0 moniker will have to live with this fractured definition, probably until the term becomes old hat.

Enterprise Social Networking seems to be MySpace for companies. I see FaceBook filling this market niche already, but there are a whole bunch of little startups who are making software or services that will outfit a big enterprise with a private version of MySpace. Related to these companies are the enterprise wiki companies all doing products like Google Sites.

There were plenty of web application companies on the show floor too. Again, Google is doing this with Google Apps. Honestly, I'm not quite ready to drink the web application koolaid quite yet. I still need the richness of an application like Microsoft Word to produce printed documents. But, given the size of the market represented by Microsoft Office I am sure it will only be a matter of time utill the quality of the applications, offline capabilities, and really useful groupware functions will drive a significant part of the market to web applications.

I suppose if I had to pick my personal favorite definition for Web 2.0, it would be Platform as a Service. I think this is the most important trend identified at the conference, because it represents the largest potential stake of the future of technology.

It doesn't take much to realize that what Platform as a Service represents could be as significant as Windows OS or the TCP/IP protocol stack. And the key to it is developers. As this idea begins to catch on, more big applications like salesforce.com will be deployed using a particular PaaS provider's APIs and other programming tools. Salesforce.com realizes this and they have been courting developers right from the beginning to get them to use Force.com as a programming platform.

There were plenty of other big players at the Web 2.0 show to court developers with their PaaS offerings, including Microsoft, Amazon.com, Entelos, and Yahoo. I suppose the real question here is whether any of them will be able to catch up with salesforce.com's tremendous lead. Experience shows that betting against the leader in high-tech marketing is usually a bad idea, so let's all start learning the force.com platform.