This document provides an introduction to cloud computing. It discusses how cloud computing services allow businesses to outsource their IT infrastructure to a specialist provider, reducing costs and hassles. The document then discusses the benefits of cloud computing such as scalability, cost savings, accessibility, and disaster recovery capabilities. It provides statistics on cloud computing adoption and cost savings. The document then discusses different types of cloud services including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). It uses the analogy of making pizza to explain the differences between on-premise, IaaS, PaaS and SaaS models. The document emphasizes that not all cloud providers are

1. your
workplace
technology
partner
#UnderstandTheCloud
Your simple guide to cloud computing

2. introduction
IT is rapidly moving from a function that is run, managed and maintained
in-house to an outsourced service hosted in a secure environment and
managed by a specialist provider.
Cloud computing services are attractive because they enable businesses to
transfer the responsibility of running on-premises hardware and software to a
specialist provider, who manage the hassles and costs that otherwise burden IT
departments, such as software upgrades and hardware maintenance.
Over the next 5 years, the need for a local on premise IT department will be
dramatically reduced. The days of large upfront costs are gone, meaning high
capex expenditure on infrastructure, expensive maintenance and ever increasing
energy bills will soon be things of the past.
Cloud is a pay as you consume technology which means you can budget your
IT costs into a monthly manageable sum. A private cloud solution enables the
hosting of a range of services from IT data and applications, to disaster recovery
and telephony which provides significant cost savings.
#UnderstandTheCloud
2
HEAD IN THE CLOUD?
“As a business resource, IT today looks a
lot like electric power did at the start of
the last century [when it was routinely
produced by individual businesses rather than
utility providers]... executives are routinely
sidetracked from their real business... by
the need to keep their company’s private IT
infrastructure running smoothly.”
MIT Sloan Management Review, Nicholas Carr.
difference next stepsQ&Adid you know? benefits about

3. In the next
5 years,
75%
of all
IT processing
will be done
in the Cloud.
In 2015,
end-user
spending on
cloud services
will be
more than
£115
billion
Businesses
fully utilising
cloud computing
save on average
more than
15%
on their IT
spending.
82%
of companies
state they
have saved
money by moving
to the cloud.
80%
of cloud
adopters saw
improvements
within 6 months
of moving
to the cloud.
#UnderstandTheCloud
3
DID YOU KNOW?
£
£ SOLD
ebcgroup.co.uk
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4. #UnderstandTheCloud
THE REAL BENEFITS
4
Scalability:
Get the specific amount of power you need, when you need it, enabling
you to increase and decrease levels to suit your businesses demands.
Cost Savings:
Thanks to the utility pricing model of the cloud, you only pay for
what you use. Avoid upfront hardware costs, as well as the costs of
maintenance, software upgrades, power, and the manpower to
manage it all.
Disaster Recovery:
A full back-up solution of not just your data but your entire server
operating system and applications.
Accessibility:
Host all your data and systems via a secure leased line connection which
provides a high-speed private link between you and your provider.
Resilience:
Protecting your business against any potential IT failures that could cause
down-time or disruption, fully backed-up to provide a complete disaster
recovery solution.
Business Focus:
When you rely on the cloud, you can apply your time and money towards
your business priorities, rather than worrying about your IT infrastructure.
ebcgroup.co.uk
£
£
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5. Believe it or not, the basics of cloud computing and the differences
between on-premise, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-
a-service (PaaS) and software-as-as-service (SaaS) can be explained
by using the example of making a pizza.
In each scenario you’re still having pizza, however in some cases your business
takes responsibility and expense for managing all elements of the process, whilst
in the latter you let a specialist do the work for you.
What’s pizza got to do with IT you may ask? Change the diagram into IT and it
starts to become clearer how it translates into the different Cloud services:
The benefit of the ‘dining out’ model or SaaS is that your business outsources
the entire process to a specialist provider who takes responsibility for everything,
including the upfront cost of purchasing the infrastructure, maintaining the
equipment, storage, security and running a team of specialists.
