I am going to cut straight to the point. Have you heard of Google Docs? Zoho? Microsoft Skydrive (formerly OfficeLive)? Accessing your software via the web instead of having it locally? Access to your information and software anywhere in the world without having a system preloaded with it all? Well, for any non-tech out there, this encapsulates "The Cloud." Now, before you tech people start yelling at me about online document storage locations as not really being part of the Cloud, I will yell back at you first. ANY online storage that can be shared and accessed by many is considered a Cloud solution. Yes, there are plenty of online storage sites that are for YOU only, and those are not Cloud solutions. Although, loosely, they are still considered Cloud.
So now that you have an idea of some Cloud services you may be familiar with, here is the rundown on Cloud and why it is AWESOME! First off, Cloud Computing is the sharing of information, software, and resources via the Internet. Many people call it Web or Internet Computing. This allows for on-demand access and dissemination of all company resources to any employee at any place in the world in which there is access to the Internet.
Many people will generally say, "Who cares, what is the benefit to me?" Quite simply, it can save many organizations considerable amounts of resources. Granted there are many companies that need their own setups, systems, etc, but those types of organizations are becoming fewer. Also, many of those companies hire consultants (like me) to help setup their own Cloud solution. As many people are aware, a typical office computing system is as follows: Individual desktops or laptops, the same software on each system with its own license (depending on organization size, may have a bulk license), network storage, share drives, possibly some redundant servers for backups, a VPN or RDP setup for remote access, and any other host of hardware and software items.
With this general office environment in mind, you need to have computing systems that can support everything. This can be very expensive and hardware intensive. Wouldn't it be nice to have terminal setups or bare-bones machines that cost next to nothing? Wouldn't it be nice to stop buying software and not only paying for the user licenses, but dealing with installation and support for those applications? Wouldn't it be nice to not worry about losing your data if the building caught fire? Or a virus infected your network? Ta-dah...the Cloud is your answer. The beauty of Cloud Computing is you can use as much or as little as your organization needs. Some organizations may have certain software that must be housed locally. That is fine, have everything else on the Cloud. Maybe you just want to have file storage or messaging off-site. Cloud. The possibilities are limitless. I will be going into more detail later on some top Cloud solutions.
