Server Cloud Canada is please to announce the launch of our new partner workshop series ‘Taking the Mystery Out of Cloud’

Date: Thursday, November 20th
Time: 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM (Networking from 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM)
Location: Holiday Inn and Suites Ottawa Kanata
Investment: $75 (refreshments will be served)

Please bring a cheque for $75 on the day of the event. Cheques are to be made payable to United Way Ottawa.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER – SPOTS ARE LIMITED

 Taking The Mystery Out Of The Cloud

What would you do in private? Would you shed all of your servers? Cloud-based server platforms are well-known for eliminating the need for physical equipment, being easy to access, cost-effective and important for business continuity.

But just what is the Cloud? It’s most certainly a word everyone seems to be throwing around, but it can be overwhelming to understand clearly.

Through this session, you’ll learn:

• What does “cloud-based” infrastructure really mean?
• What do you need to know before moving to the Cloud?
• What steps are taken to protect your data and privacy?
• Is your data properly backed up?
• Who has access to your data in the Cloud?
• Where does your data reside when it’s in the Cloud?

BizXcel Presents: The Secrets to making great decisions and getting others to take action through data

Data is an integral part of everyone’s daily business activities anymore. Reports, spreadsheets, presentations and business intelligence platforms have filtered into everything we do. And this is a good thing, because this information means you can make decisions with more confidence and communicate why people should be taking certain actions more clearly.

Data can give you confidence, assurance and leverage, but you need to know how to use it first. For most of us, we weren’t taught how to use data effectively. While inundated with it daily, it never comes with an instructional manual.

This causes all kinds of confusion. When the data was collected the right questions might not have been asked to see what was needed, or there are too many different visuals to get a clear picture, or perhaps you don’t know how to communicate the information in a way that shows people what it means. If you’ve ever glazed over during a PowerPoint presentation, you know what I mean.

Join BizXcel as they show you how to work magic on your data from the start.  To take the frustration out of the decision-making process, saving you time and letting you rest assured you have the right information to make the right decisions.  As well as how to present information to others so they’ll take the action you need.

You’ll learn:

• How to ask the right questions at the beginning in order to set up proper key performance indicators
• Best practices for collecting data
• How to set up reports and dashboards that are easy to understand
• Understanding what the data is telling you and what it means
• The different decision-making processes and bias’ of others and how to work with them
• How to use visuals effectively to communicate
• How to craft a narrative around your data so others understand what it means and are prompted to take action

The post Join SCC and Our Partners In Kanata on November 20th, 2014 appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

We at Server Cloud Canada are very happy to announce our extended partnership with Veeam.  A relationship built on success and synergies with our 100% geographically diverse Canadian cloud based infrastructure.

With Veeam’s ‘Cloud Connect’ recovery platform, you will never have to worry about your offsite data repositories again!

What is Veeam Cloud Connect?

Veeam Cloud Connect, part of the new Veeam Availability Suite v8, gives Veeam partners a fully integrated, secure and efficient means to move VM backups to a cloud repository managed service providers within the Server Cloud Canada cloud infrastructure; which enables a scalable environment that allows them to grow and avoid upfront capital investments in their own offsite infrastructure for greater margin realization.

Through Veeam Cloud Connect, Server Cloud Canada partners get a simple, powerful platform to deliver fast and secure VM backups to the Server Cloud Canada 100% Canadian Cloud based infrastructure.

What Does the Extended Partnership Mean for Server Cloud Canada’s Partners and Customers?

Diversity and redundancy for those organizations currently running Veeam backups in house  by easily extending backups to an offsite distributed locations within Canada

• Revenue generation for SCC Partners looking to offer Veeam cloud backups as a simplified managed product to their customers. Ease and expedience in deployment and fulfillment.
• Disaster recovery and business continuity for organizations looking for high availability and ubiquitous access to their data in the event of disruption.

New ‘Cloud Connect’ vs Traditional Data Repositories

What makes cloud connect different than traditional Veeam data repositories?

