Cloudy Days Ahead

Cloudy Days Ahead

Images copyright mashable.com

Professor Ramnath Chellappa was the first to use the term "cloud computing" in 1997. At the time it didn't mean anything. Hosting was still done from specific data centres that you connected to. Without doubt it now probably the most overused (and misused) term bandied around in the tech world.

If you're not one of those currently consumed by technology then this blog post might help you make sense of this "cloud" thing. Hopefully I can get you off first base with the whole concept of the cloud and you can amaze friends and colleagues with your new-found expertise.

What is the cloud in layman's terms?

The first thing to get your head around is that the cloud isn't a physical object. Its essentially a collection of computers called servers that do slightly different things in collaboration with each other. Some servers are running software, some are storage.

If you're a user of graphics tools like Photoshop you will have noticed that you can't buy the software on a disk any more. The same is also true of Microsoft Office. Its now called Office365 and you subscribe with a monthly fee. These are all now cloud based services.

Other servers in the network are responsible for storing data.

We're all very used to taking photos on our phones. Its stored locally on the phone. When we add the pictures to Facebook to tag our friends we are adding the photo to the cloud.

What are the benefits?

If your a business then there are a couple of benefits. Firstly you don't have to buy expensive equipment any more to run your own on-line services from. Equipment became out of date very rapidly and was expensive to keep up to date.

Secondly you can access your information from any location on any device. Before the cloud you could only retrieve information in the office or copy it to a dedicated device. The cloud allows ubiquitous access on the go.

What's this "scaling" thingy?

Working in the cloud allows your company to have more resources when you need it and for it not to be there when you don't. If your company quickly needs access to more resources, it can scale quickly and automatically in the cloud. You will pay a little more when you scale up and pay a little less when you scale down. Because of this scalability, the cloud's "elasticity" is often compared to that of a rubber band.

How big is the cloud exactly?

We're not going to fill it up any time soon. There is a great infographic that shows the overall storage capacity of the cloud here. The cloud never stops growing so in theory its impossible to really know what the overall capacity is. Lets just agree its big!

Can my stuff be lost or be stolen?

The cloud is based on replication, your information is mirrored in several places so if one machine did fail or the building where its stored burned down then your information isn't lost, it can be brought back from one of the mirrors.

Security from theft is a different problem all together. Big cloud based services like Amazon, Google and Microsoft are well defended from cyber attacks. Smaller cloud providers are another matter. I would always recommend going with one of the big guys to get that extra protection.

So how do I get started?

Its most likely you already have several cloud based products that you use. Gmail, E-bay, Amazon, Dropbox, Office365, Skype - these are all cloud based. If your a little more technical and want to delve a little deeper then check out Amazon's cloud hosting for businesses - AWS.  The beginners guide to using AWS can be found here.

Want to see more?

Here are a few cloud-based services that are small business orientated and might give you a few ideas about how your business might be enhanced by using the cloud:

For small business HR and employee tracking check out Bamboo HR

For cloud based invoicing take a look at FletchFlow.

For employee / client collaboration give Multiwall a try.

For task and project management try Trello.