Backup in the Cloud: the solution for Business Continuity

Backup in the Cloud: the solution for Business Continuity

It may happen when you less suspect it: something unexpected occurs, and your database is gone, with all your valuable information. No panic: nothing is lost if you have a B plan. If you don’t, well, you should really take your time and develop a Backup Plan plan that keep your data safe and your organization working if something shows up. Both sides are important: it’s not just about data recovery, it’s about keeping the business on. That’s what data are for, aren’t they?

Business Continuity: that’s the new challenge. Cloud Technology can be a smart solution to keep your data safe. If a disaster happens, you will have access to your entire information 24×7. But in order to make it works, you need to develop backup plans, and choose a reliable Backup Service.

With Oracle Database Backup Service, cloud backups are always accessible over the Internet and in case of need, they are immediately available for recovery. They way it works is simple: data is replicated across multiple storage nodes, which protects against hardware failure and data corruption.

An Off-site backup is quite expensive and complex because you need to write your backup in tapes and then, ship it to a safer place (is it really safer?). Which means hardware costs, shipping costs, storage costs. A Cloud Database Backup Service will help you not only to manage a disaster recovery, but also to keep your business working if an accident happens and your database is compromised.

Here follows other advantages of Oracle Database Backup Service:

  • Compression can be used: it conserves bandwidth and improves performance by reducing the size of backups before they’re sent to the cloud for storage.
  • Data is encrypted at the source, securely transmitted and then stored in the cloud (and the keys are kept at your site, not in the cloud): you keep total ownership on your data and on the possibility to share them.
  • A centralized backup management allows high performance and heterogeneous data protection in distributed UNIX, Linux, Windows, and Network Attached Storage (NAS) environments. Oracle Secure Backup Cloud Module provides also integrated Oracle Database backup to Amazon S3 cloud (Internet) storage.

If you are really aware that your business data matters and that they are the key to keep your company operative, a Oracle Database Backup Service will provide you performance, redundancy and security. If you are interested, please contact Unlocked ITnovation, your Oracle Gold Partner in Swtizerland and Italy, for an expert advice.

Cloud Applications and Digital Disruption: the next step

Cloud Applications and Digital Disruption: the next step

Some considerations after Oracle Ticino Day 2015

Oracle Ticino Day 2015, 26th of March: an interest opportunity to share opinions and ideas about the future of Cloud. Among them, the intervention by Hanspeter Kipfer about the Digital Disruption was engaging as it was expected to be. His talk showed how cloud applications can represent a concrete possibility of business growth and better workflows, sharing informations and saving time (for example, in HR).

So, is cloud computing the best way to Digital Disrupting? We think that, yes, it may help. Cloud Computing means several advantages: among them, the release from complexity of infrastructure and application management; the benefits of next-generation solutions without heavy investment in infrastructure; the tranquility of having certain costs and maintenance service of excellence without carrying internally the cost of it.

But a few questions remains:

Is Cloud the right solution for this specific enterprise?

Which kind of Cloud solution is the most indicated?

What is the best Cloud Application?

How to integrate Cloud in existing systems?

How to manage business workflow for a correct use of the Cloud?

Providing the right answer to these questions is really important to guide the change. That’s why we think than more than Cloud or any other IT solutions, the best way to digital disruption are human beings: choose the right IT partner, someone who can understand your needs and share your goals: the next step will come naturally.

Unlocked ITnovation is ready to welcome you among its partners. Contact us and we’ll be glad to share you path to Digital Excellence.

@IT_Unlocked

Cloud Solutions and the Security of Data in the Financial Sector

Cloud Solutions and the Security of Data in the Financial Sector

cloud unlpckedSome considerations about the CSA Survey.

Cloud Computing is one of the top trends for IT and it’s expected to grow in the upcoming years. However, cloud solutions stil meets a large number of security concerns, particularly data security concerns. And even if we are perfectly aware that a good use of cloud respects the safety of systems and data, the reason of this certainty are not so easy to explain when you are “face-to-face” with a worried businessman with legal responsibilty towards his own clients.

It’s not a coincidence that according to the survey report “How cloud is being used in the financial sector” (CSA – Cloud Security Alliance, March 2015) , financial services firms appears to be the most apprehensive about adopting cloud computing. Here follows a list of major concerns:

  • confidentiality of data (60% of respondents)
  • loss of control of data (55 % of respondents)
  • data breaches (55% of respondents)
  • data loss ( 42% of respondents)

In spite of these worries, Jim Reavis, CEO of the CSA, told SCMagazine.com that cloud computing has become a requirement for doing business in the financial sector, and that it has shown to be superior to other solutions in certain instances, fo example in “replacing the extranet with cloud to collaborate with business partners, such as with mortgage lending, where banks, mortgage brokers, appraisers and real estate agents all work with the same documents”.

As experts of cloud computing projects, we have seen all the concrete advantages that cloud solutions can bring to mid-sized companies who are often faced with the complexity of large companies but do not have as many internal resources to manage them. Outsourcing of IT services in the cloud means:

  • Release from complexity of infrastructure and application management;
  • Get all the benefits of next-generation solutions without heavy investment in infrastructure;
  • The tranquility of having certain costs and maintenance service of excellence.

Any single case is different from another, but there are few “evergreen” tips that a firm should take when considering the opportunities of cloud:

  • find the right partner: you are not just outsourcing IT services, you are looking for somebody to take care of your systems and data. Choose well.
  • Security and efficiency must be two faces of the same medal; “secure” doesn’t have to mean “complicated” or “slow”.
  • Consider also the adoption of virtual platforms. Virtual security appliances are agile, powerful, and can be deployed anywhere in your infrastructure.
  • Create a security policy for your employees and your network: the safety of systems belongs to people in the first place,. Continuously update your security policies, both your users and the IT infrastructure.

If you’d like to explore all the opportunities that cloud computing could bring to your business, contact us: Unlocked ITNovation delivers cloud services within defined projects, which go beyond the pure concept of the repository cloud services.