#UnderstandTheCloud
5
ON-PREMISE OR HOSTED – WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Dining Table
Soda
Electric/Gas
Oven
Fire
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Toppings
Cheese
On Prem
You made
at home
Youmanage
Dining Table
Soda
Electric/Gas
Oven
Fire
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Toppings
Cheese
Take & Bake
Youmanage
Managed
byvendor
Dining Table
Soda
Electric/Gas
Oven
Fire
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Toppings
Cheese
Pizza
Delivered
You
manage
Managedbyvendor
Dining Table
Soda
Electric/Gas
Oven
Fire
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Toppings
Cheese
Went Pizza
Dining
Managedbyvendor
Iaas Paas SaaS
Application
Data
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Virtualisation
Servers
Storage
Networking
Youmanage
Software
Platform
Infrastructure
Application
Data
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Virtualisation
Servers
Storage
Networking
Youmanage
Managed
byvendor
Application
Data
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Virtualisation
Servers
Storage
Networking
You
manage
Managedbyvendor
Application
Data
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Virtualisation
Servers
Storage
Networking
Managedbyvendor
IAAS
Infrastructure
as a Service
PAAS
Platform
as a Service
SAAS
Software
as a Service
Dining Table
Soda
Electric/Gas
Oven
Fire
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Toppings
Cheese
On Prem
You made
at home
Youmanage
Dining Table
Soda
Electric/Gas
Oven
Fire
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Toppings
Cheese
Take & Bake
Youmanage
Managed
byvendor
Dining Table
Soda
Electric/Gas
Oven
Fire
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Toppings
Cheese
Pizza
Delivered
You
manage
Managedbyvendor
Dining Table
Soda
Electric/Gas
Oven
Fire
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Toppings
Cheese
Went Pizza
Dining
Managedbyvendor
Iaas Paas SaaS
Application
Data
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Virtualisation
Servers
Storage
Networking
Youmanage
Software
Platform
Infrastructure
Application
Data
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Virtualisation
Servers
Storage
Networking
Youmanage
Managed
byvendor
Application
Data
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Virtualisation
Servers
Storage
Networking
You
manage
Managedbyvendor
Application
Data
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Virtualisation
Servers
Storage
Networking
Managedbyvendor
IAAS
Infrastructure
as a Service
PAAS
Platform
as a Service
SAAS
Software
as a Service
ebcgroup.co.uk
The ‘Pizza as a Service’ example is quite simple and can be explained as:
You can make a pizza at home where you’re responsible for buying all of the
ingredients and providing the equipment and energy to cook the pizza.
You can purchase a pizza from the supermarket but cook and eat it at home.
Have pizza delivered to your home and just provide the environment to eat it in.
You can go to a pizza restaurant that provide everything you need.4
3
2
1
difference next stepsintroduction did you know? benefits aboutQ&A
on-premise Vs cloud hosted types of clouds different IT setups

6. CLOUD HOSTED
ON-PREMISEVs
Exp
ensivecapitalcost
D
ifficulttoscaleasbusinessg
rows
Easytoscaleandaddnewupgra
des
Econo
m
icalreceivemoreresourceforyo
urm
oney
Cos
tlytomaintainandkee
p
updated
Unstableandunreli
able
Aff
ordable,CapexFree–
paymonthly
Stable,fastandsecure
Expensive
tomaintain
Difficult
to upgrade
Scaling is expensive
PBX phone system
Software based
meaning no hardware to
purchase and maintain
Stable,fastand
securetelephone
calls
Features such as Presence
information and Voicemail to Email
Easytoscale
andaddadditionaltelephones
Local
network and
servers
Cloud
hosted
server
£
Data easily
recoverable in a
matter of minutes
Allows SMEs to
introduce Enterprise
level DR plans
Instantaneously
backed-up
Backed-up and
replicated at 2nd
data centre
Hosted DR
your
workplace
technology
partner
#UnderstandTheCloud
More
expensive
than cloud
based
back-up
Complicated
and slow
recovery
process
Backup
via tapes
/ network
Unsecure,
data can
easily get
lost or
stolen
Degradation