• Simplified VPN-less connections to the cloud
• New individual user management , user quotas, and reporting
• Automated load balancing between cloud gateways
• RESTful API
• End-to-end encryption
• True Scalability
• 1 click client setup

 Why Choose Server Cloud Canada?

As one of the largest Canadian cloud based infrastructures, Server Cloud Canada (SCC) is a leader in the enterprise and service provider virtual datacentre environment.  Specializing in standard and custom based solutions that help companies of all sizes effectively and efficiently transition to a private cloud-based infrastructure.

We’re one of the biggest geographically redundant deployments of HP Matrix infrastructure in the country, and we’re 100% owned and operated within Canada.

• Multiple geographically distributed and redundant infrastructure deployments within Canada – 100% Canadian owned centralized data center
• National (coast-to-coast) diverse 10 Gbps private network
• High performance repositories with multiple storage tiers
• Monthly pricing
• Firewall and bandwidth included
• Self-service portal for ease of partner access, provisioning and management
• Additional cloud services available for full environment service integration.

The post High Availability Data Storage and Recovery Platform – Veeam Cloud Connect appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

Site-local redundancy isn’t enough for mission critical infrastructure or applications.

It seems that maybe even more today, the threat of regional power outages, fiber network disruption, or natural disasters grows greater. Savvy enterprise and ‘cloud-builders’ therefore attempt to ensure minimal downtime by spreading their applications data across multiple ‘geo-diverse’ locations.

There are a many architectural choices that can be used to achieve this geo-diversity. These solutions will often be selected in terms of costs, RTO, RPO, and available bandwidth transfer speeds as outlined in our previous article ‘The Evolution of Disaster Recovery Planning’.

For those that operate a single infrastructure cloud environment, Server Cloud Canada would represent a distributed extension.

Benefits of geodiversity on the SCC platform

The post From Our Cloud to Yours; Building Geo-redundancy Into Your Existing Cloud Infrastructure or Application. appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

You’ve read all about the benefits and advantages of cloud computing for small business. But now, how do you actually realize the results?

Well some business’ have gone cloud wholeheartedly, completely removing server hardware from the office and working 100% ‘in-the-cloud’, not every organization is in a position to follow suit. Maybe you’ve just recently invested a large amount of capital into new server hardware; perhaps you do not have sufficient internet bandwidth available yet. Regardless of your current situation, there are still a magnitude of solutions available that almost every business can utilize.

File Sync and Share

We all know and love the benefits of being able to share files between multiple computers, cell phones, and users, by using services like Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive. However, the inherit security concerns of syncing  and sharing your valuable business data and customers PII  in a public environment. For organizations concerned with the sovereignty and security of their data, private sync and share options are available and cost effective.

Application Hosting

Organizations have begun hosting specific applications in the cloud usually to mitigate and segregate the load and support costs on existing in-house systems, or to allow employees or contractors outside of the office to access data easily. Some very common applications that are often ‘clouded’ include accounting packages (QuickBooks/Simply Accounting), ERP platforms (Microsoft Dynamics, SAP), Scheduling Software, CRMs, etc…

Email Hosting

With the availability of hosted exchange and similar platforms, the need for your own in-house email server has dwindled. More and more organizations are moving to and benefiting from hosted email solutions such as Hosted Exchange or Hosted Zimbra.

Data Backup and Disaster Recovery

Well traditionally over looked, data backup or disaster recovery solutions can now be custom tailored to meet your specific needs and budget. Simply make daily copies of your data to the cloud, or replicate whole servers for fail-over.

Things to look out for when selecting a cloud provider.

Here is a great list of questions you should ask any potential cloud vendor:

• Where geographically are your data centers?
• What security measures are in place to protect data – both physically and digitally?
• Who will have access to the data?
• What happens to the data once the contract with the cloud provider is terminated / void?

Server Cloud Canada (SCC) is a leader in the enterprise virtual datacentre environment, specializing in turnkey solutions that help companies of all sizes effectively and efficiently transition to a private cloud-based infrastructure.

