One of the big buzz terms in the virtual world today is Cloud Computing. I saw a video on YouTube with a bunch of “people in the know” at the 2008 Web 2.0 conference talking about Cloud Computing. I came away with the feeling I had just been to a political convention listening to a bunch of people saying a bunch of things that don’t mean anything.
Cloud Computing is a buzz term I come across several times a week so it must mean something to someone somewhere. I put on my investigative reporter’s hat and did some digging. My first stop was Wikipedia. Wikipedia’s Cloud Computing entry had tons of tech info but it did get me headed in the right direction. Basically, “Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure “in the cloud,” that supports them.”
Ok, now we’re getting somewhere – I think. But I gathered more clarity when I headed back to YouTube and met Christopher Barnatt from www.explainingcomputers.com. Christopher has a great video that made the Wikipedia definition understandable in my world. I highly recommend you watch it but here are some highlights I would like to share. Christopher explains that Cloud Computing “has been compared to the development of the electricity network a century ago. At that time companies stopped having to produce their own power and instead plugged in to a national electricity grid.” He goes on to say, “in tandem with Web 2.0, Cloud Computing has the potential to change the face of the entire computing industry.”
All of this translates into; I can go anywhere and use any device, e.g. laptop or cell phone, and access my stuff using technologies that use Cloud Computing, e.g. Google Docs. Access to my documents, my accounts, my tools and resources, my clients, my life are truly mobile, portable, and transferrable up in the clouds.
Cool! I can sit on the beach, in Starbucks, in my office, in my backyard, at my kid’s track meet or anywhere else I can think of and my information and resources are at my fingertips.
But – if my stuff is so available to me, is it so available to everyone else? There is a lot of conversation and concern about this. How secure is all of my information or can any hacker come find my stuff? Well there are those who say my life is now available for all to see and those that say security has improved and if you are smart about it, there is nothing to fear. I am in the latter group. Years ago, someone could just pick your lock or throw a brick through your window. Now there are much more sophisticated security measures that you can take to protect your home. I believe the same is true of my virtual home as well.
Another distinct advantage of Cloud Computing is that technologies that were once prohibitively expensive are now affordable to more people. Another leveling of the playing field and the world is even flatter. I think this expediency will override security concerns as we increasingly become less willing to breathe stale office air and more driven to smell the roses.
I wrote this in my office but I edited it while sitting in the park waiting to pick up my son from track practice. My feet are on the ground but my head is in the clouds!
