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Archive for the ‘Virtual Hosted Desktop’ Category

Sky’s the limit as KC join GoCloud to offer new service

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Mark Conway KC Matt Nunns GoCloud

Kingston Communications has partnered up with East Yorkshire cloud computing experts GoCloud to offer a brand new service which will allow local businesses to tap into 21st century ways of working.

KC Cloud is a 24/7 hosted IT and desktop service that enables firms to access their desktop, data and applications from anywhere in the world. Delivered in partnership with Hessle-based GoCloud, all a customer requires is a simple internet connection, removing the need for expensive on-site IT equipment and servers.

As a result, organisations can reduce the amount of capital expenditure required to maintain their IT systems and enjoy the flexibility and productivity benefits of remote access. The hosted desktop service can be scaled up or down as and when required, so firms only pay for what they need, when they need it.

Mark Conway, Director of Business Services at KC, said: “We are proud to support local businesses and are constantly looking for new partnerships that can help local firms to prosper.

“KC Cloud enables companies in the region to compete with the bigger players on a level playing field.

“By hosting their IT infrastructure in our data centres, firms can reduce capital that can often be wasted on unused hardware or licenses. It also means that the risks and costs associated with software crashes and virus attacks are minimised.”

The service is built upon a secure infrastructure, so there are no concerns about data confidentiality and round-the-clock service and support is also available. The flexibility that comes with a hosted service has also been seen to help firms attract and retain the very best staff, as they are no longer tied to one location.

Matt Nunns, GoCloud’s Managing Director said: “Cloud computing is the future for all businesses and so we are delighted that Kingston Communications has joined our Partner Programme.

“When you are focused on your own business, it’s hard to keep track of the latest releases of software and applications. All Microsoft updates and new application rollouts will be handled by our team of experts, which vastly reduces the time it takes to implement changes.

“It also allows firms to break free from the traditional office environment, by removing the barriers normally associated with managing and funding a remote workforce, or expanding into new territory.”

As all the IT equipment is housed in state-of-the-art data centres rather than on customers’ premises, businesses can also reduce their carbon emissions and adopt a more sustainable way of working.

Cloud Computing and The Hosted Desktop Explained

Friday, March 5th, 2010

There’s still some confusion in the business world as to what cloud computing and the Hosted Desktop actually are – so we thought we would run through the main benefits on our blog.

Lots of people think that because they can already access their work remotely, they can already do what a hosted desktop can do – but these two ways of working are completely different from a technological point of view and there are so many more advantages to working via a hosted desktop!

Applications like “Go to my PC” or “My Workspace” are remote control applications rather than cloud computing. Working “in the cloud” offers better cost savings to companies and is much more secure in terms of data protection. Data is stored in a data centre rather than on an individual’s desktop or laptop, so if a desktop or laptop was damaged or stolen, no private data would be lost because it would be safe “in the cloud” in the data centre. Using remote control applications still means data is stored on the computer itself.
People no longer need a VPN client to gain access to their work data. All they have to do is click on an icon on their desktop and they are instantly connected to their work station as if they were actually in the office, sitting at their desk. It makes flexible working hours so much easier for employers to offer. It also means there is no disruption to business when staff can’t make it into the office. They might need to stay at home to look after their sick child who can’t go to school that day – or it might be because of really bad weather, like the heavy snow we had last month which crippled many businesses.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) warned at the time that the severe weather conditions could cost businesses £230 million per day if they didn’t take steps to allow staff to work from home. That figure was based on one employee per company being off for one day and not working.

Using a Hosted Desktop also makes sense financially. There are no set up costs, in terms of hardware. You pay a monthly fee per user, which includes 24/7 IT support, so businesses can budget for IT costs, rather than pay per hour for IT support, and because all you need is a basic computer or a “thin client”, you use less energy so save on energy bills – and you reduce your carbon footprint!

If you have any other questions or would like more information, please contact GoCloud on 0844 745 3822 or email enquiry@gocloud.co.uk

Partner Programme launched

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

After the successful launch of our Windows 7 Hosted Desktop solution it was only to be expected that many other solution providers would begin saying, “We want that for our customers!”