of tapes could
cause loss of
data
Lines&calls
SIPTrunks
ISDN30 lines are
twice the cost of
SIP trunks
Expensive for
multi-site
businesses
Calls costs and
line rental are
expensive
Up to 50%
cheaper than
traditional
phone lines
Flexible and
scalable –
instantly add
or remove new
trunks
No charges for calls
between different
geographical offices
Calls 25%
cheaper than
traditional telephony
Hosted in secure
private data centres
Access to an expert team
with a range of knowledge
Service Level Agreement
(SLA) guarantees service
Cost to recruit, manage
and train staff
Cover required during
holiday or sickness
May not have specialism
in all areas of IT
Outsourced
IT support
In-house
IT support
Dedicated team
monitoring
systems and
servers 24/7
Knowledge on
all areas must be
kept up-to-date
24/7
Vs
Vs
Vs
Vs
Vs
On-Premise
Cloud Hosted
Unsecure – security risks,
hacking or viruses
Unreliable and NO Service
Level Agreement (SLA)
Contention means slow
speeds at peak time
Unable to send large
files, video or voice
Guaranteed upload and
download speeds
Fully uncontended line
means no sharing with other users
Service Level Agreement
(SLA) and uptime of 99.9%
Flexibility to turn bandwidth
up or down
Broadband link
to internet
Fibre connection
VsVoiP telephony
6ebcgroup.co.uk
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whats the real difference types of clouds different IT setups

7. #UnderstandTheCloud
Public Cloud Private Cloud Hybrid Cloud
Is based on shared physical hardware which
is hosted publicly and has multiple users
sharing the same resources. It’s a cheaper
option which may suit small businesses but
does not provide a secure environment;
think of services such as Google, Amazon
or Dropbox. Many cloud providers give
access to a shared cloud via the internet
which doesn’t provide a true managed
environment and relies on the businesses
existing firewall to prevent viruses and
security failures.
A bespoke infrastructure purely dedicated to
an individual business which is hosted either
on-site or at a service provider’s data centre.
The private cloud delivers all the agility,
scalability and efficiency of the public cloud,
but provides far greater levels of control
and security, making it ideal for medium and
large businesses or those with strict data
regulation and governance obligations. EBC
Group’s Private Cloud enables customisation
to best suit a business’s specific requirements
including dedicated and/or hosted
environments, something that cannot be
achieved in a public cloud.
Offers businesses the best of both worlds
and provides both security and flexibility.
For example you can use EBC Group’s
Private Cloud whilst also keeping some of
your servers or applications in-house, which
will provide extra control and resilience.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLOUDS?
7ebcgroup.co.uk
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whats the real difference on-premise Vs cloud hosted different IT setups

8. Private CloudPublic CloudOn Premise
#UnderstandTheCloud
DIFFERENT IT SETUPS
8ebcgroup.co.uk
All services are run, managed and
maintained from within the business
On-site hardware, servers and PBX
phone system. Broadband link to the
internet and calls made over ISDN30
lines. Back-up via tapes or network
A traditional on-premise setup is
expensive to run, manage and maintain.
It’s less flexible and difficult to scale to
multiple sites as your business grows
Key
Internet
Firewall
IT Team
Disaster Recovery
Solution
On-site server
Back-up tapes
PBX telephony
Email services
Data backup
Secondary Data
Centre
VoIP telephony
Secure email
services and web
Managed print
Hosted telephony
Information Portal
Connection to providers data
centre is via the internet meaning
you risk losing everything if you
lose access
Reliant on businesses own firewall
protection against internet viruses
and spam
Data back-up only, does not
provide access to applications or
instant availability of data
Dedicated leased line into Private Cloud
Dedicated infrastructure and/or hosted
environment within the private cloud
Fully replicated to a secondary data
centre providing virtual machine,
back-up and disaster recovery solution.
