1. Thrive. Grow. Achieve.
Cloud Solutions
and Return on
Investment
Nate Solloway
June 2, 2015

2. WHAT’S ON TAP?
• What is the Cloud?
• Common uses for small businesses
• Is it right for YOU?
• Email Hosting
• File Hosting
• Phone systems in the cloud
• Case Studies
• What is a Private Cloud?
• Disaster Recovery
• Q&A
2

3. WHAT IS THE CLOUD?
3

4. NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT
INVESTMENTS
4

5. 5
Say you just moved to
a city, and you’re
looking for
a place to live
Let’s use a simple analogy

6. RENT OR BUY?
6
YOU CAN EITHER BUILD A HOUSE OR RENT AN APARTMENT

7. DECISIONS, DECISIONS…
7
IF YOU BUILD A HOUSE, THERE ARE A FEW IMPORTANT DECISIONS
YOU HAVE TO MAKE

8. 8
But, you get a chance to
customize it
tile
flooring
Roof
floor plan
landscaping
windows
lighting

9. ONCE THE HOUSE IS BUILT, YOU’RE
RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTENANCE
9
Hire Landscaper
Heating and Cooling
Gutter Cleaning
Water
Pay property tax
House Keeping

10. HOW ABOUT RENTING?
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11. CONSIDER A BUILDER IN YOUR CITY
BUILDS A MASSIVE NUMBER OF
APARTMENT UNITS
11

12. A UNIT CAN EASILY BE CONVERTED INTO 2, 3, 4 MORE UNITS
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13. 13
YOU CAN MAKE FEWER,
SIMPLER DECISIONS
YOU CAN START WITH ONE UNIT
AND GROW LATER, OR
DOWNSIZE

14. 14
BUT… YOU DO NOT HAVE A LOT OF OPTIONS TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR UNIT

15. PAY AS YOU GO
JUST PAY YOUR RENT AND UTILITIES
15

16. IS THE CLOUD SECURE? YOU ALREADY
THINK SO
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PERSONAL EMAIL
PERSONAL PICTURES
VIDEOS
PERSONAL FILES
BANKING

17. DECISION MAKING
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ARE YOU AT A POINT WHERE A CHANGE OF SOME SORT IS
NECESSARY? IF SO, YOU MUST DECIDE ON A DIRECTION. IF NOT, YOU
MAY CHOOSE TO WAIT IF YOU ARE NOT INCURRING SIGNIFICANT
COST OR PRODUCTIVITY LOSS BY STAYING IN YOUR CURRENT
SITUATION.
THE EXTERNAL ONE-TIME IMPLEMENTATION COSTS – HARDWARE,
IMPLEMENTATION/MIGRATION COSTS
THE ONGOING COSTS - MONTHLY HOSTING FEES VS. SUPPORT STAFF
SALARIES OR CONSULTANT FEES, ETC.
AVAILABILITY OF STAFF TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND NETWORK
ADMINISTRATION
AVAILABILITY OF FACILITIES TO HOUSE ON-PREMISE SERVERS
DESIRE TO SHARE INFORMATION ACROSS GEOGRAPHIC
BOUNDARIES AND RELATED COSTS - TRAVEL, TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TO CONNECT MULTIPLE OFFICES, ETC.

18. CLOUD IS A BUSINESS DECISION
18

19. RISK IS A BUSINESS DECISION
19

20. LOW HANGING FRUIT
20

21. WHY IS THE CLOUD SO APPEALING?
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22. NOT ALL CLOUD IS THE SAME
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https://support.google.com/a/answe
r/112445
https://support.google.com/a/answer/112445

23. ORIGINAL CASE STUDY (2001)
23

24. HOSTED EMAIL OVER 5 YEARS
24
1
user
10
users
15
Users
20
Users
25
Users
Google
Apps
$600 $6,000 $9,000 $12,000 $15,000
RAFFA
Hosted
Exchange
$615 $6,150 $9,225 $12,300 $15,375
Office 365 $600 $6,000 $9,000 $12,000 $15,000

25. DO MORE WITH EMAIL
• ENCRYPTED MESSAGES
• ENCRYPTED GATEWAY
• RUGGED SPAM FILTERING
• SEND FILES AS LINKS INSTEAD OF ATTACHMENTS
25

26. YOUR PHONES IN THE CLOUD
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27. RAFFA CLOUD SERVICES
TAKES YOU FROM THIS…
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28. RAFFA CLOUD
TO THIS!
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29. USING THE CLOUD FOR DISASTER
RECOVERY
OFFSITE BACKUPS INSTEAD OF TAPE
REPLICATE YOUR NETWORK TO A PRIVATE CLOUD FOR FAILOVER
CONTINUITY EVEN IF SERVERS ARE KEPT IN-HOUSE
29

30. QUESTIONS?
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31. THANK YOU
31
Seth Zarny – Partner
szarny@raffa.com
301.279.6500
Nate Solloway – Systems Engineer/Outsourced IT Manager
nsolloway@raffa.com
202.955.8417