'Cloud computing' offers retailers server alternative
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, September 21, 2009
LAS VEGAS — For furniture dealers looking for more server capacity, retail technology supplier Myriad Software has a solution that's almost heavenly.
It's called “cloud computing,” which the San Diego-based Myriad is testing with an unidentified user — a beta site — and began rolling out to retailers at the market here last week.
Cloud computing is one of the newest sources of technology hitting the marketplace that uses outsourced services over the Web so users don't have to invest time and equipment into making sure they have storage capacity.
The process is similar to “hosting,” in which users pay to rent storage space on an off-site server — but with major differences.
Instead of a single server, cloud computing makes use of excess capacity on a network of “virtual” servers that provide space dedicated to Myriad as well as other customers. When there's an issue with one, data is routed to another.
Companies like Amazon, which could lose millions of dollars if its system went down, are among the advocates of this approach.
“It could be a natural catastrophe like a hurricane or a tornado and it's (data) going to be picked up somewhere in the cloud,” said Carolyn Crowley, Myriad's president, who knows dealers who lost data when their equipment was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.
“The bottom line is (that such an event) doesn't interrupt business over the Internet,” she added.
As business grows, Crowley said customers can opt for the new service instead of spending thousands of dollars on equipment and an equal amount on the training and conversion costs that go with it. Clients pay a flat monthly fee billed quarterly and whatever setup fees it costs to get up and going.
Despite obvious advantages, not all Myriad users are going to go for this new technology, not wanting to lose control, having just invested in equipment or just not wanting to let things get away from them.
“Some of our larger ones just feel like they want to keep that environment close to them,” she said. “They don't want to let it go,” said Crowley.
About 20% of Myriad's client base is large enough to maintain its own equipment and IT systems. The remainder falls into the category tailored for the Cloud — those who say, according to Crowley, “Please take this challenge away from me. I prefer not to worry about this.”
Crowley said retailers' focus is on selling furniture and they're sometimes not quick to back up information systems or to know when storage capabilities aren't enough. Myriad can play a proactive roll in monitoring the client to see when they need more resources, she said.
A perfect example: Myriad's beta tester had a really big weekend recently and was using a lot of resources that could eventually cause problems. Myriad spotted the problem and was able to fix it before anything happened.
They advised the customer that the problem has been solved before it was even noticed.
Since cloud is a Web-based solution, Crowley said users can log in from anywhere they have Internet access — such as Internet cafes — “and be able to see how things are going with your business at any time.”
“Our company continues to look at the current state of the economy and where technology is going,” Crowley said. “The home furnishings industry still needs to keep up with where technology is going and what can make furniture retailers more efficient, using economical solutions, and monitoring their business wherever they go.
“That means that an Internet solution that uses the least amount of resources where you can always see the picture of what is happening in your company is extremely important.”
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