Will the Cloud Disrupt Your Business?

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Google CIO Ben Fried talks about the economics of cloud computing and how it’s changing business around the globe. It especially affects the CIO, who Fried says “has to decide what their core business truly is, and where to invest their capital.” He goes on to say that to gain more productivity they need to give up some customization. “Do you really want to worry about customizing email and word processing?” The core premise of his argument is that few companies have the expertise or bandwidth to take enough cost out of certain operations to perform the duties that a cloud provider company is an expert at doing.

One commenter, L, responded to the post with some insights I think are telling in this new cloud world. He agreed with Fried that most folks will not want to customize common applications, but they do care about the many important details of entering into the cloud computing world such as:

·         Security

·         Backup and Restore

·         SLA’s for bandwidth and performance

·         Who answers the call for support, and how quickly do they respond?

At Retarus we agree with both Mr. Fried and L. As companies continue to take cost out of business, the cloud offers a path that is both efficient and fast. That’s why we offer a solution for cloud faxing that addresses the need of optimizing an essential but non-core business function. Retarus also answers L’s questions on how to best handle the other considerations that come with outsourcing a key business process to a cloud provider.

Yes, moving to the cloud may temporarily disrupt your business but it will help you increase productivity. Retarus has spent 20 years perfecting cloud faxing while paying careful attention to security, performance, and customer service. We can also help you integrate our solution seamlessly into your SAP and ERP systems.

Contact us today at 212-504-2978 or info@retarus.com to see how we can help change the way you do business, in a good way.

Is Cloud Faxing Still Faxing?

Cloud faxing is almost an oxymoron. Is it still a fax if you send it over the cloud? The term faxing invokes a point to point communication that is blissfully simple to use and elegantly rudimentary. You put a piece of paper into a machine on one end and it shows up on a machine on the other. Once you send a document directly from your PC or backend system to a server, the only faxing left is if the destination is in fact a fax machine. So let’s look at who is using fax, and why it’s moved to the cloud.

Who’s Using Fax?

Many small companies still use fax as a primary means of communication, either because of ease of use or that’s the way they’ve always done things. Many large enterprises also still use fax as a primary means to collect employee information like expense reports or medical forms. Being a globally accepted format has helped keep fax in the mainstream of business communications, which will keep it relevant for many years to come.

Moving to the Cloud

Like all things these days, fax has moved to the cloud. Any business that receives or sends faxes is a candidate for cloud faxing, and businesses of all sizes can benefit from  all that cloud faxing offers.

Global expansion and supply chain can mean having to deal with partners of varying size and technological sophistication. Due to faxing’s universal appeal, it is easy to communicate with business partners through this method of communication, but it can also be a challenge to businesses to find ways to accept faxes from all over the world, and integrating them into their work flow.

With the ease of setup and a pay for use model, cloud faxing can serve a wide variety of business needs.

Working with a managed cloud fax provider can make your transition from fax machines or a fax server quick and painless. An experienced cloud fax service can provide you with best practice advice and also help you pick the applications and services that best suit your business and work flow.

Retarus has been providing over 3,500 businesses worldwide with Cloud Fax services since 1992. Contact us today at 212-504-2978 or info@retarus.com to see how we can help improve your business processes by moving to the Retarus cloud today!

Facebook: Can it Show You How to Get Your Business in the Cloud?

I hear the term cloud computing a lot these days. It gets almost as much press as Facebook. But since Facebook itself is a form of cloud service, maybe the cloud gets more attention.

Facebook would be a SaaS type of cloud service since you use their software to accomplish your daily tasks on their cloud infrastructure. In the case of Facebook, you connect with your friends and family. The beauty of how Facebook works is a testament to how the cloud can help business.

With Facebook you don’t have to install software (at least not the web version), and although you do have to own some type of hardware to access it, it is available to many different platforms without the user doing  hardly anything. Its available 24 hours a day and all the features and functionality are managed in the network by Facebook, with no user intervention required. So, what does Facebook do for the average user?

·         It is infinitely scalable; you can upload 1 or hundreds of photos a day, no provisioning required.

·         You can turn features on and off through a relatively easy to use control panel.

·         You can access it from multiple touch points, and it integrates easily into many other platforms and programs you use on a daily basis.

·         No worries about backup, the service takes care of that.

·         It’s built on a distributed, redundant network that can withstand millions of users and actions a day.

