Odds are if you are serious about the cloud, you’re already using at least one of Microsoft Azure, AWS, HPE Helion, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud or somebodies cloud. There are benefits to each of the many cloud providers, however, it’s not only just good practice to have more than one, it’s also probably a necessity as each has its own unique features. Quite simply, not one vendor has the perfect answer to absolutely everything. If that were the case, there would be no competition!

Cloud providers understand that you’ve made significant investment in your on-premise and data centre operations. They know that you’re probably not all that ready to rip everything out and move everything to the cloud. This is why there have been some major initiatives regarding optimising the way businesses connect privately into the public cloud.

The rate of cloud adoption has increased rapidly, with more and more computing being pushed into the cloud, a trend identified in Serviceteam IT’s Cloud Snapshot Survey 2017. This growth in cloud computing has led to the development of networks of large data centres. However, this is already starting to slow, with an ever-increasing amount of computing moving back to the ‘edge’ of local networks. Processing will always occur wherever it is best placed for a given application at a given time and cloud has given us flexibility of computing resources; but we can’t help but think that reliable, elastic and on-demand networking is imperative to deliver the future.

Cloud Platforms & Applications: Most UK companies are working with a hybrid cloud approach and with multiple vendors, in combination with in house data centres for their cloud platform. Adoption of cloud is now varied and widespread, as the research from the UK Cloud Snapshot Survey 2017 demonstrates. The survey asked what platforms were being used for delivery of cloud based solutions.

Office 365 pricing is competitive and the first choice for organisations that need a cloud-based suite of productivity and collaboration applications. Office 365 Pricing: Of course I’m someone who uses this suite in the office, and almost everywhere in fact. I’m not at all surprised to see so many other organisations choosing Office 365, even if […]

The business case for cloud services is evolving from the initial fascination with cost saving to a growing recognition of the dramatic role that the cloud can play in supporting the transformation of business. More agile, innovative business models. The recent cloud market forecasts make it easy to see a fundamental shift in how businesses […]

A Smart Network allows you to use multiple services over a single connection, using secure VLANs to split the circuit. The benefit is the consolidation of voice, video, telephony, data and Internet services meaning you get a flatter, simpler, and easier-to-manage network. Smart Network Explainer Video How does it work? Why do you need multiple […]

Part One | Part Two In Part One we learnt: Install and update Windows Server with Active Directory Federation Services version 2.0 (AD FS 2.0) with update Rollup 2, KB2681584. Set-up AD FS for Office 365 for Single Sign-On. To continue . . . Add five claim rules to the Active Directory Claims Provider trust. Use the following procedure to […]

Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0 provides a way to configure access restriction policies. Office 365 & Exchange Online customers using Single Sign-On (SSO) who require these policies can now use Client Access Policy rules to restrict access based on the location of the computer or device that is making the request and prevent access […]

Office 365 SSO: The secure configuration of this cloud-hosted service aligns with government’s guidance on implementing the Cloud Security Principles. You can find out more regarding implementation of Federation in order to Restrict Access to Office 365. 1. What is Office 365 SSO (Single Sign-On)? A Microsoft Online user usually signs in using the username and […]