Cloud Security

Before signing up for any cloud solution, make sure it is secure! How can you tell? Security in the cloud is similar to security anywhere: there are some basic components that must be secured regardless of whether your data is on your laptop, or in the cloud

Physical Security: All technology relies on physical equipment, and whether that equipment is in your office building, or powering a private cloud from a datacenter, the equipment must be kept protected. The equipment should be locked, secured from theft and vandalism, and resistant to natural forces such as fire and flood. Every datacenter will offer their own set of features, so be sure to check before you buy.

Reviora’s answer to physical security is that your data will be protected physically by enterprise class datacenters complete with biometric access, video cameras, multiple doors, security systems, and even physical security guards.

Virtual Security: Whether your data is on your laptop or in the cloud, it must be protected from hackers and unwanted eyes. It should be guarded by multiple layers of devices and software to protect it. The most important layers is that of the firewall and if you are storing any type of financial or enterprise data, it will need to be an enterprise class system that will not only limit all traffic except for the traffic you want, but also fend off denial of service or intrusion detection attempts.

With the private cloud from Reviora, your data will be protected by powerful firewalls, intrusion detection, physical security devices and virtual software, and the highest level of locked-down access available.

Intellectual knowledge: The best security hardware and software are worthless if they are not managed correctly, or if the user puts their password on a sticky note on their monitor, security is compromised. When you select an excellent datacenter or private cloud solution, you can be assured that experts are running and supporting your data to the best level.  You might have experts on staff, but you will need to evaluate the cost of sending them to ongoing training and having them keep up with daily changes to threats, as well as investing regularly in the latest physical technology with the proper configuration.

- written and published by Brian Sallee for Reviora, the leading provider of managed private cloud solutions for ERP software and hosted dynamics. Call 888-REVIORA for questions or comments

Cloud Dynamics – Oxymoron?

By definition, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, GP, NAV, AX, and SL require a full-fledged server that has to be in your building, or at the least a rented building, right? Or does it?  Unfortunately “cloud” is often equated with “hosting”, and “hosting” brings a lot of baggage with it. While that baggage and negatives may be accurate for hosting, they also may not apply or even be related to cloud.  “Cloud” is quite different than “hosting.”  For this reason and others “cloud Dynamics”, or “Dynamics in the cloud”, especially the ERP suite, may seem like an oxymoron, when in fact it’s not.

The first aspect of the oxymoron is that Dynamics in the cloud is usually paid for on a named-user basis and so if you already own the license, it simply can’t translate.  Perhaps a better way to evaluate this would be to think about it on a “per user-name” basis where every username that is accessing the cloud is paid for, but it may or may not correspond to the Dynamics license.  According to the Microsoft EULA, all software must be licensed, but there are two ways to approach it.  The first is the traditional “BRL” license model where a license is paid up-front to Microsoft and may be on a concurrent user model.  The second is called “On-demand” which is where the license is rented or leased each month for a fraction of the cost.  This is the first reason why “cloud Dynamics” is not an oxymoron. Whether you own the license already, or want to rent it, the cloud is versatile and can fit either licensing model.

A second aspect of the oxymoron is the foundation servers associated with running Dynamics CRM & ERP software.  Depending on the specific version of Microsoft Dynamics, multiple dedicated servers may be required, integration via email or authentication may be required, and root access or single-tenancy may be needed as well.  All of the above can certainly be met with a server deployment in your office building, but it may not be in an outsourced configuration.  This is an example of the baggage that often comes along with “hosting” – in a hosted environment, you may not be able to have multiple dedicated servers at a reasonable price point, integration with the outside world through email or authentication is difficult, and root access ability may be limited.  However with the cloud, all of the above are not only possible, but in some cases easier.  Dedicated server instances can be assigned to the software, email and authentication methods are already setup, preconfigured, and supported, and root access will give you or your implementation partner everything they need.

In conclusion “Cloud Dynamics” is not an oxymoron, and to the contrary it is usually the easiest and most cost-effective way to run Microsoft Dynamics CRM, AX, NAV, SL, or GP regardless of whether you already own the license or not.

