Data centers are now seen as a key business parameter, and not as an external facility for storage of information and business operation models. They have become critical for the very functioning of a big business enterprise. Any interruptions in your data center operations can virtually bring down the business to its knees if you don't have an efficient backup strategy. This was exemplified in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy devastated data centers in New York.

Only in Iowa Google recently invested $2.5 Billion. Microsoft invested $2 Billion in their datacenter infrastructure while Facebook's investment is expected to be $1 Billion.

Whilst many providers use a “one size fits all” model, A-cloud Solutions provides bespoke solutions from no-frills hosting to solutions integrated into existing infrastructure & services (e.g. Active Directory authentication). We also host the applications we support (including JD Edwards and Dynamics CRM).

Another reason customers choose A-cloud Solutions is the flexibility to select a solution and contractual arrangement that meets business/commercial requirements. For CRM, our pricing is very competitive in comparison to on-premises and Microsoft on-line whilst customers and have the added benefit of allowing customers to determine the timing of upgrades etc.

A-cloud Solutions data center provides the following facilities:

• Advanced security (24×7 staff, key card access, video surveillance)
• Full generator backup systems which are regularly tested and configured to automate automatically in the event of a power failure
• Redundant HVAC  systems
• Multiple gigabits of high quality bandwidth through various carriers
• Environmental monitoring including temperature and humidity

As a Tier III facility it guarantees 99.982% availability.

By way of comparison, Tier IV facilities (the highest certification) provide only marginally higher availability (99.995%). It is our view that most businesses do not require Tier IV redundancy unless they are involved in a highly specialised area such as health care or banking, where strict regulations apply.

Flexible hosted solutions

A-cloud Solutions IT offers clients tailored hosted solutions and managed that meet their specific needs. Clients are able to nominate precisely which elements to include in their managed service and the level of service required, meaning that they pay only for what they need. Our managed services solutions include:

• Systems hosting
• Platform hosting
• Applications hosting
• Software as a service (SaaS)
• Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS) including servers, networks and storage
• Archiving
• Ongoing support