What’s all the fuss about the ‘Cloud’?
I live in a techie bubble and you (my clients) know that, but the rest of the world (my clients and their clients) don’t live my my Internet bubble. Most people live in a normal world where the Internet and also it’s intricacies probably make up less than 5% of their time. This is probably partly why I build website for other techie companies. Even they may not use the internet that much.
The reason for this article is that I forget to bring key important topics to your attention. Some of the biggest benefits, in saving money, being more efficient and more professional… keeping up with the times and making your business function better, faster and more profitable.
In today’s case, have I explained the ‘Cloud’ to you – no not the thing you see in the sky when Rain is imminent, but the much more techie thing that you might have read about in the news paper or noticed your iPhone hassling you about. So what is it?
The ‘Cloud’ is a technology that allows a vast network of computers to join up and form one even bigger computer. In it’s simplest form think of it this way… if one computer breaks you won’t notice because dozens of others will take it’s place.
Now in case you’re thinking I’m going to start getting technical – I’m not, instead I am just going to touch on a few things for you:
- Your computer – you need a new one every few years, that’s normal and it’s not going to change much in the future, you’ll always want a new computer and get the latest whatever’s on offer, but what about all your stuff. Over the years you are bound to have lost stuff. Photos, musics, work documents. The ‘Cloud’ ends all this… if all your stuff is in the ‘Cloud’ – even as computers change your stuff remains there.
- Mobile Phones – going back to the start of this Post – the truth is, though you might not be aware of it, your iPhone, Smartphone or indeed any old phone is probably accessing the Internet far more than you realise, annoying marketing SMS’s, playing a game, updating the phones software – it’s all done through the Internet. Now consider how much time you spend with the phone and compare to your computer – the difference is not much. The ‘Cloud’ means that your stuff – as I keep calling it – is always available. Need a number, want to see an email, look at a document, play a song. The ‘Cloud’ makes that happen.
- Security – I’m constantly bashed by this and most of us simply don’t care or don’t care enough… A thief comes along, raids your house… he steals the telly, hifi and maybe a mobile (plus whatever else)… either which way you look at it, the most galling thing he’s done is invade your personal space… the second most galling thing he’s done is nick your digital photo collection, or movie collection… The ‘Cloud’ negates this problem completely and in fact can help track down your thief. All your stuff is still available to you and while it’s a pain to buy a new TV your movie collection is fully retrievable.