Cloud Computing - What is this all about?

Now a days everyone is talking about Cloud Computing. It is a hot buzz word right now. But what does it mean to you and your business let's examine.

What is Cloud Computing?


In a traditional form of computing the documents that you create are stored on to your desktop or on server. Though this can be shared among the computers connected on to networks. To open these documents the software must be installed onto your local computers. Each of your operation is PC centric.

In cloud computing the software programs that you use are not stored on your local computers but are accessed using the Internet. These programs and your files and data are stored onto servers that can be accessed via Internet and you can use them whenever and wherever you want it. That means your word document or your business presentation can be stored on the server and whenever you need it to open you can do it on your local computer without having to install MS Word or PowerPoint on your local computers. That mean your PC is not so important to save or access the document.

That sounds excellent and money saving. But let us examine it little more. Is it for everyone?

You should not think about it if..

You don't have broadband Internet connection. As you know in Cloud computing the computing is done outside of your firewall. The minimum requirement for you to use the cloud computing is that you should have access to Internet.

You should not use it if privacy and security of your document is a concern. The biggest concern for the use of Internet is the data security. Though companies are claiming that their networks are secure but this is a true fact that Internet is not 100% secure. As your file and documents are stored out side of your home or office (on to the servers of your service providers) you are not guaranteed for the security. Though the service providers are claiming that data is 100% secure but still their are cases of data theft around the world.

In my next post I will be writing in detail about the cloud computing. Various collaboration models and applications.