Virtual Office Resource

Cloud9 (News - Alert) develops its cloud-based communications software to help institutional traders who work at banks, side-sell firms, and brokerages reach their fellow employees and clients in a secure fashion. With a number of voice and collaboration services, users can take the Cloud9 software to any of their share trading endeavors.

What if, however, their clients do not yet use Cloud9? This is where the new Cloud9 Gateway (News - Alert) service comes into play. Cloud9 announced this month the general availability of its Gateway, which customers can deploy in the cloud or on their business’s premise to give their counterparties (trading partners) access to all the familiar trading features through private lines. Counterparties simply connect to the gateway to make sure that their communications with existing Cloud9 users are secure.

Cloud9 is also marketing this development as an easy way for future customers to migrate to the native Cloud9 platform. Gerald Starr, the CEO of Cloud9, commented on this effort.

“The Cloud9 Gateway service will enable these customers to quickly and easily transition to the cloud without interrupting their business, and overall, will provide them with a more cost effective, resilient, and mobile solution alternative to traditional telephony,” Starr said.

There are a number of benefits that can come from any business making the switch to cloud computing. In general, they should find that it is easier to access programs and infrastructure from any location because all that’s required to connect to the cloud is an internet connection. Many business persons have access to mobile internet or Wi-Fi no matter where they go, so finding that link is trivial. Many cloud service providers also work on systems that have redundant servers in various locations of the globe. Therefore, when one server experiences a disruption, the others can pick up the slack. This is great for cloud-stored data and the continued use of services throughout the work day.

Cloud9 knows this reality and mentions in its Gateway news release that the switch from traditional telephony to a cloud-based system can offer the types of benefits listed above. The switch improves clients’ disaster recovery capabilities, it says, and it allows them to work with a mix of traditional and cloud communications as part of a hybrid system if they wish.

Trading firms, like many other businesses, want the flexibility the cloud promises. They want to make trades from anywhere while knowing that their saved data is safe and their communications are always kept within secure channels. Cloud9 tries to deliver on that institutional promise and now will have the opportunity to show even more customers their future with the addition of Gateway to the company portfolio.