Now a days you hear a lot about cloud or cloud computing, but do you really understand what it is? There are several definitions for cloud, don’t worry if you don’t have one. Cloud computing is a service delivered over web or internet with a set of connected computing resources. If you put down the diagram of these resources with their relationships on a paper, you will end up with a diagram that resembles like a cloud.

There are various forms of cloud computing which are delivered “as a service” over the web. To name a few they are Software as a service (SaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS) or Infrasturcture as a service (Iaas). The form of cloud computing services should not be confused with automatic computing, utility computing or grid computing.

Customer using cloud doesn’t have to make any capital investment (CAPEX) in purchasing hardware or software. They reduce their operation expenses (OPEX) as the core tasks of updating and maintaining the hardware or software are taken care by the service provider. You end up focusing more time on your core business rather then maintaining the IT infrastructure to run your business. Cloud computing gives you the power to scale your resources in no time with simple clicks. Now you don’t have to spend your hard earned money to purchase a high end infrastructure which you may need occasionally.

When you are striving to keep your organization steady in a slow economy, it is difficult to envision the significant contribution of payroll software in keeping you steady. In a slow economy it’s critical you stay organized. Having the right talent in your team is the only way you can make things happen in a long run. You need right set of tools to ensure you keep your employees happy.

It’s enticing to use some basic tools to keep track of how much you need to pay. You may think having a simple spreadsheet or a register to track how the days or hours worked by an employee. You end up compiling and summarizing this data at the end of month to know how much you need to pay. This method not only consumes your precious time and effort, but also leaves doubts in your employees mind about the accuracy of your calculations.

You surely need transparent and easy to use payroll software which can be trusted by the management and the employees. If you do not have a payroll software right from the start, which can be scaled out easily when you grow, can cost you heavily if you plan to have later. Have a payroll software that is scalable, transparent and easy to use. Cloud payroll can help you just achieve this.

By having a payroll software right from the start you are investing in the way you should run your business. This money spent is not for something that is needless. Having easy, transparent and collaborative cloud payroll software not only ensures your workforce is happy but also makes you tax compliant. It makes sure your tax calculations are accurate and you file all your forms and returns on time.

If you already have a payroll software that fits the unique needs of your business then CONGRATS!!! Else start looking for one NOW.

Users embrace new functionality with minimum distraction.

Quick innovation on cloud has distinctive advantages over on premise software. In contrast to large changes and improvements that take place for on premise software, Cloud applications such as Google Apps can deliver constant and small improvements which are easily adapted by end users. Small and frequent upgrades make change management easier. Traditional software updates are delivered once in a year or two with many improvements. This forces end users to spend considerable amount of time relearn the application. This makes the adoption of the new version more difficult. Since the users resist the adoption of newer version, users end up having different version of the same application. This make life of the IT team very difficult.

Make your workforce more productive anywhere anytime.

Traditional technology the information can be accessed in restricted effecting the productivity of your workforce. Google Apps is a web based solution which can be accessed anywhere anytime on any device by your team. Since the data is stored in Google’s cloud and not on a particular machine. Your employees get the work done faster with an internet connection which gives them access to their data. No matter your employees on the move or in the comfort of their homes they get seamless access to their data from their mobile device.

Google has been striving hard to take cloud computing technology to next level since more than a decade. Innovation is delivered to enterprises at a rapid pace with the feedback from more than hundreds of millions of users in real world. Google quickly learns about the new features or refine the existing features that deliver value businesses, with the help of feedback from the huge user base. These features are delivered to enterprise customers with in no time.

Increase productivity with rapid access to innovation

Google’s infrastructure design and web has been the crux to deliver innovation at a faster pace. Multi-tenant infrastructure helps Google deliver improvements to the entire customer base in short durations. With efficient systems to distribute updates Google can deliver new features and functionality on weekly basis or even less. With more than 100 improvements made to Google enterprise products in 2009, customers were not concerned about these updates and patches. These updates are very short compared to the industry standards where traditional servers are updated every four to six years. The reason being long delays in releasing the enhanced versions by the software vendor.

Google applications are browser based, which is the main factor to deliver innovation at unprecedented pace. All the updates are available to the users by just refreshing the browser. These application are also available on mobile devices, leading to more productivity due the fact that they are accessed anywhere anytime from any device. With traditional software that are installed on local machines it will a labor and money consuming affair to frequently upgrade all the clients so that the users get access to latest features.

‘Cloud Computing’ is you get to hear a lot these days, what is cloud computing? What it can do to you and your business.

What exactly is cloud computing and where is the cloud?

In the initial days of internet, it was often depicted on charts as a cloud. In today’s world data and even programs don’t have to be on your machine; but can be hosted on a remote computer or server accessible through internet – or ‘in the cloud’.

Cloud computing simply means taking out the major computing task from your machine, and rather perform it online on some other high end machine, and bring a bunch of benefits to you and your organization.

Today especially small businesses are able to access the high quality infrastructure once only available to few larger organizations with huge upfront investment in technology. Your hosted service provider with expertise in computing looks after all the technology needs, whether it may be software or hardware. You only have to access your applications or documents over the internet.

Many popular programs like ERP, CRM and Email and office suites are available on cloud and many of which are free. Irrespective of the application you choose cloud computing brings you the following benefits…

• Save Cost: ‘pay-as-you-go’ eases cash-flow by saving you from upfront CAPEX cost.

