Microsoft Office 365 combines the trusted Microsoft Office desktop suite with cloud-based versions of the latest generation of communication and collaboration services from Microsoft.

With the Office 365 applications, your customers can create, edit and share files from any device, with anyone and in real time. With an active Microsoft 365 subscription you always get the latest versions of these applications. You can use them on up to five computers (PC or Mac). You always work with the latest version, so you can take advantage of the latest applications without having to update. If, on the other hand, you buy a single license for Office, it only applies to one computer. For all Microsoft 365 products, you take out a subscription and pay a monthly amount. Click here for our Microsoft Office 365 services.

The focus of cloud computing is automation. Or replacing human labor. With this automation, you can get computers to work together to deliver resources such as computing power and data.

Cloud computing therefore has nothing to do with the internet, despite the fact that cloud computing is often offered and made accessible via the internet. So you can perfectly realize cloud computing within your own walls, although you may miss certain advantages with this.

The delivery forms (with NIST Service models) such as infrastructure as a service, platform as a service and software as a service have nothing to do with cloud computing. Cloud computing is fine without these service models and you will just encounter them without cloud computing. I’m not saying that Iaas, Paas and Saas delivery models are bad, on the contrary, I find them very valuable, but they are separate from cloud computing.

Cloud and cloud computing can also do well without each other. Cloud is nothing but a synonym for the internet.

Do you want to use cloud services? Maybe you already do that? Do you know where your data is? Does it really matter?

Cloud services come in all shapes and sizes. From the raw form (infrastructure as a services, renting virtual machines and storage) via platform as a service (running self-build applications on a platform) to complete software as a service (such as Gmail or LinkedIn). Whichever form you choose, data is stored everywhere. Usually business sensitive data. From emails with sensitive content to complete customer data files.

All this data is stored somewhere in the cloud. And the SLA undoubtedly states that the data is kept safe (is that so? Please check your SLA?). However, you usually do not know where your data is. And yes, that matters. How would you feel if your customer data was stored on a server in Uzbekistan? Or in China? How safe is your data in a country that does not have cyber crime in the criminal code?

But don’t forget the politically correct countries! If your data is stored on servers in the United States, it is subject to US law. Under the Patriot Act, for example, the US government can view your data at any time, even without you knowing it.

In any case, your stored information is not subject to Dutch privacy legislation. Your business model may not allow information to be stored in other countries or for information to be governed by Dutch law.

These aspects must be properly assessed before information is stored in the cloud. Do you know where your data is located?