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Technology issues that affect your business

Hey, You: Get onto the Cloud

Access any data, from anywhere.

by Heather Gooch (July 6, 2009)

What if your data and applications were available any time from any computer or smart phone? You could access your work files from home, your home files from your friend�s house, or your calendar from the bus.

Cloud computing can do all that, and more. This relatively new technology helps synch data on all your electronic devices, but it is most often used for data storage. In most cases, users either pay a third party as they consume space (like an electric or gas bill) or pay a subscription. This means there is little investment up front.

The term "cloud computing" is attributed to a Google executive back in 2006. It gets its name because, unlike a formal grid network, data is stored over the place. When depicting this visually, a cloud outline is usually drawn around all integrated sources.

Here�s a real-world example: You have your upcoming work events stored on a calendar application on your cell phone. Cloud computing allows you to access those appointments on your home computer, on your brother-in-law�s home computer during a Sunday visit, and on a library computer when you�ve left your phone at home. The data is being housed for you, although if you want to keep a copy for yourself you can download it on to a CD, a USB flash drive, or simply save to your own computer.

Cloud applications are becoming more common, in programs such as Skype, Facebook, and Google Apps. While these three examples function in very different ways, at the essence the concept is the same: You can share data with others. From a business standpoint, you can easily talk to suppliers, colleagues, and employees online via Skype, or hammer out a contact with them in real time via Google Docs. As you type in Google Docs, anyone you�ve shared the document with can see what you�re typing practically in real time. If they�re not online at the time, they can read it when they log in and then comment directly in the file about what you wrote. All of this takes place in a browser window.

Major cloud computing service providers already include such marquee names as Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Yahoo. Some technology insiders predict that commonly used programs, including Microsoft Office, will be housed online in the near future, not on your computer. But this scenario does bring up some concerns: Who owns your data? What happens if a cloud-computing provider like Google or Microsoft decides to quit offering you access?

The reality is that experts agree the risk is minimal: After all, there�s little benefit to a provider to not let users access and back up their information, or to not have infrastructure in place to keep things running smoothly. That said, it�s a good idea to save your work to a personal hard drive regularly, so if the unthinkable happens, you�re not caught short.

Keep in mind that cloud computing is different from another recently coined, weather-related Internet term: tag clouds. You might see this most commonly used on blog pages. Tag clouds index the most commonly used keywords in a post, with the most reoccurring terms in a bigger-sized font and the lesser terms in smaller fonts. On my blog, PositiveYarn.com, for example, you�ll see terms like "marketing," "needlework," "yarn," "business" and "economy," signifying the topics I most often blog about. In a slightly smaller size are things like "kids," "technology," "charity" and "art," which shows I discuss these things, too, but only as how they relate to the bigger terms. The cloud format of all these terms bunched together alphabetically, in different sizes, gives readers an at-an-glance feel for what the blog�s coverage is.

In just a few short years, cloud-computing technology has proven to be a worthwhile strategy for connecting users around the world. It�s a foundation on which more new technology will continue to build, and it only makes sense to ensure your business is ready to grow along with it.

(Note: Heather is an editorial and marketing specialist for the needlework and crafts industries. Contact her at heather@goochandgooch.com or visit www.positiveyarn.com.

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