How The Cloud Enables Secure Email Archiving:
IT Managed Services

Cloud computing is the latest paradigm in information technology that involves the virtualization of IT infrastructure and IT managed services. Cloud computing offers information systems ranging from email archiving to data storage services on a subscription or per-use basis. Entire IT systems are made available in a turnkey package that any company can access and implement on any scale with a minimum of lead-time.

Consonus is a specialized technology firm that offers full virtualization and IT managed services for data and email archival. Utilizing Consonus' turnkey IT resources removes many of the barriers to entry for technology implementations. The state of the art server architecture and data storage systems streamline email archiving, data recovery, and data storage (or disaster recovery) services. Finally, Consonus has a dedicated staff to provide the latest updates, security upgrades, and hardware optimization for the benefit of every client.

Leveraging Cost Structures

Nearly every IT implementation requires a large outlay of capital that is often a significant barrier to entry for even larger companies. In addition to the up-front expense, long lead times, system optimization, and user training adds a significant time investment as well. Not every business can afford the capital expense and wait for the return on investment. Cloud computing practically eliminates capital costs by offering IT managed services remotely; clients do not have to install a single piece of hardware or software. Services are available through always-on internet connections. For example, an email archiving system can be established without having to purchase and install any additional servers or storage devices, instead, all data is stored, managed, and maintained on Consonus' hardware and accessed online.

Operating expenses for cloud computing services can also be lower than an in-house system as well. With remote services, there is no need to hire on personnel and an IT department for technology maintenance. Cloud computing resources are dynamically scaled to only meet current demand. Consonus scales their computing resources to each client's needs, optimizing resource usage and lowering operating costs for the end user.

Ultimately, capital expenses are converted into manageable operating expenses, helping to reduce cost and making technology more widely accessible.

Accessibility and Data Reliability

Managed IT services can offer better data accessibility and reliability than traditional in-house systems. All of

the disparate sources for a company's information are brought together under a single database. For example, email archiving usually occurs on multiple media; information is saved to local hard drives, archived on each computer, saved on removable storage devices, and stored on the network and exchange server. Compressing and removing duplicate emails, and then storing all that data on a single storage device makes finding and using mission critical information much easier without long lead times.

Another aspect of cloud computing is disaster recovery. Cloud computing does not rely on a single computer or server located in a single office. Computing resources may reside in different physical locations, but are all integrated. This means that a natural disaster, loss of power, or hardware failure will not bring down the system and prevent data from being accessed. Every client can enjoy the advantage of having, in effect, multiple servers in multiple offices with data back-ups and colocation. Even if a client suffers a power outage, the only hardware required to access their data is a laptop and internet connection running on battery power.

Cutting-Edge Technology Development

Even after IT systems are implemented, there are many IT managed services that will continue to add expense items. Upgrading hardware and software, protecting against security threats, and maintaining a system at optimal efficiency all require a dedicated, full time department.

Cloud computing firms handle all of the above tasks as a part of their core business. Each client does not need to have the technological expertise to keep a system safe, secure, and at the cutting edge. Rather, the services provided are constantly undergoing updates and maintenance without any involvement from the end user. Clients are always using today's technology and will never have to deal with supporting legacy systems as technology develops, nor will they have to undergo extensive system upgrades and the associated costs and downtime.