Category Archives: Consulting

Amazon AWS, Consulting

Only 15 Companies Qualify as AWS Premier Consulting Partners

AWS’ Premier Consulting Partner designation highlights the top APN Consulting Partners globally that have distinguished themselves by investing significantly in their AWS practice, providing exceptional customer service, helping a large number of significant customers run their applications on top of AWS, and building a healthy revenue generating consulting business on AWS.

To be eligible for this designation, partners must first have achieved the status of Advanced Consulting Partner under APN, and must also meet additional qualitative and quantitative requirements. Premier Consulting Partners are selected annually and next year’s selection process will start in summer 2013.

The companies making the list range from old-line consulting firms like Capgemini to newcomers like Razorfish. See the full list.

Business Processes, Consulting, Customer Relationship Management, Enterprise resource planning, NetSuite

A Beginner’s Guide to Netsuite

As a mid-tier ERP and CRM solution, NetSuite is an affordable software-as-a-service platform for small to mid-sized businesses. The cloud-based interface makes the platform available from anywhere with Internet access. Some of the many business tasks covered by NetSuite include sales and service tracking, order fulfillment management, project collaboration and lead tracking.

NetSuite Benefits

The benefits offered by NetSuite will differ between businesses. However, there are a number of service tiers and pre-configured options from which to choose that can help to provide maximum benefit with minimal start-up and implementation times. Benefits offered across most business types and sizes include:

  • Improved efficiency
  • Reduced maintenance
  • Improved collaboration
  • Greater accountability
  • Faster communication
  • Global access to data, reports and processes

How NetSuite Works

NetSuite is most often provided as a hosted service. This means that the platform is accessed and used through a web interface. Every person within the business uses the same interfaces and databases. This allows for real-time updates, instant access to information and improved interaction between departments and business segments. Setting access rights and roles by account or tier provides simple data management, user accountability and security.

Things to Consider before Choosing NetSuite

Though NetSuite offers many ways to customize and personalize the ERP experience, it is, at its core, a pre-configured product. This means that in-depth customization is often a highly involved process. Many NetSuite service providers will offer demonstrations or free trials to see if the product’s interface and features are a good fit for your business.

To help determine if NetSuite is a proper fit for your business, consider NetSuite consulting services. Professionals can help explain what to expect and provide an in-depth look in how your business can utilize the platform without the worry of service contracts, costly set up fees or time intensive research and training.

More Food for Thought…

As a cloud-based service, NetSuite offers a unified platform that is accessed using a high-speed Internet connection. However, with lack of local back up or local server solutions, any interruption in Internet service will result in an inability to access your NetSuite services.

NetSuite is a modular solution. This means that features can be added or removed on-demand to suit the needs of your business. Unfortunately, this also means that updating the platform can be tricky. Since modules are updated independently, you may find that you are forced to wait to implement an update due to conflicting module configurations and other issues.

The most common way of signing up for NetSuite service is through a value-added reseller. Comparing resellers and service providers is an essential part of finding the best NetSuite configuration. Phone and email support directly through NetSuite require recurring subscription costs as well. By finding a reseller that offers support, you can avoid unforeseen fees and service issues.

NetSuite is a proven platform for businesses of nearly any size. However, like any software suite, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the platform is essential to maximizing benefits.

Amazon Web Services, Cloud & IT Management, Consulting, Google Apps

Cloudreach Says Businesses Don’t Maximize Cloud Investment, They Can Help

To help businesses maximize their investment in cloud technologies, Cloudreach has today launched an Innovation Services program. Starting with Google Apps, this consultancy-based service helps business cloud users consistently review how they’re using Google Apps, make the best of the tools they have and adopting new services from Google as they are released.  Cloudreach will work with new and existing users to help them adopt and benefit from all of the services Google Apps offers as opposed to just the familiar tools – going beyond the familiarity of Gmail, contacts and calendar to other Enterprise functionality and even the less well known Google Maps and Geospatial data management tools.  By working with Cloudreach businesses can ensure they extract maximum value from the cloud-based services and avoid needlessly making costly investments elsewhere, all while enabling a culture of collaboration and giving end-users the flexible tools and features they demand.

Failing to exploit public cloud services thoroughly is proving costly for cloud users, says Cloudreach. As the adoption of public cloud services soars, businesses have the opportunity to realize vast benefits, such as reduced costs and improved efficiency, but many are only scratching the surface by not reviewing and not looking beyond the more familiar tools, says the cloud computing consultancy.

“It’s not just about driving innovation within business, but also about optimizing all the services you use. In the world of using public cloud, one drives the other, so it’s important that businesses remain focused on getting the most on both counts,” comments Pontus Noren, co-founder and CEO, Cloudreach. “The cloud is a great thing, and the reality is it just keeps getting better as more developments are made by Google Apps and Amazon Web Services. This ongoing evolution is only good news for businesses – as long as they continually review to ensure they harness these developments.”

Consulting, Free, Hanu, Tools

Hanu Software Offers Cloud Application Assessment Tool

Hanu Software has launched the “Cloud Application Assessment” Portal as a free service to help Enterprises, Small/Medium Businesses (SMBs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) chart a cloud strategy. The online service delivers a recommendation report based on the answers to a series of twenty-four diagnostic questions developed through Hanu’s work with clients who have successfully adopted cloud.

As consumers and businesses demand cloud-based applications, developers must re-write the underlying code to make legacy applications cloud ready. In addition, they must select the best cloud deployment model for their application, which depends on many factors, including application data, usage patterns, compliance and security. Hanu created the Cloud Application Assessment Portal to simplify the initial decision process for application developers.