·         It handles highly sensitive information and so far has done a pretty good job protecting it.

·         Facebook keeps up with regulatory issues, like when they stated their terms of service prohibited employers from accessing your personal data. 

·         It’s customizable with apps, and for fan pages offers a decent reporting function.

All these things go on in the background and hardly anyone who uses Facebook thinks of it as a cloud service. But it is. And like a good managed cloud service, it’s easy to get started and use. Since it works on a SaaS model, you can simply just sign up, start uploading your data and liking friends, and you’re off to the races.

Want to get these advantages for your business messaging services? Retarus offers one of the largest cloud messaging services in the world, ready to serve your company’s needs with just a phone call. Contact us today at 212-504-2978 or email us at info@retarus.com to see how we can help you get the advantages Facebook customers get every day.

Everyone’s in the Cloud. When will you Join?

Last week brought news that Google launched its cloud storage service for consumers, Google Drive. Shortly after that, Microsoft changed the free storage on their SkyDrive platform from 25GB to only 7GB. But if you have anything in your SkyDrive now, you get to keep the 25GB for free. Google Drive, DropBox, and Sugar Sync all provide 5GB, but you can upgrade from there.  It is becoming increasingly easier for consumers to do their day-to-day tasks in the cloud. Besides cloud storage, Google Docs and Microsoft Live offer office tools that work both in the cloud and also store documents as well. The key to these services is that they are easy to understand, easy to implement, and are priced right.

Meanwhile from an enterprise standpoint Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are going after the cloud for business market with fervor. They have all been dropping prices and ramping up to serve the business customer.

All three of these businesses let you build your own cloud services on their PaaS (platform as a service) model, potentially saving you a bundle, as long as you don’t mind maintaining your own code. 

Join the Cloud with Little Effort

While many small and some large businesses take advantage of the cloud for online storage and file sharing, some enterprises still shy away. Others, however, are turning to SaaS (software as a service) where they can receive complete service for a specific vertical need. SaaS offers your business the ability to ramp up a service literally overnight, and scale it up and down without having to maintain or develop code.

If your business has yet to enter the cloud then you should consider the advantages of the SaaS model:

·         Lower, if any, upfront costs

·         Fast startup

·         Savings over having to develop your own code

·         Latest technology advances without development cost

Look for applications that lend themselves to a cloud strategy, or need to be integrated into other resources. Either could provide you the opportunity to enter into the cloud environment without a great deal of time, money, or effort. Then identify vendors that can deliver these services on a managed service basis so that you can enjoy the benefits of the cloud without worry or concern.

Retarus is a provider of SaaS cloud faxing services. We can launch you into the cloud with little effort on your part. We can even help you integrate your current fax processes into your back end SAP system, with our SAP certified solution. Contact us today at 212-504-2978 or info@retarus.com.

Cloud Faxing as a Competitive Advantage

There are many types of cloud environments that a company can take advantage of.  There is private, public, and even hybrid model, each with its own advantage. How you use cloud technology will determine whether your company gains a competitive advantage, or is simply saving money. (Note that saving money could be considered a competitive advantage, depending on what else you invest your savings in for the benefit of the company)

As for faxing, fax is not a sexy product. In fact, many wish faxing would just go away. Although there are so many businesses, both large and small, still rely on fax as a means of sharing information. It then suggests that if you can streamline it, you can at a minimum, save money and resources. But can you gain a competitive advantage by using cloud fax?

Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Cloud Faxing

Cloud faxing can be more than simply using an IP connection to send faxes to a fax machine from your desktop, or receiving faxes into your PC inbox. A comprehensive fax strategy includes using your back-end SAP and ERP systems for a fully integrated solution that can take an otherwise manual fax process, and turn it into a streamlined document management system. Additional advantages include:

·         Receive faxes from any part of the globe, directly into your back-end systems.

·         Use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to pull data directly from faxed documents.

·         Auto-route documents based upon rules.

·         Time document deliveries for maximum effectiveness.

·         Coordinate fax and email delivery for a multi-faceted communications strategy.

·         Personalized document generation and delivery.