Access to the internet via EBC Group’s
secure leased line
Flexible and inexpensive to scale
to multiple sites
EBC
Cloud
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whats the real difference on-premise Vs cloud hosted types of clouds

9. #UnderstandTheCloud
NOT ALL CLOUD PROVIDERS ARE EQUAL
9
It’s a big step for your business to migrate some or all of its data and
applications to the cloud. When your business is deciding whether
to host your services in the cloud it’s important to consider how your
data is being stored and to find out as much as you can about the
specialist provider and the data centres they use.
Over the next few pages are 10 questions that you should consider
when choosing a cloud provider.
1 Does the provider own their own data centres?
If the cloud provider does not own their own data centre then they and you
will be relying on a third-party, which raises a number of risks to access the
data. Such as can they guarantee that the data is secure? What happens
if something goes wrong, can they access the data immediately? What
happens in the event of disaster, such as fire?
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group own 2 secure dual data centres which
we have immediate access to 24/7, with the secondary data centre
providing replication and fail-over.
2 Where geographically are the data centres located?
Ideally, you want your provider to have direct access to their data centre, whether
this is onsite or within easy reaching distance. Those providers who distance
themselves from the centres are unable to physically access your data should they
need too.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group’s data centres are onsite, secure and
maintained regularly by our in-house team of specialists.
3 What Tier data centre is it?
A tier system provides a simple but effective means for measuring and
benchmarking data centres and identifies whether a particular data centre
is suitable for your business needs. Quite simply, the higher the tier the
more stringent (and therefore secure) the data centre is. Tier 4 is usually
the preserve of companies looking for the highest level of security, such as
banking groups and military organisations.
IDEAL ANSWER: To be secure you should be looking for a minimum of a
tier 3. EBC Group operates as a tier 3 data centre which is suitable for even
highly regulated businesses.
ebcgroup.co.uk
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4 - 7 8 - 10

10. #UnderstandTheCloud
NOT ALL CLOUD PROVIDERS ARE EQUAL
Questions continued >
10
5 Do they own the hardware or are they just reselling
someone else’s service?
It is common to find IT companies that are resellers of various hardware and
software brands. Although some do offer a good range of services, your
provider may not have control over a resold service, which means if anything
goes wrong they are unable to do anything about it. Most importantly, if you
wish to get hold of your critical data, you are obliged to go via a third party.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group is fully equipped with our own hardware,
and does not out-source to a third party.
6 How often are they backed up?
Back-ups should be performed on a regular basis, and should be frequently
carried out by your provider.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group backs-up every night as a minimum, or more
frequently depending on the requirements of our client.
4 Does the provider have direct physical access to the
data centres?
Operating an in house data centre can have numerous advantages, including
greater control, capacity, power and security. Direct physical access allows
your provider a higher degree of control over facilities, ensuring the centre is
secure, and that any issues are addressed with immediate effect.
Essentially, if your provider outsources to a third-party, you are not only
entrusting your sensitive data with the provider, but also a further source that
you know very little about.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group has direct access to our dual data centres,
running them directly from our premises in Halesowen and Northampton.
7 How many data centres do they use?
A good provider should ideally have more than one data centre, making the
over-all service secure and robust. If one data centre were to fail, you can be safe
in the knowledge that any additional centre can still continue supporting your
critical data. Additional data centres will also provide the capacity to keep pace
with your business if you choose to expand.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group has 2 state-of-the-art data centres,
located at our headquarters in Halesowen and in our regional
premises in Northampton.
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11. #UnderstandTheCloud
NOT ALL CLOUD PROVIDERS ARE EQUAL
Questions continued >
11
8 What is their uptime or SLA (service level agreement)?
An SLA or ‘uptime’ is simply the contracted agreement that indicates what
the provider is obliged to offer. A good provider should be able to address all
aspects of hosted data centre services, such as network connectivity, power
& cooling and server hardware.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group retain an industry leading uptime of
99.99962%
9 What security checks do they do?
In order to meet the changing requirements of compliance and data
protection, data centres are now typically designed with perimeter security,
access systems into rooms, CCTV and locked cabinets as standard.