We’re one of the biggest geographically redundant deployments of HP Matrix infrastructure in the country, and we’re 100% owned and operated within Canada.

The post Cloud Solutions for Small Business appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

Read the Server Cloud Canada and HP Helion Case Study “SCC – One of Canada’s largest distributed commercial HP Helion deployments”

The post Server Cloud Canada – HP Helion Case Study appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

If you are a Software provider, you know that your underlying infrastructure will play a material role in your end user experience and differentiate your platform from that of your competitors.  Let’s face it, competition isn’t as traditional as it once was, virtual environments continue to change the landscape, offering efficiencies in both a capital and operational expenditures.  In a world of doing more with less, software as a service (SaaS) providers will be an industry tipping point.

Emerging service platform providers are demanding that their infrastructure environments are truly distributed, along with being scalable, secure and redundant.  A distributed infrastructure environment that allows for automatic failover, load balancing and a means of regional content distribution.   The early days of DIY cloud providers are coming to an abrupt end while the more traditional and popular global hosting environments tend to negate the need for “in country” requirements.

Enter, the emergence of  “in Country” distributed infrastructure based companies who have been the beneficiaries of choice for SaaS based platform providers looking for specific “in country” requirements.  Resource based companies that have spent the capital and resources in building a nationally distributed infrastructure, interconnected by dedicated private fibre networks.

Relying on a third party for your success is scary to say the least, awareness and due diligence paves the way for predictable reassurance.

The post Getting SaaS-y With “In Country” Distributed Environments! appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

The post From Closed Doors To Open Clouds appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

Start focusing on what makes sense. Leave expensive and costly infrastructure hosting and maintenance to us. Server Cloud Canada’s Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) allows organizations to migrate and host their existing data platforms privately, within Canada.

Server Cloud Canada owns and operates one of Canada’s largest distributed cloud based infrastructures, offering clients of all sizes and complexities a means of transitioning on premise equipment and platforms to a fully redundant secured national cloud based hosted environment. Our team of professional engineers are trained and experienced in information technology, data evolution, and infrastructure optimization.

The post Canadian Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

The advent of cloud computing and the increase in transborder data flow, or the flow of data across national borders from the source country, has brought a rise in concerns about privacy.

Data, while stored in another country, is subject to that country’s laws and regulations in regards to how data is managed, stored, and most importantly, how it is secured and kept private.

Increasingly, large amounts of Canadian data is being stored in the United States, where the privacy of the data is threatened by the Patriot Act and the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). These acts allow American entities such as the NSA and the FBI to access data stored anywhere within the United States, without the knowledge of the owner of the data.

The ability for US governmental agencies to access data without warrant or notification to the owning party has resulted in the governments of British Columbia and Nova Scotia ordering that all data related to Health Services remain in Canada, even going as far as to keep them at the Provincial level. This is supported by a 2013 study that reveals that almost 25% of Canadian and UK businesses are moving their data out of the United States due to the passing of bills such as the PATRIOT Act and CISPA.  This study indicates that data privacy and security is incredibly important to businesses. Businesses are moving their data to Canada, not only for the better privacy laws but for redundancy across a large infrastructure.

Server Cloud Canada is a Canadian based company and all of our servers and customers’ data reside in Canada. We currently exceed industry standards and ensure best practices when it comes to Regulatory, Compliance, Security and Data Integrity relative to the current legal framework. SCC is committed to contributing to the evolution in the legal protections of both CSP and client.

The post Why Your Business Should Keep Its Data in Canada appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

Learn how MDBilling.ca was able to migrate their healthcare SaaS model to a new cloud environment to satisfy their need for flexibility & scalability in a growing market.

Visit www.MDBilling.ca

See other case studies from Server Cloud Canada

The post Case Study: MDBilling.ca appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

Learn how the North American Stamping Group (NASG), a manufacturing organization with multiple facilities throughout North America created a modern and centralized infrastructure in the Canadian cloud.