“We want to demystify the cloud and make it extremely easy for Clients to assess whether their application is a good fit for the Cloud in 10 minutes or less,” said Anil Singh, founder and CEO of Hanu Software. “It’s the first step in a systematic process. Based on the results from the online assessment, Enterprises, SMBs and ISVs can determine their best course of action.” As a Microsoft Azure Circle partner, Hanu works closely with the Microsoft Azure team to develop best practice recommendations for cloud deployment of applications. The Cloud Assessment is an outgrowth of that work, resulting in a decision tree based on application characteristics, current infrastructure, data foundation, integration and security requirements.

Through the Hanu Cloud Assessment, business or technical users answer the series of twenty-four questions based on their application’s unique characteristics. Results are tabulated and a report presented with recommendations that include:

  • Whether or not the application is a good fit for the cloud.
  • Which deployment model — Public, Private or Hybrid — is most appropriate.
  • Whether IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) or PaaS (Platform as a Service) should be considered.

“We are pleased that we’ve been able to fill a void for Clients looking for a straightforward way to get started with the cloud,” added Anil.

“It is a daunting prospect for Clients to choose the best path to the cloud because there are so many factors playing into the decision. By applying the lessons we’ve learned, we hope to make the journey a bit easier for CIOs/CTOs just getting started with cloud deployment.” In response to the growing cloud development needs of Microsoft’s extensive partner network, Hanu helps Clients with Cloud Awareness, Cloud Assessment and Cloud Adoption. Our network of Microsoft Cloud Architects brings Clients the Azure expertise they need for net new Cloud application development as well as for migrating existing applications to the Cloud. After taking the online assessment, users can sign up for the one day, onsite comprehensive Cloud Strategy Assessment followed by Architecture Design Session and Proof-of-Concept programs. For more information on the Hanu Cloud Services, visit: www.hanusoftware.com/services/cloud-services/.


Cloud & IT Management, Consulting, Infinitely Virtual

Infinitely Virtual Offers Onboarding Service Designed to Get SMBs Up and Running Quickly

Recognizing that some organizations find migrating to the cloud intimidating, Infinitely Virtual, a provider of virtual server cloud computing services for businesses, today announced an innovative Onboarding Service, aimed at eliminating the fear factor from the migration process.

The service, which consists of a free, one-hour tutorial on hosting in the cloud, enables new customers to ask virtually any question of a live company representative and get the relationship off on a sound, secure footing.

“Self-service can be an ideal business model, even in the IT world, but self-serve doesn’t need to be completely hands off,” said Adam Stern, founder and CEO, Infinitely Virtual. “Our goal is to eliminate the fear factor, especially as small and midsize businesses migrate to the cloud, by offering a distinctly high-touch orientation session. As cloud computing grows, it naturally attracts organizations that may not have full-blown technology departments, but it’s especially important that the experience for this population of users is positive and productive from the get-go. With our Onboarding Service, companies can now go from purchase to production in just hours.”

According to Stern, services like Infinitely Virtual’s new user orientation are essential if cloud computing is to achieve true critical mass.

“Building a Virtual Dedicated Server hosting environment requires collaboration among professionals from every discipline,” he said. “What matters is the quality of the total package – the hardware and the software, of course, but also the support and the intangibles that, in the end, define the solution. In the cloud, as on the ground, it’s always buyer beware. Businesses need to know that virtualization/cloud hosting isn’t a commodity business, and that some vendors do emulate the so-called big players both in the quality of the environments they build and the kind of support they provide. It’s entirely possible to provide high function at modest cost, but doing so requires expertise, experience and a genuine understanding of what businesses need.”


Consulting, Database, Linux, MySQL, NoSQL, Open Source, PostgreSQL

Bull Services Facilitate Adoption of Open Source PostgreSQL

Bull HN Information Systems is rolling out IT support services with the launch of its MOVE IT (Modernize, Optimize, Virtualize and Economize Information Technology) campaign to showcase products and services that it recently announced and plans to announce in the future. These products and services help customers derive maximum value from their legacy IT investments and get the most out of their IT operations while opening enterprise data to the cloud and mobile devices.

Bull’s newest MOVE IT service offerings are PostgreSQL support subscriptions; database design and build assessments; database performance and tuning services; and forms and reports migration services. These service offerings support migration to PostgreSQL—recognized as the world’s most advanced open source database—enabling organizations to reduce costs and open enterprise data to the cloud and virtualized environments.

According to Bull’s Data Migration Business Unit Director Jim Ulrey, “MOVE IT services and software help free companies from high licensing and maintenance costs, and offer both dramatic operational efficiencies and the agility required to flourish in competitive business environments.

“We developed MOVE IT enterprise solutions including database migration services, software and our newest support services to meet the needs of IT departments that prefer to manage work internally, as well as those that prefer to outsource—whether due to skill sets, resources or project objectives,” concluded Ulrey.

Bull’s MOVE IT products and services work effectively standalone by providing solutions to specific challenges, and they’re also engineered to work together to provide enterprise IT clients with multiple benefits. From cost-saving database migrations from Oracle to flexible open source PostgreSQL, to LiberTP™ software to migrate transaction-processing applications, Bull’s solutions open enterprise data to modern environments that support the cloud, virtualized environments and mobile devices. Most importantly, Bull can help free companies from high licensing and maintenance costs, offer dramatic operational efficiencies and the agility required to flourish in competitive business environments.