Is the cloud really a silver bullet solution when it comes to IT Service and Security?

We all know that organisations who have embraced the move to the cloud can put their feet up and never worry about IT service and security again, right? Well, not quite. All IT Managers need consistent proof that the virtual lights are green and that their data (and their budget) are not being attacked somewhere out there in ‘cloud land’.

Transitioning SMB’s to the cloud across ANZ, we see a range of issues. The most prevalent of these are:

The demand for ‘always on’ services – one of the fundamental expectations of cloud services is that the service is available from anywhere and at any time
The demand for modern-day tools to be used in business – BYOD strategies incorporating a variety of endpoints and users
Managing the infamous Millennials – short-term employment patterns with little loyalty – demanding quick set-up and shut down and protection of corporate data and IP

And then we have the NBN. More bandwidth for the same price, but have you checked the availability? One of our clients watched their revenue go down the ditch as their Telco provider dug up the cable in their street. Another was unable to conduct their retail business for days because the ISP service was flaky.

What our clients need is a simple, cost effective solution that can:

Analyse the performance of networks and leverage mature, easy to read dashboards
Benefit from cheaper, bigger internet services for business as usual, while ensuring that business risk is manageable through modern-day essentials – 4G data and cloud.
Monitor staff behaviour and manage accordingly
Protect IP and data through robust corporate / BYOD and guest access controls that can be easily administered

Is there such a solution?

Cisco Meraki has enabled our clients to quickly embrace the benefits of SD-WAN.

The Meraki cloud-based administration portal
The richness of information, simply and clearly presented (no need for IT for Dummies here)
Increase availability without fixed cost increase – Internet overflow to 4G backup (leveraging corporate mobile data plan)
Reduce costs (at the same time as increasing bandwidth) by moving from point to point dedicated links in addition to Internet and Telephony links, to Internet-only access at all sites
Increase availability by including Internet overflow with 4G backup (leveraging corporate mobile data plan)
Increase security by removing discrete sites specific firewalls
Introduce greater visibility of Wifi and network usage, with access to centralised cloud-based management console
Increase security by adding Corporate, BYOD and Guest Wifi segmentation
Migration of applications to secure “Five 9’s availability” data centre(Equinix) or public cloud (Azure)
Migration of email to cloud-based with inherent security and archive (Office365)
Backup (optional) of emails and servers off-site