Visit nasg.net

See other case studies from Server Cloud Canada

The post Case Study: North American Stamping Group (NASG) appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

Learn how Alliance Wireless Communications was able to improve latency, eliminate downtime, and achieve their necessary security requirements with Server Cloud Canada.

Visit www.alliancewireless.com

See other case studies from Server Cloud Canada

The post Case Study: Alliance Wireless Communications appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

Happy Holidays!

2016 has truly been an exciting year for us here at Server Cloud Canada, growing and working hard to ensure that we continually exceed the experience of our valued customers and valued partners. SCC is looking forward to another year of growth and continued commitment to all of you.

We would like to wish everyone the best in this holiday season and a successful New Year!

The post Happy Holidays from Server Cloud Canada appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

Learn how Server Cloud Canada met the needs of A Public Health Organization (the name of the organization has been removed for privacy reasons) with an improved disaster recovery solution through the SCC Vault providing secure, fexible, compliant, and fully manageable cloud based DR planning tool.

See other case studies from Server Cloud Canada

The post Case Study: A Canadian Public Health Organization appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

With cybersecurity threats on the rise, many companies are turning to cyber insurance for protection and peace of mind. Cyber insurance offers protection for technology-related losses, which are not included in general liability insurance. Learn how cyber insurance can help your business get up and running after a cybersecurity incident, and how to reduce premiums if you decide to invest in protection.

How Cyber insurance Protects Your Business

Cyber insurance offers protection for a range of IT disasters, from a fire in the data center to a data breach. The insurance covers both direct losses and claims made against your business by others who were impacted by an incident.

It can devastate your business financially if you are the victim of a data breach or cyber attack and have to cover the losses yourself. As many as 60 percent of small businesses are forced to close after a cyber attack due to cash flow problems resulting from the attack.

While cyber insurance is a relatively new category, it is projected to grow from $2 billion in 2015 to over $20 billion by 2025 as companies protect themselves.

Insurance premiums differ by many factors, including:

• Industry
• Annual gross revenue
• Services
• Type of data stored
• Risks
• Security measures used
• Privacy policies

Companies that have few safeguards against a cyber attack pay much more than those that are trying to protect their business, yet view insurance as some extra peace of mind. If you want to get cyber insurance for your business, but need a low premium, you can take steps to reduce your rate.

Since the industry is new, offerings differ widely by insurer. While standardization is expected to occur with maturity, businesses that want insurance now must carefully consider how offerings of insurers meets their needs. By tailoring insurance protection to your company’s needs and comfortable spend, you can find an affordable cyber insurance policy that protects your business from common risks.

How to Shop for Cyber Insurance

When selecting a cyber insurance provider, it’s important to weigh the premiums against the coverage you’ll receive and the experience of the insurer in this market.

Ask the insurance broker about their experience with cyber insurance. Since there is no “one size fits all” policy, a qualified broker should ask questions about your needs and direct you toward a policy that covers your specific cyber or data risks. Find out whether they have tools or resources you can use to learn more, mitigate your risk, and protect your business.

Ask specific questions about what breaches are covered and which claims are excluded. Make sure you understand the answers in plain language. If you’re trying to comprehend tech jargon, you may misconstrue the meaning of something and wind up with a coverage gap.

Before you select a policy, ask about discounts that could lower your premiums. Many cyber insurance providers reward customers who make demonstrable cyber security investments with lower premiums. For instance, if you have threat protection, data protection, or data security in place, you can enjoy a lower rate. You’ll also get a discount if you have a strong data recovery plan that will reduce your risks and recovery time, frequently.

While providers will usually have specific benchmarks for discounts, these best practices will help you gauge your likelihood of getting a discount on cyber insurance. In some cases, insurers may not even want to take on the risk of insuring your business until you’ve reduced your risk by incorporating some of these practices.

