Cumulus Global Publishes Google Accessibility Overview

/in

 

As more businesses, schools, government offices, and non-profits move to cloud computing and Google Apps, user accessibility becomes and important part of the evaluation, selection, and implementation processes.  To help organizations understand and plan for accessibility, Cumulus Global has published a Google Accessibility Overview report covering Google Apps, Chrome, and Chromebook / Chromebox devices.

“Accessibility goes beyond ADA and Section 508 compliance, it is about enabling individuals to work to their full potential,” notes Allen Falcon, CEO of Cumulus Global.  “Our intent is to make it easier for organizations to understand how Google products and services fit with their accessibility needs.”

The report provides current information, along with links to all source materials so that readers may track updates and new capabilities over time.  The report is available for free at: http://goo.gl/sfu66.

Microsoft’s Apology Says Volumes about Office 365 Outages

/in

 

It should be no secret that Microsoft’s Office 365 service continues to experience the types and frequency of outages that plagued its predecessor cloud service, BPOS.  While the outages receive little press coverage (they are frequent enough that they are not newsworthy?) , customers feel the impact.

In response to outages on Nov 8 and Nov 13, Microsoft sent customers a formal letter of apology (read it here).

Most disturbing to Office 365 customers is what Microsoft’s apology says about the quality and capabilities of Microsoft and the Office 365 platform.

With respect to the Nov 8th outage, Microsoft states the following:

“Office 365 utilizes multiple anti-virus engines to identify and clean virus messages from our customers’ inboxes. Going forward, we have built and implemented better recovery tools that allow us to remediate these situations much faster, and we are also adding some additional architectural safeguards that automatically remediate issues of this general nature.”

What this says is that, at times, significant virus traffic makes it to the email servers, and Microsoft has technology to remediate this problem by scanning servers and removing these messages from inboxes.  This is troublesome for a few reasons:

  • Best practice is to prevent viruses from reaching email servers, as any inbox remediation system allows the possibility that a virus is activated by a user before being cleaned.
  • Remediation of this problem has been manually driven and that automating the process is still in development
  • Remediation of virus infections dramatically impacts performance, up to the level of an outage.
  • Microsoft has not yet built an infrastructure that is capable of preventing virus infections, and continues to be focused on remediation.

With respect to the Nov 13th outage, Microsoft states:

“This service incident resulted from a combination of issues related to maintenance, network element failures, and increased load on the service.”

Microsoft acknowledges that they perform maintenance that can interrupt customer services outside of maintenance windows and that the Office 365 architecture lacks sufficient redundancy.  Microsoft is also admitting that the Office 365 infrastructure does not have sufficient capacity to handle peak demand loads and does not allow for automatic activation and allocation of resources based on demand.

In response to these outages, Microsoft promises the following:

“Significant capacity increases are already underway and we are also adding automated handling on these type of failures to speed recovery time.”

In essence, Microsoft cannot  predict or manage capacity, so they are throwing resources at the problem.   More importantly, Microsoft is not fixing the architecture in order to prevent load-based failures — they are automating how they respond to failures.

In other words:  Microsoft expects future Office 365 outages;  So, too, should Office 365 customers.

 

CFO Research Report: The Business Value of Cloud Computing

/in

In May 2012, CFO Research conducted a survey among senior finance executives at large U.S. companies to examine their views on the business value of cloud computing, as well as their plans and priorities for adopting cloud-based systems in the years ahead.  This report presents the findings from interviews with 310 financial executives across 15 industries.

Reading this report, you will learn:

  • Key motivators driving the move to cloud computing
  • How CFOs view the business advantages of cloud computing
  • How real experiences with cloud computing compare with expectations
  • Which factors CFOs see as the greatest barriers to cloud adoption
  • The role of employee performance in cloud computing decisions

Cumulus Global Publishes Cloud Solutions Daily

/in

Cumulus Global (www.cumulusglobal.com) announced the launch of the Cloud Solutions Daily, a daily online newspaper focused on cloud computing news, opinion, and analysis. The paper, available via free subscription, aggregates content from dozens of verified sources, providing cloud computing related stories relevant to business, technology, education, and the environment.

“The nature of Information Technology and cloud computing is changing rapidly,” stated Allen Falcon, CEO of Cumulus Global.  “Our news service provides an easy to scan summary of what is current in the industry.  We offer news, analysis, and a wealth of good ideas from industry experts.”

Readers may read and subscribe to the Cloud Solutions Daily for free.

Chromebook Solutions Featured at Google Apps for Education Summit

/in

Google Apps for Education New England SummitCumulus Global (www.cumulusglobal.com) announced that the company is sponsoring the Google Apps for Education New England Summit, being held this weekend at Burlington High School in Burlington, MA.  As part of the company’s participation, Cumulus Global CEO Allen Falcon will conduct a workshop entitled, Google Apps and Chromebooks: Building a Successful 1:1 Program, that will discuss the many facets of planning and management a one-to-one Chromebook program.

“As with any educational technology plan, deploying Chromebooks to individual students requires planning beyond device selection,” stated Allen Falcon, CEO of Cumulus Global.  “In the session, we will discuss many facets of successful 1:1 programs that impact teachers, administrators, and students.”

Google Apps and Chromebooks: Building a Successful 1:1 Program will discuss device selection, device management, curriculum integration, professional development, and expanded use of Google Apps.  The session will also discuss budgetary and financial options.

