Shared Hosting vs Dedicated Hosting vs Cloud Hosting April 30, 2018July 27, 2018 Rob LaPointeWeb HostingLeave a Comment on Shared Hosting vs Dedicated Hosting vs Cloud Hosting If you need to get your business online, you need a website. Hosting is a major link between your internet and website. Choosing the right web host might be a tough decision even for experienced developers due to the numerous web hosting service providers in the market. Taking a deep dive into the financial, functional and performance parameters will help you to choose the best hosting solutions for your business. Types Of Web Hosting The most popular web hosting solutions include dedicated, shared and cloud servers. While all these activities as a storage center for your website, there are some focal points to look at before deciding on the best option. You want to consider the amount of storage capacity, control, technical specifications, reliability, and speed. Choosing a bad web host solution will ultimately affect your hard work, online authority, and other efforts in the long run. It is vital to have a strong understanding of everything while deciding who the right hosting service is for you. Let’s look at the various types of hosting solutions: 1. Shared Hosting Are you building your first website? If so, shared hosting is a great option for you. It is the most popular and cheapest service available. Your website will share a server with a few or thousands of other websites. Typically, all domains may share a common pool of resources. This is considered an entry-level hosting option for entrepreneurs, startups, and mid-sized firms. Popular shared hosting providers include GoDaddy and 1and1. 2. Dedicated Hosting As per the name, a dedicated server is a single physical server which you exclusively rent for your website needs. You have maximum control over the web server in which your website is stored on. Dedicated hosting is the best solution for high performance and demanding tasks which ensures the highest level of security and scalability. Popular dedicated hosting providers include Rackspace and Peer1. 3. Cloud Hosting Cloud hosting is based on the cloud computing concept where it creates a virtual environment with multiple servers to host a group of websites. These are delivered on an on-demand basis which is optimally hosted on top of a cloud computing infrastructure that provides remote/virtual services. Popular cloud hosting providers include AWS and Azure. Now, let’s quickly compare Shared, Dedicated & Cloud Hosting: 1. Pricing: Shared hosting is the most cost-effective starting at $8 per year and needs less technical knowledge and upfront investment. In the case of dedicated servers, the cost ranges on average from $100 to $1000 depending on how your infrastructure is built. When it comes to the cloud hosting service, the amount you pay is based on the amount of storage used. 2. Uptime: Cloud and dedicated hosting will surprise you in terms of uptime. Since you own the entire server the performance is the best. Even though shared hosting service providers guarantee 99% uptime, there are flaws here and there for which you will notice downtimes periodically. 3. Speed: A slow website will force the user to quit and try out competitors. Shared hosting often lacks speed during a spike in sudden web traffic. However, with dedicated and cloud hosting solutions, you don’t need to worry about traffic at all. Your website speed will be under 3 seconds all the time. 4. Security: The basic mechanism of shared hosting makes it less secure since it is being shared with many other websites. Cloud servers also have this same issue because it puts your sensitive data in the hands of cloud computing companies. Data & privacy is more secure with dedicated servers and thus you are less likely vulnerable to threats. 5. Scalability: Shared hosting limits you on resources and thus disables the scalability of your websites during high web traffic. This might result in your site slowing down or being suspended until it gets resolved. Cloud & dedicated hosting solutions offer unlimited scalability and automation of deployment. How To Host Your Brand New Website To host your website, you have to first understand your business needs. You have to choose a hosting solution that is highly reliable, scalable with better performance metrics. There are tons of web hosting service providers in the market and they will confuse you with their jargon that is very difficult and tricky to understand. Building your own web server with custom-made configuration might give you more flexibility that matches your specific needs. SDI has more than a decade of experience in designing, developing, managing & maintaining websites and web applications for more than 4000+ clients globally. We have helped entrepreneurs, small / mid-sized business owners develop robust web apps & provide them hosting solutions that are cost-effective, scalable with high performance. It is U.S based which is very reliable and virtually hack-proof to ensure that your website activities remain coordinated with your business objectives and goals. Let’s get started! Contact one of our web experts today at 408.802.2885 / 408.621.8481 – or click to contact us.
