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Often enough we have heard of the term “cloud computing”. Google is doing it, Dell and Hewlett-Packard are racing for it, and smartphone companies are even using it as an edge for their product. It has been dubbed as “the next big thing” in technology, and tech analysts say that it revolutionizes the way the world does business. But what exactly is it? What does cloud computing really mean for us?
Cloud computing, according to the wiki definition is “Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, as with the electricity grid.” Tools and programs that normally have to be installed on your computer can be accessed through the internet giving you mobility and more freedom with your data. In English, this means having access to services, applications, utilities and storage through the internet or “cloud”.
Many of us do not realize, but we may already be using cloud computing in our daily lives. If you are using a web based application, for example Gmail or Google Docs, those are cloud computing services that you can access anywhere, anytime at the tap of your fingertips. Before cloud computing, you accessed your email via a program installed on your computer, like MS Outlook. If you want to read your email on your phone then you would have to synch it, which can be a pain in itself. If you are writing or working on documents, you use a word processing program and have the file saved on a disk or sent to your email. With cloud computing you can use services like Google Docs or Windows Live, which are basically like Microsoft Office, which you can use over the “cloud” or the internet.
Cloud computing also benefits businesses by providing web-based solutions to their needs. For example a company uses accounting software to process data, before cloud computing each computer has to have this specific accounting program installed and licensed for use. If there are changes in the office seat plan, each employee would have to bring their computers to their new cubicles and data stored on the computer could be lost due to a number of things. Cloud computing offers a solution by giving employers the option to have web-based tools those employees need, without having to install programs on each and every computer.
It is now possible to log in to one application that can have multiple functions from mail, word processing, accounting and basically everything an employee needs to do his job in any computer. This saves cost in licensing as well as hard drive space since all data is stored on the servers of cloud computing providers. This also reduces risk of loosing data if any of the computers crash.
Furthermore, cloud computing makes handling your personal data easier, it lets you synch up your computer data with your handheld device and share it with others through the internet. There are a number of things under cloud computing that we use often enough such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, online communities and even internet banking. All of these services as well as personal information we put in them are out there in the cloud. It can be a bit creepy if you think about how much of you are out there. Cloud computing can work for you, if you keep a clean on-line profile and use privacy settings well.
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Computing is getting faster and easier by the day, I love this feature, for business and personal use.