- written and published by Reviora, the leading provider of managed private cloud solutions for ERP software and hosted dynamics. Call 888-REVIORA for questions or comments

Lync: sneak peak

Microsoft Lync 2010 is here, and it’s here in a big way.  It’s also now available in the private and public cloud.  If you haven’t seen it in action, Microsoft Lync 2010 is the epitome of “Unified Communications.” It seamlessly integrates email, instant messaging, video calling, screen sharing, call bridging and full office PBX phone system capability all from one easy to use application or from Microsoft Outlook 2010.

One of the best advantages of Lync is the ability to communicate from anywhere and the best way to do that is to have Lync in the cloud.  A limited version of Lync that does instant messaging is available in the public cloud from Microsoft, and beginning in March, the full version of Microsoft Lync 2010 will be available in the private cloud from Reviora on a subscription per-username basis.

- written and published by Reviora, the leading provider of managed private cloud solutions for ERP software and hosted dynamics. Call 888-REVIORA for questions or comments

Cloud lockdown – is the cloud secure?

One of the most common questions I hear is “is my data secure”?  You might think I’ve heard this question for my whole career, but I haven’t, I’ve really heard it in relation to cloud computing.  Why the difference, I truly don’t know.  Somehow when installing a server on site, there is a sense of peace of mind that since the physical box is within eye-sight, that the data is also secure.  Subsequently, when using a cloud app,many people assume that the data is not secure because they can’t see it.  In reality, data security should be thought of in the same way, regardless of whether it’s in a cloud or at an office building.  Data stored at your office may be secure, but it may not be; likewise data stored in a cloud may be secure, or it may not be.

Here are some transcendent things to use to evaluate the security of your data, regardless of where it is:

Physical Security: No matter where your data is, it is ultimately housed at one or more physical locations.  The more secure that physical location, the better. The most secure facilities include features such as locked doors (ideally man-traps where one door locks before the next opens), video cameras, windows that can’t shatter or that don’t impact the equipment, and security guards.  The more features, the better.  For instance, having a server locked in a room at your office is good, but using biometrics is even better.  Datacenters that cloud computing firms use typically offer all of these features and staff them 24×7.  Ultimately you need decide what level of security is the necessary and ideal for your business.

Virtual Security:

Once you are assured that your data is protected to your satisfaction from a physical standpoint, it’s time to evaluated virtual security.  A variety of options are available for virtual security including running and maintaining firewalls and other network equipment, watching areas such as operating system patches and updates, ensuring data transmission is encrypted by 128-bit or higher SSL or VPN’s, encryption of data that is stored, and secure login technology for authentication.  The best clouds employ all of the above.

Knowledge / Maintenance:

Once your data is secured physically and virtually it’s time to ensure that someone is watching that security and ensuring that the technology tools are used to the best of their ability. Finally, never underestimate the element the end-users bring to the table.  The best security in the world protects nothing once a user prints out sensitive data and lets it fall in the hands of unintended eyes.  For example, complex passwords should be encouraged, and password sharing prohibited regardless of whether you are storing your data on a computer in your office or in the cloud.  Personnel that are maintaining the physical and virtual security should be experienced and up-to-date on what they are doing.

While all of the above areas apply to both on-premise and cloud security, one area that is more applicable with the cloud is selecting a trust-worthy and reputable vendor.  Every vendor might show a seemingly impressive list of statistics, but it is up to you to determine what areas and values are important to you, and then look for a cloud company that meets your requirements.

If you do store data on premise, make sure that it is protected physically whether it’s from thieves or flooding, protected virtually from hackers, protected by staff that know what they are doing, make sure you are backing up off-site, and ultimately check and re-check frequently.

If you don’t have an environment that meets the rigorous demands of your business and is vulnerable in any of the ways mentioned here, consider a reputable cloud computing company as a way to meet the most demanding security requirements.

- written and published by Reviora, the leading provider of managed private cloud solutions for ERP software and hosted Dynamics. Call 888-REVIORA for questions or comments

Reviora Hosted Dynamics

Reviora's Hosted Dynamics

Microsoft Hosted Software

We offer both hosting only and on-demand options for hosted Microsoft Dynamics Software. With our on-demand offering customers can be up in running in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take to purchase hardware and deploy the on-premise software.

