Eclipse IT, Inc. Blog

Business technology can often put business owners in a tough spot. There are dozens of options out there in terms of hardware and software alike, each promising earth-shattering changes… many with an equally earth-shattering price tag.

This presents a significant dilemma for business owners. While the goal is to innovate and empower their teams, it can seem like many of these tools are simply not worth the investment, but at the same time, denying access feels like denying innovation.

The solution to this dilemma, however, is fortunately simple: leaning on data to inform your decisions and enable yourself to say the dreaded two-letter word: “no.”

Some surprises can be lots of fun. That said, any surprise impacts to your business’ IT won’t be.

Whether a server crashes, your wireless connectivity goes kaput, or you’re suddenly dealing with a security threat, the outcome is likely the same: the problem is fixed, but the invoice delivered to you a week or so later introduces a brand-new issue… the bill.

Nowadays, there is no reason for this little scenario to happen. Instead, your IT can be treated as a predictable utility cost without any dramatic surprises to throw off your plans.

How many duties and responsibilities fall on you as a business owner? More often than not, you’ll find yourself wearing multiple hats, picking up the slack where you can because you just don’t have the time or the resources to hire staff for certain specialized tasks. Unfortunately, IT maintenance and management is one such role that falls to the wayside all too often—but it doesn’t have to.

Cloud computing has altered how businesses operate forever and it’s because it brings unprecedented levels of flexibility and efficiency. One of its most compelling features is its scalability, the ability to easily handle a growing amount of work by adding or removing resources as needed.

The cloud has proven to be an extremely useful tool for the modern business. Not only does it provide anywhere-anytime access to applications, processing, storage, et al; it also delivers those products as a service, allowing you to budget for recurring costs rather than major upfront ones. This provides your organization with functional, supported, and secure computing environments that eliminate a lot of the support costs that traditional computing environments require. It sounds like a perfect scenario for small and large businesses alike, but things aren’t always what they seem, as a lot of cloud users have found that they have incurred several hidden costs by using cloud platforms. Today, we take a look at these hidden costs.