Cloud computing typically includes scalability, elasticity, multi-tenancy, payment models that are linked to usage, resources delivered from virtualized environments and the provision of all support and management tasks by a cloud services provider. Cloud computing also in based upon service being hosted in a datacenter and requires an Internet connection to be able to use cloud computing environments.

There is an issue right now with the definition of the “private cloud” as it goes against the mainstream cloud computing model which does not believe in on premise infrastructure at all.
The emergence of the marketing term, ‘private cloud’ challenges common definitions of cloud computing and we have found it has been confusing MSPs and I.T. service providers.

Private clouds deliver IT resources from within the corporate firewall and to one customer. It is like providing a mini-datacenter to an individual client or can be used as multitenant infrastructure to host multiple clients in a datacenter. As more and more applications move to the cloud, there are a few things that need to be addressed.

First, there will always be a need for on-premise hardware to connect to the datacenter. One of the main issues with a private cloud in the datacenter is the user experience, as most SMB clients do not have adequate bandwidth to connect to the datacenter and it is just not cost effective. For example, dedicated 10 MB circuit to the datacenter could cost $1000s a month, and is outside of the budget of most SMB clients. The other issue is that most SMB clients have issues with putting their entire infrastructure in the cloud due to issues with the dependency on an Internet connection to be able to function. This week alone, Intuit’s cloud went down and caused over 300,000 clients to not have access to their applications. This really shows that the cloud in still evolving and no business should put their entire business in the cloud, and should look into private cloud solutions that are a hybrid of public and private cloud solutions.
Services that share the attributes of public cloud computing, have, of course been with us for many years.

In many ways, the use of public cloud services is creeping up on us by stealth and definitely save money, and allow SMBs to have applications they normally could not afford. The use of platforms, infrastructure, the private cloud,  delivered from the datacenter may seem to be comparatively immature, most people are using public cloud services. Each time we use Google’s search engine or a social networking tool such as Facebook or LinkedIn, we are using public cloud services. This leads me to my next point.

Private cloud allows for SMB clients to have the best of both worlds. They can still have local applications and files, backup to the cloud for disaster recovery, and allow for the public cloud to mature before they should even contemplate changing their entire infrastructure over completely to the public cloud. Public cloud can still work well for Hosted Exchange, CRM, and many other applications, but an infrastructure in the private cloud is not something that currently works well enough for SMB clients, and can actually cost more than an on premise private cloud due to datacenter costs.

So the real answer is public cloud works well for hosted applications, private cloud works well for infrastructure, especially when it comes to virtualizing servers and desktops. Private cloud is the cloud answer to the SMB for consolidation of infrastructure, and the ability to share resources to provide the same experience to each user, increased efficiency, and better reliability with high availability and fault tolerant solutions.
Private cloud might be confusing in definition, but the value of what private cloud brings is what really matters. Look at private cloud at an opportunity to provide even more to your client and drive down labor costs. The goal of private cloud is to allow an MSP to profit more due to reduced labor costs and more stickiness with your client, due to now having them locked into an infrastructure you are providing, instead of having a Dell of HP server, and workstations any I.T. company can support. The private cloud allows MSPs to distance themselves from their competition and provide solutions that are on demand, reliable, flexible, and cost effective.
Private cloud is not hype, it is a new way to offer virtualization in server centric computing, that can truly provide a platform that can be so flexible it can be run on-premise, and in the cloud in a disaster recovery scenario, due to virtualization standardization.

The SMB marketplace needs the private cloud, because it gives them an enterprise level of efficiency in their technology, with increased reliability, and unparalleled flexibility. The tradition environment of servers and workstations is just not cost effective anymore, from hardware costs, to administration costs to maintain.

Cloud computing is split into two main alternatives – Public Cloud vs. Private Cloud – each of which provides major market opportunities for you the IT services providers, but which also pose some difficult challenges, especially for your SMB clients.

Over the next few weeks we will go over these topics in depth:

•What is this mysterious thing called private cloud?
•What does cloud mean for the SMB environment, and especially for you the IT service providers?
•Where are the benefits to SMBs and you the IT service providers, and what are the pitfalls to avoid?
•How can you as the IT service providers capitalize on the huge growth market in private cloud computing?

Over the following weeks we will help educate you with the right technology choices around virtualization, automation, storage, and networking, so you as the IT service providers for SMB organizations will be well on your way to understanding and profiting from the multi-billion dollar opportunities of delivering private cloud computing solutions to their clients.

Media Contact:
Michael Fraser, Director
O 877-334-2568 x801
E mike@gCLOUD3.com

Cloudy With a Chance of Success
A virtual compartmentalized private cloud platform helps small businesses realize their dreams

Las Vegas, Nevada — Finally the infrastructure exists for savvy entrepreneurs and forward-thinking small businesses to maximize the Internet and embrace cloud computing. The first ever, gCLOUD3’s gPLATFORM, promises innovative, consolidated, hardware solutions in a standardized and controlled platform, while streamlining business resources like never before. gPLATFORM is a turn-key solution from start to finish which combines technologies such as a utility computing platform and Microsoft®’s RDP 7, at an affordable price. Now even if the building goes up in smoke, customers will have access to their virtual desktops and virtual servers remotely in a disaster recovery data center which can mean the difference between survival and failure.

Nothing rivals the gPLATFORM’s big reveal as one of only four channel-ready products to be showcased during the coveted CRN Test Center Review at XChange Tech Innovators conference. Technology gurus are anxious for the gPLATFORM debut on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 3:30 pm, with the review lead by Ed Moltzen, managing editor of the CRN Test Center and Samara Lynn, Everything Channel’s Technical Editor. The much anticipated technology gathering, the nation’s most unique channel event of the year happens at the J.W. Marriott Casino and Hotel, in Las Vegas, NV, November 16-18, 2009. Everything Channel’s IT event is unprecedented in bringing together the technology world in a global industry arena.

By redefining tomorrow’s virtual office landscape gCLOUD3 can improve the chances of success for small businesses. “Someone can buy a new PC with 250 GB hard drive, 4 GB RAM, but will they be using it to full capacity? The simple answer is almost never. For any business, centralized computing aided by thin clients technology is key to savings and efficiency,” said Michael Fraser, gCLOUD3 Director.

When asked why gCLOUD3’s gPLATFORM was the solution of choice, Jeff Grace, President of Net Effect replied, “Cloud computing is the most important new trend in technology in a long time, and gCLOUD3 has a well thought-out solution. With gPLATFORM, we were able to replace five older servers for a fraction of the cost.”

gCLOUD3 is a leader in cloud computing, information management solutions since 2007, and is a next generation virtualization company founded by virtualization and VDI experts. Mr. Michael Fraser, Director, heads-up the corporate office, located at 7656 W. Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, NV.

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