Articles

Useful information for busy security dealers.

Understanding How the "Cloud" Can Help You

By Scott MacDougal

In Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell wrote:

“I really don’t know clouds at all”cloud

The Cloud should not be a mystery. Even though it sounds fluffy and undefined, you’re probably using the cloud many times daily. A Google search is using the cloud. Your Facebook or LinkedIn account is in the cloud. If you use online bill payment through your bank, that’s a cloud service. And if you’re a Cornerstone customer, you’re using our private cloud to manage your subscriber accounts.

Cloud computing is simply using an internet-based computer or server to accomplish something. That could mean searching or emailing, or more business-oriented services like payroll services, tax services (like TurboTax online), or account management services like ours.

As the US economy continues to struggle, small businesses should be looking at the cloud as an amazing opportunity to:

  • Lower their costs,
  • Increase their sales,
  • Improve their productivity, or
  • All of the above

How Cornerstone Uses the Cloud
As I manage Cornerstone’s growth, I’m always looking for niche service providers that can handle a set of tasks for us better and cheaper. For example, we use cloud services to upload debit and credit card transactions for our dealers. Yes, we pay fees for these, but our allies are specialists that have built secure portals that eliminate many hours of staff time here, and provide for powerful reporting that let’s us quickly do our work and troubleshoot payment issues. These services really allow us to grow faster, because they allow us to focus on our core business -- database management and hosted software support for our dealers.

In the end, these alliances have made it less expensive for us to deliver our services at the quality levels our customers have come to expect. It’s no different for security dealers. If you look, you WILL find cloud-based accountants, billing services, payroll services, document management services, hosted access control and video, and many others. Central stations are really ‘private cloud’ services like ours, and are increasingly updating their hosted service offerings or aligning themselves with cloud companies that end up being an extension of their monitoring centers.

Updates: Cloud Computing or Your Local Network
A huge benefit of cloud services is that most are continuously improving – without the customer needing to do anything. We’ve made over 100 enhancements to our ALARM software over the past 2 years, and our dealers didn’t need to lift a finger. We update the software behind the scenes in the evening, and the new features are there when you log in the next morning. Compare that with software you have installed on your local network – to update, you need to:

  • Check for & retrieve updates
  • Back up your data
  • Install updates (sometimes on multiple computers)
  • Pay to maintain a licensing / support contract to get the update
  • Troubleshoot any technical / IT problems with the updates
  • Update your procedures manual if the update changes a process

Some software companies, like Intuit (owner of QuickBooks), build in obsolescence, so you need to re-purchase their software every 3-5 years, especially if you use payroll services as we do. Not fun!

The Risks of Cloud Computing
Of course, cloud services can involve risks. Security in the cloud is critical, but reputable cloud service companies (including Cornerstone) spend a great deal of money and time keeping the system and software locked down. Worries that “my data is ‘out there’, not on my local computer” have been addressed by most cloud-based services. In our case, you can export and email yourself all the key reports, so you can have that data locally in Excel. Good cloud services should give you a similar option – I would never want my critical data being ‘held for ransom’, and I’d never subject our dealers to that same risk.

Questions to Ask Cloud Providers
Here are a few questions you should ask when considering cloud-based software or services. Does the provider:

  • Have a strong privacy/confidentiality policy that protects us & our data?
  • Have redundancy through frequent backups or mirrored servers?
  • Have adequate firewalls, security policies, and SSL Certificates if payments are involved (e.g. encryption such as at https://www.AlarmPayments.com)?
  • Have a track record of many years providing their service?
  • Allow for data exports, so you can have your data locally if you need it?
  • Provide you some control over ‘who can do what’ with the service, with customizable privileges among administrators, power users, and other user groups?
  • Have a short-term service agreement, and an easy ‘out’ if you’re not happy with the service?

The Benefits of the Cloud
Bottom line, cloud services – carefully chosen – should save you money, or add to your top line. In some cases, these services can help you offload certain tasks to specialists who can handle them better, and often cheaper. In other cases, these services can expand and enhance what you’re able to offer your customers – adding revenue, reducing attrition, or making your customer relationships ‘stickier.’

In the internet era, no company is an island—nor can they afford to be. The internet has created niche services that allow small companies to be very competitive against some of the big dogs. They can offer a broad array of services that makes them appear larger than they really are. And they can streamline their operation and reduce their overhead – which means they can make money at lower volumes.

As you seek out and develop the relationships that help you do this…GO SLOW, but go nonetheless. An alliance is a big decision, so take your time, and make sure you know what you’re getting, and how – specifically – it will help your business. Do your homework, and test the service if you can. If it works out, you’ll find that your business is simpler, and you’ll have more time to focus your staff resources on your core competencies…and that’s the best way to ensure your long-term success.