What is the Cloud?

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CRM, SharePoint and other applications are offered in the Cloud. What is the Cloud?

Before deciding if your CRM, SharePoint or other solution is best offered in the cloud, it is important to be aware of what some of the Cloud options are.

The Cloud can be private, public, hybrid or on premise

  • A private cloud provides dedicated resources to the IT solution and is typically located at a secured data center.  The only shared resources for a private cloud solution are typically the facility infrastructure such as the building, A/C, Energy and in some cases internet connection.. Examples of the private dedicated resourcesinclude the server hardware, the firewall, and the software for the solution.  Private cloud solutions provide the highest degree of control, and also allow for custom solutions to benefit from being in the cloud.
  • A public cloud can be less expensive by sharing some or all of the resources with other users or tenants Public cloud solutions are typically the least expensive options in terms of total cost of ownership.
  • On premise solutions are not in the cloud, but rather they are located physically at the business location.
  • A hybrid solution combines some  elements from private and public cloud, and/or on premise solutions.

IAAS, PAAS, SAAS: These acronyms are used to describe how much of the IT Solution is public or offered “as a service”  – i.e. “AAS.”  Infrastructure As  A Service (IAAS) refers to the facility that houses the solution and sometimes the physical hardware for the servers.  Platform as a Service (“PAAS”) refers to the software infrastructure and typically includes the operating and system and core libraries, as well as a database system.  Software as a Service (SAAS) refers to the entire solution  provided on a subscription basis in  the cloud.

TechHouse provides Public, Private and Hybrid solutions. Our public offerings include: Email, SharePoint (Collaboration, web sites, document management), Lync ( web meetings and presence), CRM , Office 365 and Hosted VOIP as a Service.  Click here for Office 365 Free Trials.

Choosing an Edit Tool for SharePoint 2010

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It can be confusing trying to determine what is the best tool to customize SharePoint 2010. There are three key options available to most organizations:

SharePoint 2010 Built In Tools are  simple, powerful and able to be used following brief independent study or web or classroom training. The training period is typically measured in hours or a couple of days, and does not require prior programming experience. Some of the capabilities of the SharePoint 2010 Built in Tools include using the built in web-parts such as document libraries.  The tool bar has strong basic editing tools for text content in the html web part.  Additional web parts are available including calendar, document libraries, link lists and more.

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SharePoint Designer 2010  is a free downloadable tool to more fully customize SharePoint 2010.  SharePoint Designer 2010 is a software application that requires training and a basic programming or customization skillset.  If you are comfortable with Photoshop or Access or a similar level programming or customization tool, then SharePoint Designer 2010 will likely be a comfortable tool to learn. With SharePoint Designer, you can more easily modify the look of your site including page layouts, master pages and css pages.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 is a programmer’s tool. With this tool, you can significantly customize your SharePoint site. Using Visual Studio 2010 effectively requires significant training or prior experience as a programmer.   There is a good slideshow from Microsoft that shows what is involved with the Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint tools.

Getting Help with Advanced Customizations

For a fast track boot camp in Visual Studio 2010, contact Chester Flake at Certification Camp for quick and effective training.  If you prefer to outsource your development, TechHouse Staffing has contractors for longer term projects, or a consulting firm like TechHouse: Integrated Information System Solutions, can provide a team of consultants to assist with your SharePoint 2010 deployment.

 

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