Moving to the Cloud

by | Jun 18, 2014 | Cloud Tips, CloudCandle, Interview

Written by Anna Tabrum If you are a small business, either starting up, or already established, you may have heard of cloud computing. The question is: what kind of value can moving to the cloud add to your business? To gain insight we decided to talk to Vend, a cloud service provider that offers online  point-of-sale (POS) software.  We also talked to several small businesses that have made the leap into the cloud: Hamilton based United Sweets, Velo Boutique in Freemans Bay and Whoopie Pies in New Market and Grey Lynn, Auckland. Cloud services can be understood as programs that run on the Internet instead of your local computer. They can be accessed on any device with an Internet connection. This is one of the greatest advantages of using cloud computing. Finn Puklowski, owner of United Sweets, said he chose to use systems based in the cloud for his business so he can access his work from any country; “My family and I travel a lot, to the States, Europe and South America. Cloud tech allows us to monitor every aspect of our operation remotely.” Cloud computing also allows people to access the same information and collaborate in real time from different locations. My family and I travel a lot, to the States, Europe and South America. Cloud tech allows us to monitor every aspect of our operation remotely. Web-based POS systems are one service available on the cloud for businesses. One company offering a web-based POS is New Zealand based Vend. Vend was launched in late 2010 and is used in over 100 countries by more than 8,000...

Law and Order in the Cloud

by | Jun 12, 2014 | CloudCandle, Interview

In our latest CloudCandle Hangout (brought to you by Aerorock and the eCentre) we chat with New Zealand lawyer Jennie Vickers about what small businesses need to consider when they are considering implementing or offering cloud-based services.   More information...

Interview with Angus Ogilvie on moving to the cloud

by | Jun 9, 2014 | Cloud Computing with Aerorock, Interview

  We talked with Angus Ogilvie the Director of Generate Accounting who has recently moved to the cloud with Aerorock. This is what he had to say.     What was your IT like before Aerorock? We ran everything in-house on a server. It was a constant worry. Our IT service provider was located half an hour away, so we had considerable down time when the server stopped working. It didn’t happen frequently, but it happened too often. We were running an old version of Microsoft Small Business Server, which didn’t support mobile devices properly. As a result we couldn’t synchronise email, calendar and contacts between our desktop computers, laptops and smart phones.   What made you realise you needed to change? Cloud computing was coming of age, and I could see that it solved a big problem for us. When we visited clients on-site we had to print out everything needed for each meeting. We were swimming in a sea of paper. The time required to print and organise all this paper was time I couldn’t recover. All this information were already in our computer system. We needed a way to access this information remotely, so it was at our fingertips wherever we went. I could see that cloud computing was the answer, but I didn’t know how to go about it.   How did you go about finding somebody to help you? Aerorock rang up. The rest is history.   Why did you pick Aerorock? The thing that appealed to us about Aerorock is that they’re focused solely on cloud computing for small business. Other vendors wanted...

Can the Internet Impact Kiwi Productivity?

by | May 18, 2014 | CloudCandle, Interview

In our latest CloudCandle Hangout (brought to you by Aerorock and the eCentre) we chat with Hayden Glass of the Sapere Research Group and Geoff Lewis of the Productivity Commission about how the internet impacts the productivity of small businesses in New Zealand.   You can view more information on...

Connecting Your Business to the Cloud

by | Apr 10, 2014 | CloudCandle, Interview

This Hangout with Paul Brislen and John Butt was a lively discussion on telecommunications for small business with two of New Zealand’s top experts in the field. It’s an important topic – becoming more so every day – and here’s why… You can find more information on...