By using a cloud based managed service you gain efficiencies that allow you to concentrate on improving your business process and offers, instead of managing hardware and software. By making it easier for your customers, vendors, and suppliers to communicate with your company you create a competitive advantage in 3 ways:

1.     Faster response times by automating otherwise manual processes.

2.     Timely delivery of personalized data which could increase customer satisfaction and engagement.

3.     Reduced errors by eliminating manual processes.

Of course switching to a cloud fax solution will also save you money. But in the end it will also give your company a competitive advantage by taking a simple process most of the world knows how to use, and making it easier, faster to personalize and more accurate. Contact Retarus today at 212-504-2978 or info@retarus.com to find out how they can give your business that competitive advantage.

Everyone Wins with a Managed Fax Solution

Empowering your employees with fax capabilities at their desk can be a liberating experience for the employees, IT and the corporation.

The Employee

Without a managed desktop faxing service and employee needs to go to a fax machine, insert the document, hit send, and either wait or return later to retrieve the original.  Not only is this time consuming but it leaves potentially sensitive documents out in the open. Best practice would also have the employee document the sent documents so you have a record of the transmission. With desktop faxing the employee simply attaches the document to an email, enters the fax number and hits send. The document is securely sent and is logging into the managed service providers back end reporting system. Employees also receive faxes directly in their email where they can be quickly referenced, filed and acted upon.

IT

IT wins with a managed service on several levels.

1.     They have no infrastructure costs for maintenance on hardware or software.

2.     Provisioning new employees is a snap and can be turned on and off to match demand.

3.     IT has no software to support and does not have to maintain a reporting platform.

4.     Compliancy & security become the problem of the managed fax company, who will likely do a better job than they can do.

The Corporation

The benefits for corporations are many. Besides having a scalable and secure faxing platform that is low cost, corporations benefit on many levels:

·         Increased productivity from IT to work on other projects.

·         Employees are more productive without having to take time to wait for faxes to send or be received.

·         Managed cloud faxing can be connected to your SAP and ERP systems, offering automated messaging which can increase accuracy.

·         No need to roll out fax servers on a global basis.

·         Transparent reporting so you can see where things are working and where you need to modify your processes.

Overall everyone wins with a managed fax platform. To find out more about how your company can benefit from managed desktop faxing, contact Retarus at 212-504-2978 or info@retarus.com.

Fax Server Buy-back Program

Yes, you should trade in your old fax server. Fax servers offer a popular way to reduce cost and improve process flow within an organization. Although they can replace individual fax machines and reduce individual hardware costs, save on paper and ink, and can help with integration into the corporations other back-end systems, there is a better alternative.

We Think You Can Do Better Than a Fax Server

Despite their list of benefits, Fax servers still have many disadvantages. Among the biggest negatives are:

·         Cost of maintenance

·         Upgrade costs

·         Risk of downtime

·         Capacity planning

It doesn’t matter whether your fax server is broken, is due for an upgrade, or needs expanding due to capacity increases. No matter the reason, Retarus will help you increase your productivity and save money by moving to a cloud fax solution.

Free Buy-back Program for Fax Servers

At Retarus, we don’t think any company should have to suffer through these issues. So if you’re considering upgrading or replacing your current fax servers, let us show how you can benefit from the advantages of a managed cloud based fax solution. As an added bonus, we’ll even buy back your old fax server from you!

Many companies today are becoming more efficient by outsourcing their email, data and printing operations. Now you can enjoy the same outsourced benefits with cloud faxing:

·         No hardware to buy, no software to maintain. Eliminate aging, outdated technology, and replace it with a more robust cloud faxing solution.

·         Easy, no stress capacity planning. Cloud based faxing can scale up and down to meet seasonal and emergency needs.

·         Integration into any email client, including native solutions for Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes

·         Fast back end integration into SAP® and ERP systems, from the industry’s only SAP® certified fax partner 

Up and Running in as Little as 72 Hours

Our diverse suite of products including Desktop Fax Services, Fax for Applications, Fax for SAP, and WebExpress broadcast messaging can be up in running in as little as 72 hours. Our user friendly administration tools provide total transparency into your messaging process. Combined with our 99%+ uptime you’ll get benefits far beyond the ordinary fax server.

Need to know more?

Want to know more about the benefits of cloud faxing or are you ready to take advantage of our limited time Fax Server Buyback program? Contact us today at 212-504-2978 or info@retarus.com.

Reference Material:

Cloud Faxing Made Simple

Fax Server Companies Moving to the Cloud

How to get Enterprise Level Cloud Faxing for Small & Medium Sized Business