Fast broadband and the cloud can save start-ups cash

Fast broadband and the cloud can save start-ups cash

Investing in fast broadband can help small firms reduce start-up costs, according to the chief executive of Real Status, an IT modelling firm, Royce Murphy.

Royce has spoken out in support of the importance of establishing a fast broadband connection in an office in order to benefit from new cloud computing technologies on offer. Start up costs can include the purchase of a huge amount of equipment and the employment if IT specialists, IT maintenance and help desk people.

However, with the adoption of cloud computing, virtual desktops can be deployed, saving on equipment and maintenance costs. He added that adopting technologies such as virtual desktops and leased line networking can help to cut costs and space needed to house IT staff. He said, "Those variables are easy to change when you're effectively renting the equipment and someone else is managing the physical infrastructure.”

Speaking about the impact cloud computing had on his own firm, Murphy said, “It helped to keep our costs down significantly. Costs are lower in the equipment that we had to buy, costs are lower in the skills that we would need to employ and in our whole environment, physical space, dealing with security.”

He went on to explain how cloud approaches can help to keep down the initial costs by outlining how extra capacity can be quickly “rented” from the cloud when there is demand for it. This prevents small firms having to take risks by buying expensive equipment that they do not yet need. Murphy explained, "Rather than purchasing what we need for maximum capacity, we are able to purchase for potentially a base level and then effectively rent [from the cloud] what we need when we need more capacity.”

Businesses looking to move services into the cloud, should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.