However, it isn’t just physical checks that are considered important, but also
the invisible checks on electronic security.
A reliable data centre provider should be carrying out regular penetration
tests on your network firewall, helping to improve and maintain security and
access. Crucially a provider should be able to show evidence of these tests,
in addition to the electronic security measures that are in place.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group is equipped with some of the most up
to date and secure technology to ensure our data centre stays fully
protected at all times, allowing us to exceed industry standards.
Do they have multiple independent network and power
feeds to their infrastructure?
It is essential to confirm if your provider has multiple fibre and power leads.
Multiple fibre leads ensures your provider and data centre are still able to
operate in the event of roadwork damage to any fibre cabling. Whereas, multiple
power feeds, preferably one from mains power and the other from a generator,
will ensure that any downtime is counteracted by making a seamless switch
automatically.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group has multiple fibre feeds to their data centre,
including a Virgin and BT presence. We also have the means to switch to a
powerful onsite generator in the unlikely scenario that we experience power
loss, as well as having the support of an additional data centre for full backup
and security.
10
EBC Group privately owns two state-of-the-art, secure
data centres based onsite and maintained by our highly
trained, certified team. There are multiple fibre feeds to
our data centre, including a Virgin and BT presence and onsite
generator. Fully backed-up each evening (more frequently on
request). We retain an industry leading uptime of 99.99962%.
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12. EBC Group are an award winning provider of IT, telecommunications,
print solutions and document management services. As a total
solutions provider, our model is designed to provide a viable solution
for your business, helping to improve efficiency and save money.
We have a proven track record of providing businesses with a new
IT infrastructure at no extra cost.
We privately own our entire IT infrastructure which means we can provide businesses
with their own private cloud, hosted within our primary data centre with a fail-over from
our secondary data centre, providing a true disaster recovery solution.
EBC Group also has the ability to connect all of a business’s outlets directly to its private
cloud through private managed fibre circuits. This enables us to host a range of other
services, including Disaster Recovery, Telephony and Print. Bringing all of your services
together and managed by EBC Group will provide you with the most cost effective
solution for your business.
Through continual investment, development and training in the upcoming areas of IT,
EBC Group ensures it is at the forefront of future trends and can bring a substantial level
of the highest qualifications and certifications from most major
IT and communications providers including Dell, Cisco, Microsoft,
VMware, Veeam, BT and Virgin. Our expertise helped us win the
‘Best Private Cloud Project’ at the Datacentre Solutions Awards.
#UnderstandTheCloud
12
WHO ARE EBC GROUP?
“We work closely with businesses of all
sizes across both the private and public
sector, treating every customer with the
same high level of service and attention
to detail. Our commitment to provide a
tailored and bespoke solution for each
project we implement is how we have
successfully built our customer base for
over 25 years”.
your
workplace
technology
partner
ebcgroup.co.uk
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13. #UnderstandTheCloud
ebcgroup.co.uk 13
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW?
Identify
Start by identifying the people within your business
who should be involved in the migration – including
in-house technical expertise and key stakeholders.
Review
Review your IT environment to determine what data
and systems could be hosted within the cloud.
Select
Select a cloud hosting provider that meets your
needs for reliability, trustworthiness, transparency,
and accountability.
Call us on: 0121 585 4412
or email: cloud@ebcgroup.co.uk
Your next steps with EBC Group...
1 Discover more about Cloud Computing by visiting
ebcgroup.co.uk/IT-services
2 Learn more in-depth information by attending one of our free
‘Understand the Cloud’ workshops. ebcgroup.co.uk/events
3 Speak to us for free advice or let us investigate your current
set-up to create a tailored solution for you.
your
workplace
technology
partner
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