• Educate your employees – Humans are the weak link in the cyber security game. Invest in educating staff about risks, reinforcing good habits, and creating a risk-averse culture to stay safe.
• Update and patch regularly – Is your software out of date or missing the latest patch? If so, you’re at risk of a cyber attack. Work with IT to make sure that every device that connects to your network is kept up to date. Institute policies for enterprise devices and employee devices if you allow BYOD.
• Build security into new initiatives – It’s much easier to build strong systems outright than shore up vulnerable IT systems. Always build security into your initiatives prior to launch, then test regularly to make sure everything is working as it should.
• Monitor access – Many workplaces are too permissive with access control, which increases the risk of a malicious attack. Make sure that employees have only the access they need to do their jobs. Manage access when employees change roles or leave the organization to reduce risk.
• Invest in a strong disaster recovery strategy – Disaster recovery is key to getting back up and running after a disaster. It’s more than simply having an automated backup. It’s making sure you have the data you need, know how to get to it, can rebuild quickly, and have redundant copies of business assets in case of emergency. Implement a strong disaster recovery strategy to lower your risk and make your business look more attractive from an insurance perspective.

Trends show that attackers will get more creative and determined in 2017, changing your data or holding your assets for ransom. By taking steps to improve your cyber security position and investing in cyber insurance in case you are attacked, you can protect your business from risks and ensure continuity in case of emergency.

The post A Disaster Recovery Plan Can Reduce Your Business’s Cyber Insurance Premiums appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

For a company to succeed in today’s Idea Economy, IT is turning to hybrid infrastructure to accelerate time to market. But for a hybrid cloud infrastructure strategy, it requires the best environment be in place for each workload, whether traditional, mobile or cloud-native apps. Download this insightful white paper and learn the stages in determining the right mix of hybrid infrastructure, and the three key areas on which to focus your hybrid IT strategy.

The post Transforming To The Right Mix of Infrastructure appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

The pace of change in technology, from cloud computing to social media, has raised the profile of — and demands on — the CIO role in many organizations. IT is now a crucial player in the process of implementing and delivering on a company’s business strategy. Meanwhile, CIOs have their hands full as they work to stay in step with ever advancing technologies and best practices. Companies evolving from a “traditional” in-house IT infrastructure to a hybrid model call for CIOs that are open to change and that take an active role in shaping business strategy. A hybrid IT infrastructure, […]

The post Evolving to a Hybrid IT Model appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

Healthcare organizations must modernize their cybersecurity systems or risk falling behind the times compared to other industries that have made significant investments in safeguarding their IT assets. Reports have predicted that the healthcare sector will face more cyberattacks than any other industry, as hackers exploit system weaknesses. Find out need-to-know information regarding healthcare cybersecurity and get the wake-up call you need to protect your healthcare organization. The Rising Cost of Healthcare Industry Data Breaches According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, over one-quarter of all data breaches target the healthcare industry, resulting in estimated losses totaling $5.6 billion. Accenture, a […]

The post Holding the Canadian Healthcare Sector for Ransom – An Eye on Cybersecurity appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

When you make the decision to move your business to the cloud, you’ll need to decide what type of cloud model is the right fit for your business — public, private, or a hybrid model that blends advantages of both. Public clouds have exploded in recent years, but there is a robust market for private clouds as well. Explore how public and private clouds come down on top issues to make the right call for your business. Public vs. Private Cloud Security Since the public cloud is shared by several users, it’s less secure than a private cloud that’s restricted […]

The post Private Cloud vs Public Cloud: Which One To Choose? appeared first on Server Cloud Canada.

The legal industry has lagged behind other industries when it comes to moving IT to the cloud, in part due to regulatory and compliance concerns. Private, secure clouds afford law firms the convenience of the cloud while offering superior protection from cyber security threats. Learn how cost-effective a cloud can be, how it can improve the way your law firm runs, and how it protects against cyber security threats. How the Cloud Boosts Collaboration and Productivity How many lawyers work on a typical case? If you bring on multiple attorneys to handle a complex matter, the cloud makes it easy […]

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