Well, now you can provide GoCloud’s Hosted Desktop for your important customers via our Partner Programme. The Hosted Desktop Partner Programme is going from strength to strength with a major player in the market ready to roll-out our Hosted Desktop solution to their customers during this April.

The Hosted Desktop Partner Programme offers companies the opportunity to resell our technology or earn a return for referrals. Here’s our press release on the Hosted Desktop Partner Programme.

GoCloud on BBC Radio Humberside this morning

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

The Sales and Marketing Director of GoCloud, Chris Gooding, will be on BBC Radio Humberside’s business slot, this morning at 7.50am.

Chris will be answering questions about cloud computing and the green benefits to businesses of using hosted desktops.

You can listen to Chris by clicking here.

Could hosted desktops have averted the risk to 43,000 Wigan school children?

Friday, September 4th, 2009

The mainstream media are quick to jump on any breaches of security involving cloud computing, and rightly so as security of personal and financial information should be of paramount importance to any organisation.

However, you are always left with the impression at the end of such stories that the more traditional way on storing the data, i.e. in-house servers and computers would have been more secure.

But the worrying tale from Wigan about the loss of a laptop containing the details of 43,000 local school children highlights circumstances in which a cloud computing and hosted desktop solution would have avoided this situation.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found that Wigan Council breached data protection law by allowing unencrypted data on school children to be downloaded to a laptop that was subsequently stolen from a locked cupboard.

Humiliatingly, Joyce Redfearn, the CEO of Wigan Council, has had to sign an undertaking stating that the council will encrypt data on portable devices in future.

IT professionals will also be worried that so much personal data about children could be downloaded on mass by a council employee.

In fact, the head of enforcement at the ICO, Sally-Anne Poole did comment, “I strongly advise organisations to avoid instances where employees can download large volumes of personal information.”

Sally-Anne Poole continued, “This incident could have been averted if the data was simply accessed from the main council computer network. Storing large volumes of personal information on portable devices is unnecessarily risky.”

However, presumably the employee was in a position where they felt they would have need to access all the information while using the laptop and so downloaded so much sensitive information. Of course, if the information had been securely accessible to users from any remote location there would have been no need to allow this massive or any other partial download of such a sensitive database to any computer, let alone a device as vulnerable as a laptop.

The fact that the laptop was stolen from a locked cupboard also highlights the fact that data stored on a business’ premises is a lot more vulnerable to theft (and fire) than data stored in the highly secure UK data centres where servers used in cloud computing are situated.

Obviously here at GoCloud we would see this as an ideal situation for the use of a remotely hosted desktop solution so that the personal information would not have had to be downloaded to a laptop and yet the remotely hosted desktop would still enable the employee to securely access the information from a home computer or a thin clientin an alternative work location.

VMware leads in virtual desktops with VMware View

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

VMware, the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop through the datacenter and to the cloud, announced broad customer adoption of VMware View, the leading desktop virtualization solution.

With more than 1 million seats estimated across 7,000 customers, VMware View is establishing itself as the standard of choice to centralize desktop management, lower costs and deliver rich, personalized user experiences.

VMware View has been widely adopted by industries after realising that total cost of ownership savings of US$600 or more per end user in less than six months can be made. The savings resulted from significant reduction in IT staff support costs and reduced downtime.

Latest Version of Virtual Bridges’ Open Virtual Desktop available

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Virtual Bridges, IBM and Canonical today announced the immediate availability of their newest version of the Linux-server based virtual desktop with the release of Virtual Bridges’ VERDE 2.0 software.

This Open Virtual Client Desktop is a combination of IBM’s Smart Client desktop software, Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux servers and desktop, and Virtual Bridges’ VERDE Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

VERDE 2.0 helps decrease cost by optimising existing resource, allowing enterprises to integrate Linux into their IT infrastructure without disrupting operations.

Virtual Bridges’ VERDE 2.0 delivers several industry firsts, including:

  • Addresses both private cloud and public cloud requirements.
  • Meets both the needs of the connected user and the disconnected user.
  • Simultaneously and seamlessly manages both Windows and Linux desktop sessions.

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