• Support: With your service provider taking care of all the updates and maintenance you simply have to use the application. You are always on the latest version of the software available.

• Storage: Your data is secured and storing data online is cheaper than having it on your PC.

• Reduced risk: Backing up your data is the responsibility of your service provider. You get all the high end physical and logical security for your data which is not always possible to have it our own premises.

• Access anywhere: Access all your data from anywhere any time from any device via internet.

Even though cloud computing is new, hosted solutions are becoming more mature and prevalent. In future only basic software required to run your device will be available on your device and rest of the data in the cloud. Going online or cloud can keep your organizations financial feet firm on the ground. Leaving you to do only what you are good at your business rather than looking after IT.

Availability of hundreds of payroll software makes decision making difficult. But, finding one that matches your distinct requirements of your organization can be be extremely demanding. You have a choice of buying the payroll software outright or you can go for SaaS payroll (Software as Service).

Sharing Information: Processing payroll is just the beginning. Important thing is how easy and secure is i to share the Payroll information with others, such as your employees and legal authorities. Online payroll gives you secured access any where any time over Internet. Hence making information sharing secured and easy.

Cost: One of the important elements that a small to medium-sized enterprise should look for is the complete cost of purchasing the software. The advantages or money saving should be more that you are willing to spend on the application. Cloud payroll or Online Payroll can help you significantly cut your CAPEX and minimize your OPEX.

Legal Requirements: Payroll software should be able to meet your legal requirements. The payroll software should be able to perform all the required calculations for the local taxes and generate reports that needs to be submitted to the local authorities. Cloud payroll are easy to update as and when there are changes in the legal requirements.

Customer support: before you finalize any payroll software, you have to make sure that the vendor provides excellent customer support. Online payroll requires less support as they are used over browser lot of issues that are related to installation and updates are avoided.

Existing customer feedback: Please take the list of customers from the vendor and speak to them to know about the credibility of the vendor and service. This will help you understand what you can expect in future from the vendor.

These few above mentioned points will help you to decide which payroll software you can go for.

There is a powerful but little known Gmail feature that lives in Labs called “Add any gadget by URL.” Once you turn it on, you can add iGoogle gadgets (or any gadget specified by an .xml file) to the side of your Gmail account. While most of these gadgets are built by third-parties and not owned or maintained by Google, they can be super handy.

To install any of these gadgets, follow those steps:

1. From your Gmail account, go to the Labs tab of Gmail Settings.
2. Look for the Lab “Add any gadget by URL.” Enable it, then click “Save changes.”
3. Go to the new “Gadgets” tab under “Settings” and add the relevant .xml address.




Here’s a list of few more worth trying out:



PolyClock
Gives you the time of day for any place in the world.

http://gad.getpla.net/poly/clock.xml





Currency Converter
A real time currency converter.

http://helloworld123—.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/currency-converter.xml






bit.ly URL shortener
Lets you shorten URLs in a single click.

http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/107368512201818821991/bitly-shortener.xml





Chuck Norris fact generator

Displays a different “Chuck Norris fact” every day of the year.



http://marsupialmusic.net/stu/scripts/chucknorris.xml



Finally, you might be familiar with the last two gadgets, since they are also available as individual Gmail Labs:



Google Calendar
Displays your Google Calendar agenda right from Gmail.

http://www.google.com/ig/modules/calendar.xml





Google Docs
Gives you quick access to your most recent documents.

www.google.com/ig/modules/docs.xml



You can find lots of other gadgets optimized for iGoogle on this page, and many of them work well in Gmail, too.


Buy Google Apps from Google Apps partner.



read more

There is a powerful but little known Gmail feature that lives in Labs called “Add any gadget by URL.” Once you turn it on, you can add iGoogle gadgets (or any gadget specified by an .xml file) to the side of your Gmail account. While most of these gadgets are built by third-parties and not owned or maintained by Google, they can be super handy.

To install any of these gadgets, follow those steps:

1. From your Gmail account, go to the Labs tab of Gmail Settings.
2. Look for the Lab “Add any gadget by URL.” Enable it, then click “Save changes.”
3. Go to the new “Gadgets” tab under “Settings” and add the relevant .xml address.




Here’s a list of few worth trying out:



Wikipedia
Look for a specific query right from Gmail.

http://www.google.com/ig/modules/wikipedia.xml





Google Calculator
Make some quick calculations while typing an email.

http://calebegg.com/calc.xml






Note
Add a sticky note to the corner of your Gmail account.

http://www.google.com/ig/modules/sticky.xml





Remember the Milk

If you’re a fan of this task management system, accessing all your “Remember the milk” notes from right within Gmail can be super handy.



http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/modules/gmail/rtm.xml





Buy Google Apps from Google Apps partner.



read more

Email is just as much about the people you communicate with as it is what you communicate about. We think it can be helpful to view relevant information in context, which is why over the next two weeks we’re rolling out a new people widget located on the right hand side of your messages. The people widget surfaces content from friends, family and colleagues that is already available to you but may be hard to find and makes it easier to connect with them.

Next to every email message you can now see contextual information about the people in that conversation including recent emails you received from them, relevant Buzz posts, shared documents and calendar events. You also have quick access to a variety of ways to communicate with individuals, start a group chat or schedule a meeting with groups of people.

We hope the people widget will improve your Gmail experience and we’re eager for you to try it out.

Read more about People Widget.

Purchase Google Apps from Google Apps partner.