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Cloud Computing set to Reduce the Company IT Bill
Could Cloud Computing be as Beautiful
As Cisco announce they are to start selling servers in competition with the likes of IBM and Hewlett-Packard, The NextWomen delve a little deeper into its potential competition – ‘Cloud Computing’.
A search of the internet finds the following (basic) definition for the phrase:
“Cloud computing offers the ability to access software or information that can be delivered on-demand, over the internet, without the need to store it locally.”
In essence, cloud computing looks to centralise both computer services, processing power and the storage of information through the Internet. In other words, having spent the last few decades making PCs and laptops faster, with more memory and storage and greater speeds, computing giants are now perfecting their online services and storage.
A prime example of this in action is Google Docs – the free service that allows users to compile and store documents online. The advantage of such a service appears to be threefold. Potentially, this would negate the need for software on your computer, making it merely a means to access the internet. With nothing stored on it and without the need for Microsoft Office software, suddenly the specification required is greatly reduced making computing a far cheaper pastime for its users. Gone would be high powered, back breaking laptops and in would be light (possibly more environmentally friendly) sleek computing solutions such as handhelds and ultra-light laptops.
There are essentially four steps that make this phenomenon real:
Of course there are barriers to such a technological development. Many people will be reluctant to (as they see it) relinquish control of their data. People will no doubt be worried about privacy – although you could argue that no Civil Servant should ever have cause to lose a CD with valuable data stored on it again – although companies could create their own private clouds eliminating this risk. Competing with the big boys could seem daunting but it seems a likely solution to fears of data protection.
This is a huge area of technological innovation at the moment. With Alistair Darling announcing tech funds in the recent Budget, it is obvious to all that there is no lack of advances in this area nor a lack of finance for good services. Cloud software already goes way further than simply Google documents – NetSuite for example already provides one location in which to manage a company including accounting solutions and enterprise resource planning. Indeed if you search for ‘Google Docs. Alternatives’ the results are endless. This is not to say the solution has already been successfully provided. Google docs still has a way to go before it will provide users with the same functionality of say Excel and yet it is a tantalising glimpse of what is set to come in the future.
With cloud computing set to change the face of computing it will be interesting to see the speed at which companies will adopt such technology.
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