Dynamics Products:

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2

Microsoft Dynamics AX

Microsoft Dynamics SL

Other Microsoft products:

Microsoft Exchange 2010

Microsoft SharePoint 2010

Microsoft Office 2010

Partner Program

We work exclusively through partners and enable them to host licensed software or sell on-demand licenses for all products.

Lifting the Fog on Cloud Computing

Cloud computing – With so many different definitions, what are we talking about?

Any time you have a new concept, industry or technology there will be some confusion because words and concepts have not been universally defined and accepted. It will take time for the concepts of cloud computing to settle down into a description that is universally accepted. Even then there will be sub-components such as defining what is a Hybrid Cloud, Public Cloud and Private, Etc. We are going to talk in the first step basic terms of what we refer to a cloud computing.

Cloud computing is currently in that phase where the mass acceptance of any one definition will in time win over as the industry standard. One of the first definitions of cloud computing was merely the combination of private and public data centers. If a person could combine those two, you would be working in the cloud.  Fortunately that definition has pretty much faded away as business becomes better informed.

Another definition which is very broad but has wide acceptance, says that true cloud computing is when you have Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) combined in an accessible format, then you have cloud computing. While this definition is still strong it does not represent the cloud computing that general industry and business is being drawn towards as the next generation of technology to promote innovation and efficiency.

In a corporate conference of Reviora, the definition of cloud computing was described as having five tenants of a practical definition.  Cloud computing is based on:

1.              Scalable and flexible. This is where an organization is able to add or subtract users quickly as needed or not needed. The cloud is elastic in flexibility, which means that the users would have the ability to increase or decrease their computing power. This aspect is one of the exciting aspects of the cloud. To only use and pay for only what you need.  This includes the storage and / or the system’s bandwidth.  The important thing is to remember that with the cloud your computing is not set to a specific server size but to the needs of the user.

2.              Internet based.  Here is a very basic distinction of cloud computing from just any data center. In order for an organization to truly take advantage of the cloud it requires internet access. Otherwise it is just a regular data center with all of the normal limitations and fixtures. With Internet based computing the options and possibilities are become virtually endless. There are seemingly infinite resources available to end users who are using cloud computing. While in a data center the limitations are clearly visible and many times very frustrating.

3.              All inclusive. A true cloud enables the applications to be all inclusive. If you are only using an external hosting service for one application or just a couple of separate applications than that really is not cloud computing. Cloud computing has the ability to take all of your applications to the cloud and off your servers. With very few exceptions any business application should be able to be put in the cloud and utilized by the end user. So while there are many who claim to provide cloud computing for one or two software packages, they are really stretching the concept of a hosted data service to sound like cloud computing. When all of your applications are off-site and readily accessible then you are working with a cloud concept.

4.              Integrity. Cloud computing must provide full integrity of data and processing. This area requires that not only the data but the applications and systems have full security and stability. If you are working with communications or just processing you need to know that your data is safe and available whenever and where ever you need it. This is probably the one area that most data centers fail. While they have backup systems they some of them are expensive, limited and sometimes unacceptable to industry standards. Cloud computing provides end users to have a seamless operation from one software application to another. Just placing applications on backed up servers are not enough.

5.              Subscription based.   One of the advantages of being involved in cloud computing is the fact that you don’t have to purchase servers and backup equipment. In fact there is no upfront capital outlay it is all based on a convenient periodic payment for the computing you used. So if you only need “3.5 servers”, you don’t pay for 4 servers.

So Cloud computing not only provides you with the best of a regular data center it provides much more. There is a lot more to this discussion and we will tackle more of it as the days go on but this is just the start.

Blogging begins

Today I begin blogging my venture with cloud computing. I seem to get an email from someone every week either for or against cloud computing.

Today I read an article that John Lloyd sent me from RackSpace (www.rackspace.com ?). I'd post a link but I don't know if there is one. Apparently they did an article surveying people's and businesses opinions on cloud computing and found out that most small businesses weren't even aware of what cloud computing was or if it benefited them. About half of medium-sized businesses new about cloud computing the an interesting finding was that they perceived it as unsecure, even though many cloud computing platforms offer more security that any small or medium sized businesses does with their I.T. systems.

I'm meeting with Lynn Spies after lunch today to talk about how we can educate about the cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) along with selling it. We should have a new website up shortly at www.reviora.com that should have more information about WHAT this crazy new technology is.