As hard as it may be to believe, your technology plans may be just like Microsoft’s. This could yield both great benefits and headaches for your business. There are a couple of things you should do today to deal with the changing technology landscape.
Microsoft recently released the free preview of their next version of Microsoft Office which is scheduled for release early next year. There are two factors in this release that will probably affect every business in America. The Cloud becomes the central focus for much of the product, and the way you pay for and use the software is about to change in a big way.
The “Cloud”
Traditionally, Office software comes on a purchased DVD with a license for one computer. Installation can take an hour, and consume a large portion of your hard drive. For the new version, you’ll still be able to buy a DVD copy but for most people, the new version will install directly from Microsoft’s servers in the Cloud. The installation will be quicker and simpler than ever before.
The bigger Cloud based change will be the integration of Microsoft’s SkyDrive Cloud storage into Office. The default location for saved files will be on Microsoft’s servers. This will allow you complete access to you files from any internet connected computer. You’ll be able to open a document on one computer, and when you start the same Office application on another computer, you will return to the same location in the document to continue editing.
The downside of this Cloud focus is that the Cloud is not always there. As we learned in June, even the most reliable servers go down – sometimes for hours or days. Amazon runs what is considered the gold standard for reliability and performance in the Cloud. The storms in early June took their servers down for many hours. The NSPG servers were down for about eight hours that week, too. Our users could not download free software updates or send us their data files for most of a business day.
If your applications or documents are exclusively stored in the Cloud, they would be unavailable until the servers come back up or your internet connection returns. For a Word document or spreadsheet, this is only an inconvenience. But, if you have software exclusively in the Cloud that you rely on to run your business, you must have a plan for how to deal with the outages that will almost certainly occur. Your entire team needs to keep up to date on a backup plan for running the business like it’s 1999.
The New Payment Model
It is expected that Microsoft will combine their new software distribution model with a subscription payment system. Your software will become a service like your cable bill or your phone bill. Each month you’ll pay a fee to keep your software running. No pricing has been announced, but recent speculation puts the price in the $20 to $50 per month range. For that fee, you will have access to Office software on multiple computers.
The upside of this model is that you will always have access to the latest version of Office from multiple computers. If you regularly update your Microsoft Office version, this is probably a good option for you. If you tend to only update your software when you absolutely have to, this model could be much more expensive over time.
From our standpoint here at NSPG, the real issue is the Cloud. We are not ready to trust the Cloud for mission critical data yet. We have released software updates from the Cloud for many years, and we automatically back up all of our critical files to encrypted online storage in the cloud. We feel that a hybrid of local applications and Cloud storage is the right solution for most businesses today.
If you don’t have your critical files securely backed up off site, get it done now. If you choose to fully embrace the Cloud now, be sure to have a backup plan ready to be implemented to keep your business running for when the Cloud is not available.
“Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds. “. Louisa May Alcott