The “cloud” concept implies that it is best to make a separation between the owners of IT assets and the use of them by companies for business applications and services. The common analogy would be, for instance, the separation between power generation and consumption. The end user connects to the power “cloud” in order to get electricity and is in no way bothered by production concerns such as which turbine is working for him/her and what its energy efficiency is. These are the concerns of the power company’s technical engineers for whom there is no difference in what one customer or another uses the energy for. Overall, both parties are committed to a service contract with fixed rates and payments according to consumption, and therefore, each party can focus on its field of expertise, aspiring to reach its optimal operational efficiency. But this analogy hides some less attractive facts. In contrast to the Israeli Electricity Company, whose service is regulated, the field of IT service clouds is open to all opportunists with no obligation for transparency or regulatory oversight. There are quite a few “rotten apples” in this field, and an innocent client could be unaware of the quality of a company’s infrastructure that provides them with IT service, and they can’t be sure the service will be reliable at the moment of truth.
Moving to Cloud Service is an Entrance to the World of Enterprise
“What do you know about your cloud service provider before you sign a contract with him?”, asks Tomer Schwaitzer, founder and CEO of Y-tech, an Israeli cloud service that has maintained high international standards since 2006. "Many customers are not aware of the vast differences between the various service providers, where a client can encounter amateur opportunists who exploit the lack of knowledge of SMB customers or on the other hand, can employ Israeli cloud services at the highest levels. Moving to cloud, in fact, puts small business clients in a dilemma in the world of enterprise: What are the minimum requirements of the customer for quality infrastructure, which will enable him/her to confidently build a long-term business plan based on cloud service? And, unsurprisingly, it turns out that price does not reflect everything. A small business should not be put into a position of endangering its interests by dependence upon shaky IT infrastructures or improper service.”
The cloud must guarantee safety of its operation systems and absolute security protecting the data of an organization; it should have 99.9% availability and 24/7 accessibility from anywhere; offer optimal flexible architecture that enables scalability without any problems in adjustment; implement extensive redundancy that guarantees business continuity and immediate recovery from disasters; have responsive management that adjusts its service according to the changing and dynamic needs of the customer without delay and fair pricing that reflects the level of consumption of its customer; it should have a good “track record,” proving that the service provider works zealously to be on top of all technology concerning constant updates and implementing new capabilities.
Customers Vote for Y-tech by Signing Service Contracts
“The best proof that our commitment to lead the market in all the above parameters is not just saying so, it is the loyalty demonstrated by our veteran customers,” says Tomer Schwaitzer. “After 10 years of intensive work in the vertical market in Israel, none of our clients have left us. Each year hundreds of organizations join our service-- large and small, government and private, national infrastructure companies, and international hi-tech businesses. And every client that has tried our service is now a satisfied and loyal customer, recommending us to everyone.”
Y-tech’s business strategy is built on three pillars, three areas of expertise that support each other to create an ensemble of products and services that enables us to take a traditional IT arrangement and move it confidently to cloud on schedule without delay at fair prices:
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Cloud services based on our Data Center that was built according to the strictest quality specifications and is managed by an experienced professional team 24/7.
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Communications services, including monitoring, security, NOC management, router storage and load balancers, VPN networks and ISP services with absolute control over web browsing and user experience.
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Integration services and project management that take advantage of the digital assets included in the Y -tech solution in order to deliver customized client requirements and challenges, plus taking into account the financial capabilities of their business.
“The importance of the centralization of technical capabilities under one roof with shared responsibilities is clear to anyone who has encountered the ‘accusing finger’ syndrome, where everyone involved in a complex project points to someone else as the guilty party in any malfunction,” says Tomer Schwaitzer. “Large organizations also find it difficult to cope with this problem, but it can be very damaging to small businesses when service providers don’t take responsibility for their mistakes. Our concept of business requires it to be holistic, including communication components, data processing components and data storage all orchestrated together to work in perfect harmony. Therefore, in addition to establishing our Data Center to meet the stringent requirements of government regulators, customers in the banking industry, health institutions, etc., we made sure to get ISP certification from the Ministry of Communications so that our communication is a combination of a collective package solution with the standards of service and information security management according to ISO (27001). In addition, we established a unique integration unit, focusing services for the SMB sector. "
Broadminded Business Partnerships
Integration experts at Y-tech focus on business oriented solutions that remove the burden of management and maintenance of the IT system from the customer, starting from budgeting investments and including attention to operational dilemmas. Tomer Schwaitzer says, “Moving a client to cloud does not end with the implementation of what is written down in a contract , for the simple reason that customers expect the provider to fulfill all the tasks of IT management, when their infrastructure migrates from their private servers to cloud, because they do not have the means or the people with in-depth knowledge in information systems management . The service that is required begins with running applications and monitoring user experience and continues with monitoring security events, regular updating of software protection, backup and assurance of business continuity through redundancy and duplication of resources and goes on further with recommendations for improvement and planning of the next steps in the development of the information system. For these reasons, it is very important for us to conduct face-to-face meetings, preferably in Hebrew, with the knowledge that decisions are made here together with the client and not somewhere overseas. Even huge companies such as Microsoft have learned to appreciate that proximity to the customer makes a difference in the competition for a cloud provider. This realization was borne out after close examination and favorable impressions of Y-tech’s services were revealed and a strategic partnership agreement was signed with Azure, Microsoft’s cloud service in Israel. One should understand the difference between the partnership agreed upon between Y-tech and Azure, a global giant, and mere distribution agreements. Being a partner with Azure means taking part in Microsoft cloud services which includes all the standards they require with all their other partners around the world. There are not many companies in Israel that can pass this test.” The depth and breadth of knowledge and experience of the experts at Y-tech brought about the selection of our company to represent Israel in global standards organizations such as ISO and IEC, and especially in the technical committees that set standards for cloud issues for the entire world.
Sleep Soundly Because There is Someone Looking Out for You
The bottom line is-- selecting a cloud service provider is determined by the confidence it engenders as a business partner . “It is not a contract for life, but the last thing you want to find out a year or two later is that you have to replace a provider ," says Tomer Schwaitzer. "Most customers move to cloud because they want to have peace of mind as far as their IT is concerned. Besides their search for fair costs, they want to know that the system works flawlessly , that the work processes flow from end to end , and that solutions are easily adaptable to changing conditions. Customers need monitoring of user experience, to be certain that the level of performance does not impair the competitiveness of their organization, to know that someone takes care of updating versions, adding new infrastructure as the number of users increase, including addition of new services, and a technologies provider that employs experts that can be relied upon to answer complex questions such as how to protect themselves from cyber-attacks and how to analyze data for use of services that will be best suited for their business objectives. In big businesses, this job is taken on by the CTO, but small business organizations do not always have a person in this position. That’s why we offer our alternative to outsourcing on all IT services-- on our cloud, on our network connection, under the responsibility of our integration team. And as our veteran clients can tell you, “That’s why we sleep soundly—and wake up every day to a new and more promising morning.”
To read the article in IT NEWS magazine press