Should I Start an Online Business? April 26, 2018July 27, 2018 Sakshi SharmaOnline BusinessLeave a Comment on Should I Start an Online Business? Are you a business enthusiast or an entrepreneur who is thinking about countless strategies to earn money in a simple and smart way with minimal investments? Start an online business from home and make money through the power of the internet. The opportunities, perks, and income generated through the internet in this Golden Age of Technology are high. You can literally build your own online empire. There is no shortage of online business ideas and development companies like SDI to help you get more insights on the benefits of starting one. Why Should You Start Your Own Online Business? Most people want the freedom to be in control of all the decision making. Being a typical employee, you will never get this opportunity and will continue to work for someone else’s growth. Being an entrepreneur/business owner gives you control over your own destiny. Those risks you take will give you the opportunity to reap the rewards. There are millions of excuses people use to convince themselves and others not to build their own business such as; you’ll be in debt, you’ll lose sleep & become isolated from social relationships, what if it fails…etc. Even with all these uncertainties and misconceptions, people are still attracted to the world of startups. The most fascinating business model in this digital era is the online business. With the advancement in technology and never-ending innovations, people are leveraging the internet to accomplish their needs and requirements. Becoming an online business owner is simply a matter of focussing on your strengths and driving your thought process towards achieving your objectives. When you own your online business, you can set your own hours, work from anywhere, and plan your business roadmap according to your needs and wants. SDI has helped numerous entrepreneurs with technology and business consulting to assist them in choosing the best online business model that has generated them fixed revenue. Our industry specialists can help you automate, streamline and amplify your business ideas into something successful. How To Start Your Own Online Business? To start any kind of online businesses that will generate cash flow, there are some rules that can help. Here is a quick checklist you should read before starting: 1. Keep Your Present job It is essential to be a little practical. Before your online business turns into a successful one, you’ll want to have a steady source of income. So, hold on to your job until you can transition from an employee to an online business owner in order to avoid the risk factors. Once your revenue starts coming in then make the switch. There are some that will say go all in right away but this is very hard for most people to do. Keeping that security will help you greatly. When you’re not working, work on your online business. 2. Refine And Stabilize Your Online Business Idea Research and explore unique online business ideas that could generate value, address the customers problems, and economical drifts. Most online businesses fail because this step wasn’t done properly. Think about the future and take extra time to analyze and study your business goals and objectives, then plan the ways you can achieve it. 3. Choose The Right Name For Your Business Numerous online businesses have had great success by having quirky and attractive names that are highly relevant to the business and services they offer. Shorter names will avoid typing errors when customers search for you online. It is also easy to remember it and flexibility of promoting the name is easy. Sometimes the name can be completely different to where it doesn’t even make sense like the app Uber. It’s also short and sweet. Take some time to choose your name carefully and ask a test group to see what they feel about your list of name options. 4. Figure Out Your Capital Needs It is always essential to assess and figure out the capital needs before you start any business. Budget your needs and requirements according to your online business idea and ensure that it is realistic. This also helps in the fundraising process so investors can really understand how your business can grow not only nationally but globally too. 5. Set Up Your Online Presence A website is a digital asset for any business and the customers finding you depends on their ability to find you on the internet through search criteria. For this, you’ll need to purchase a domain name and web hosting. Companies like SDI offer premium and cost-effective web development services to nurture your online presence better. 6. Run A Trial A pilot or trial will help you gain confidence and possibly analyze and explore the risk factors associated. Providing freebies to the target audience and evaluating their response and feedback will gain you some new insights to overcome challenges in the future. You can take those results and adjust your website and business slightly to help accommodate everyone. 7. Network, Promote, Monetize And Grow Networking can definitely help you grow globally to attract investors and gain funding. You can leverage social media platforms to promote your business and increase your product reach to exponentially increase your income. Being agile and constantly learning will help you in making your entrepreneurial journey successful. Need help determining how to get started on building your online presence? Get in touch with the business transformation advisors at SDI who can assist you in creating your own successful online empire and to represent your business identity globally. Give Sakshi a call at 408.621.8481 or click contact us today!
