Cloud-based solutions: enhancing access to IT resources.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy
• Position: TELECOM & TECHNOLOGY

Alaska businesses are increasingly replacing some of their traditional IT solutions with cloud-based services to capitalize on the ease, convenience, and affordability of accessing services over the Internet.

Cloud solutions, which are typically offered as pay-per-use or subscription-based options, are services, applications, and other IT resources that companies access through a Web portal instead of their own computer network. While "cloud solutions" are relatively new buzz words, the virtualization of computer technology has been around since the 70s and 80s, when mainframe computers employed the use of remote terminals and decentralized administration, according to Mike Wheeler, the owner of Alaska Computer Support, an Anchorage-based IT consulting firm. "Computers just got smaller; otherwise, they are the same," he says.

Today, Alaska's computer technology and telecommunications providers offer a plethora of solutions for businesses wanting to migrate some of their traditional services to the cloud. Popular options include data storage, on-demand backup, hosted servers, email, voicemail, and telephone systems.

Cloud Storage Expands Capacity Instantly

Cloud storage is one of the most commonly used virtual solutions among GCI's business customers, says Senior Manager Commercial Product Marketing Gregory Schlabaugh. It gives businesses additional off-site storage capacity without the need to purchase and maintain their own Storage Area Network, or SAN. Companies can also use GCI's Cloud Storage product for off-site backup of their existing data. Then if their hard drive fails, they can still have access to their information to keep their operation running.

Having cloud storage is like renting a self-storage unit, Schlabaugh says. Companies can use the cloud to temporarily store information for regular use, as well as archive data for long-term safekeeping.

Nowadays, more Alaska businesses are incorporating cloud storage as a tool for collaboration. "Instead of putting a file in a computer and then having to email it to everyone in a group, you can stick a document in the cloud and everyone gets access and can make changes," Schlabaugh says. "It's allowing for a lot more efficient collaboration."

Schlabaugh says businesses can use GCI's cloud storage with the confidence of knowing their information is safe and accessible only to them. Their data gets encrypted or scrambled before it's placed in GCI's cloud, and GCI's connection into the cloud is also encoded. Such security measures may not be the case with free cloud storage like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Apple's iCloud. "Not all of those have...