‘Oh no! I must go home and finish my report!’, ‘My computer isn’t working and all my files are there!’ Now, that isn’t necessarily true… You don’t have to worry anymore! Everything is changing. The Cloud Computing (CC) concept has been revolutionizing the Internet World. You know… nowadays, this new concept has become really “hotâ€.
Wanna know what experts are saying about Cloud Computing? What is cloud computing for them? If so, watch this interesting video.
Now, you are ready to understand its meaning and effects for us.
Basically, Cloud Computing symbolizes a new way of storing and running computer applications—among other stuff. Now your software programs don’t necessarily need to be run from your personal computer. Your applications and documents are moving from personal desktops to what experts call “The cloud†(a metaphor for the Internet). Everything you used to do on your computer is now done over the Web.
Google Apps is a clear example of this huge revolution. Anyone with permission can access and modify documents, videos, sites you create in real time. You can send or modify your documents and reports from any computer. Additionally, people can collaborate and edit your documents from any part of the world.
Need more examples? Zoho Office Suite that offers online presentation tools, word processor, CRM, organizing tools, project management, and more! Facebook apps or SkyDrive (Microsoft) are other example of CC.
Some experts argue that the Cloud Revolution is bigger than the advent of the Personal Computer, others don’t really know what it’s all about. But, what traces the main difference is the fact that Cloud Computing is bringing not only information, but also powerful applications and computer infrastructure to the user whether it is an individual or a business staff of a company.
Cloud Computing is now associated with a higher level of abstraction of the Internet world. Instead of being routers, servers and data pipes; there are now services. The resources and services that computers provided through hardware devices and software in the past are now available in the Web. What’s Cloud Computing for you? What are your favorites applications today? Which ones would you like to enjoy for free?
Sources:
Is Cloud Bigger Than The Advent Of The Personal Computer?
Salesforce.com launches the service cloud
While online SaaS enable Office Suites are great for mobile workforce, one needs to carefully plan a exit strategy for their data stored in the Cloud.
Vendor lock-in is an issue with any data storage system – in the cloud or hosted in-house. We need to look into and investigate the tools that the vendor provides to extract the data out of the system.
From what I seen (and experimented with), Google provides excellent set of APIs to access the data stored in Google’s Cloud. And Google is always working on to improve the APIs. Google usually first adds functions to the API, and then introduces them in the UI. Compare this to other software vendors, who usually introduce the new functions in the UI and then at a later time provide API access to those functions – if it all.
I currently use both Google Docs and Windows Live Workspace to store my personal / school related stuff. I use both of these because they both have their benefits. Windows Live Workspace provides complete integration with Office 2007, whereas Google Docs provide editing capabilities in a Web browser.
Also see:
http://www.dataliberation.org/