Custom SaaS Solutions for Your Business April 23, 2018April 26, 2018 Rob LaPointeSaas StartupLeave a Comment on Custom SaaS Solutions for Your Business If you are a small, medium, or large business you can always benefit from a custom SaaS solution. From a large business managing all the different departments to a small business just trying to sort invoices, there are so many benefits for any size business. It could be a wide range of needs but it doesn’t matter because these solutions will be your best friend. How Does It Work The cloud computing industry has been in fast forward mode ever since the arrival of SaaS which as made things a lot easier than we think. Understanding SaaS and exploring the way it works or how it can facilitate your business isn’t easy. Most of the Entrepreneurs underestimate the various performance parameters and indicators and that’s why they fail. Saas is a web-based model where the software vendor will host and maintain the servers, databases, and code that constitutes the application. The Entrepreneurs, SMB owners, and Enterprises can rent or buy this software and they can leverage that service. Most of the time the IT responsibilities and ability to run the software is taken care by the vendor itself. The Software as a Service model is a natural fit for any business whose goal is to reduce the IT responsibilities and cost. The most popular examples of SaaS applications are Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce.com, Dropbox, Amazon Web service, Google G Suite, Zendesk, and Shopify to name a few. SaaS – Suitability for your Business Suitability of SaaS depends majorly on the nature of your business. Does your business application spike and reduce significantly? If so, then the SaaS model is a perfect choice for you. If your business really needs support for multiple devices, then the SaaS model may be more effective than others. Since there is no need for server configurations and software updates, this model is best suited for Start-ups who want to launch their E-commerce site quickly and projects that need short-term collaborations. When deployed correctly, SaaS could be the game-changing factor that streamlines your business by decreasing your IT infrastructure needs and providing you with exceptional speed of implementation and unmatchable customer experience. Benefits of SaaS model Business models are evolving alongside technology and as a business owner, you have to do ground research on the right choice for your business considering the long-term advantages that help you to keep up with or surpass the competition. Small and mid-sized businesses, enterprises and entrepreneurs have started to leverage this SaaS model since it offers the ease to scale, maintains and deploys applications which are comparatively more efficient than the on-premise software. The key benefits of SaaS business model are: ♦ Forget About Your Hardware Costs With SaaS, you don’t need to worry about installing and running your applications on your computers and data centers. ♦ Accessibility, Scalability & Upgradation SaaS applications let you access the service from anywhere on any handheld devices with high scalability, giving you the access to more or fewer features based on your business needs. The entire upgradations are made by the SaaS providers on a periodic basis. ♦ Cost Effective & Affordable Unlike other traditional software, SaaS does not require any huge upfront cost since this is usually based on the subscription model. This multi-tenant environment model is free from hardware and software licensing costs and thus enables you to invest this capital into your core business. Nothing is perfect, of course, SaaS applications also have their own limitations. When sensitive data of your business & processes are entrusted to a third party SaaS vendor, issues such as identity and access management has to be addressed. It is also a must for the businesses who are opting for SaaS models to understand the government compliances with respect to the terms of storing the customer’s data on a remote server. Although SaaS may cut costs for your business, the downfall is you are still paying for a service. In some cases paying a subscription is exactly what you need but on the other hand, you could have your own custom SaaS that is better than any SaaS service. What if you create your own SaaS that is perfect for your business and then sells that to other businesses like yours to use. Make Your Competition Your Customers This may sound odd but believe it or not, you can make your competitors your customers. If you decide to hire developers to build a custom SaaS model for you, think about how much your competition would pay to use the same thing. This is the ultimate business move. It’s one thing to use something for yourself but it’s another to also sell that software for others to use. Right now most businesses are paying to use someone else’s software to help run their day to day operations. Not to say that’s a bad thing, it’s great but why not make money instead of spending it. The money spent on developing the software for your business will be paid back quickly once released into the market. You may be thinking why doesn’t everyone do this. Well, there are many reasons why businesses don’t do it. For the small percentage of business owners who decide to take that plunge, they reap the benefits. How can Software Developers help your Business grow big? Recently we had a request from one our valuable clients to build a SaaS application for running and managing their shop. SDI created a business solution that they now use to completely run the business as well as offer that solution as a subscription to all of the competitors throughout the U.S. Our client’s inspiration was to stop paying for software which had forced them to adjust their business processes. SDI, a SaaS company has created and offered a solution that can be customized per user to meet their needs. The ROI for businesses is quick because they now have a solution that was built for their business type and by a business owner who has 20+ years of experience. Likewise, we can support businesses and software vendors to launch their first viable Software as a Service product by being with you in planning, developing, architecting, deploying and scaling to convert your competitors into customers. Tell us your vision today by reaching us at 408.802.2885 / 408.621.8481 or email team@sdi.la to drive your business better than ever!