More information about the Google Apps for Education New England Summit is available at http://ma.gafesummit.com/, by following #gafesummit on Twitter and Google Apps for Education Summits on Google+


Cumulus Global offers Emergency Email and File Services to Businesses

/in

Cumulus Global (www.cumulusglobal.com) announced an emergency assistance program for small and mid-size businesses impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  Cumulus Global will provision replacement email and file services to help get businesses up and running.  As part of the program, companies will paid reduced activation fees and will contract for services on a month-to-month basis.  Businesses can be up and running, back in business, in a matter of hours.

“Small and mid-size businesses are the backbone of our economy and are often the hardest hit by natural disasters,” stated Allen Falcon, CEO of Cumulus Global.  “This program is not about making money, it is about saving businesses and jobs.”

Leveraging Google Apps, Cumulus Global can have businesses up and running with email, voice/video conferencing, file services, and more in a matter of hours.

Companies in any of the states impacted by Hurricane Sandy or its aftermath are eligible for 30% discounts on activation and service fees.  Services start at $10 per month and run on a month-to-month basis with no long term contract.

Businesses interested in the program should contact sales@cumulusglobal.com immediately.

 

New Compose Window Adds Sophistication to Gmail

/in

Google’s new compose window makes it easier to reference and manage multiple emails at once, with a new overlay window and simplified user screen.

Check out this helpful video.

Cumulus Global in the News: Helping Google Apps Resellers Grow Their Businesses

/in

Cumulus Global is sponsoring, and helping organize, this year’s gSocial Conference for Google Apps Resellers, ISVs, and consultants.  As covered by Bloomberg.com, PR Newswire, and others, gSocial 2012 is the independent conference for the Google Apps channel.

Scheduled for November 12th and 13th, 2012 at the Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale, the conference features over a dozen keynote, plenary, and workshop sessions.

More information is available at www.gsocialconference.com.

Tech in the Classroom: Cool or School?

/in

Attending the Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (MassCUE) conference this week is a great experience.  While we are excited to help some of the most innovative teachers and administrators learn more about using Google Apps and Chromebooks in the classroom, we are just as pleased to learn from them.

Schools are struggling to develop comprehensive plans for classroom computing.  Carts, one-to-one programs, and “bring your own device” (BYOD) programs are all in the mix. Beyond the technology selection, schools must address budget limitations and ensure fair access to solutions across the economic boundaries of students and families.

The “Cool” Factor

Add to the challenge: community pressure to use a “cool” technology.  School boards, administrators, and parents in many districts want to see new, cool technologies even if those technologies do not best meet the needs of the students or the educational program.

The most common example we have heard has been pressure to use iPads.  We agree, iPads are very cool.  With a wide array of apps, iPads bring the web, books, and video to life in a dynamic way.  They are lightweight, portable, and easy to use.

Easy to use, that is, until you need create content.  For all it’s strengths, iPads are not an efficient device for writing and editing.  Without a keyboard and with limited software options, iPads are not designed for serious data entry.  Typing a five paragraph essay or a term paper is not really feasible.  Educators and administrators discuss the difficulty in managing sync servers to get data off the devices, and that students given iPads still have a need for another device — laptop or desktop — to get their work done.

The perception, however, that iPad’s are a step forward and laptops are a step back creates pressure on schools to pick a technology that falls short of students’ needs.

Some New Options

Fortunately, schools are finding other options that may just meet the “cool” criteria. New tablets with attachable keyboards blend the touch screen, “post-PC”, experience with capabilities of a more traditional device.

Chromebooks, which lack the “touch” experience, are specifically designed to meet the challenges of web-based learning, one of the fastest growing trends in classroom computing.  They give students and teachers access to real-time and managed collaboration, video and multimedia capabilities, thousands of educational web sites and apps, and legacy applications via virtual desktop services.  Chromebooks, Chrome OS, and the Chrome OS Management Service also provide an ease of administration that can reduce administrative costs by 60% or more.  Pretty cool.

Picking a Path

The responsibility of selecting a student computing platform and program is not one to be envied.  Those making the hard decisions are making multi-year plans and committing large sums of money.  They deserve our support and the freedom to pick the best solution for the students and the school system.

Where is Your Cloud Bandwidth Bottleneck?

/in

When speaking with companies and schools about moving to cloud solutions like Google Apps and Google Cloud Storage, we are often asked about bandwidth demands.  Many organizations worry that their current Internet connections are not sufficient for cloud computing.  While most organizations already have more than enough Internet bandwidth, they may still have performance bottlenecks from their internal network.

Many small and mid-size enterprises make infrastructure decisions, electing to save money with consumer grade and so-called “SMB” products.  In many instances, these products are not designed to handle business traffic.

WiFi Access Points: Low-end WiFi Access Points, or WAPs, are not designed for a large number, or large traffic, connections.  While these devices claim they can support dozens of devices, the reality is that their antennae systems, channel management, and software are not up  to the task.  These devices can bog down with collisions, reducing the effective bandwidth to near zero with as few as 5 or 10 active users.

Switches and Hubs: The same load considerations exist for low-end switches and hubs, particularly those with slower back-planes and less memory.  Traffic bursts can overload these devices, creating “collisions” that slow down your network.

Routers: Many entry level and SMB routers do not have the processor or back-plane speed needed to meet the traffic demands for today’s network.  The router between your network and the Internet needs to be fast, with the ability to buffer traffic, and provide network services.  While changing to cloud solutions may not dramatically alter the amount of traffic, it changes the pattern.  An underpowered router can slow traffic like a broken toll booth gate.

For most small and mid-size businesses, network performance planning for cloud solutions should start at the ends and work towards the middle.  Look at your Direct Internet Access capacity and your WiFi and move inwards to the router, hubs, and switches.  A well planned network will improve performance, reliability, and productivity.