Embrace the Cloud, you can thank us later. |
Slate.com economics writer, Matt Yglesias unveiled a survey from
Wakefield Research last week about public perceptions about cloud
computing. Some of the more interesting
tidbits of information were, a majority of Millennials believe that stormyweather can interfere with cloud computing and 22% surveyed confessed to admitting they have pretended toknow what the cloud is or how it works even if they didn’t. After a good chuckle, I wondered if people
had similar feelings regarding microwave ovens or color television.
Here is the dirty little secret about cloud computing. Most of us are using it and we don’t even
realize it. If you are using Facebook
you are using cloud computing. If you
are using an iPod you are probably using cloud computing. In fact, any time you are saving documents or
files someplace other than your computer at home or work you are using the
cloud.
The cloud is nothing more than a metaphor dreamed up by
networking professionals and marketing folks.
It represents computing with storage outside your local computer or
network. The data resides in the “internet
cloud” on a remote server or database.
This is a positive development because this is a direct result of the explosion
of personal computing and the web during the 1990’s.
Today on Gmail, a typical user can have up to Ten Gigabytes
of data, which is a large amount of data.
So big that if a single e-mail was two kilobytes in size that would mean
that you could hold over 5-million e-mails in your mailbox without having to
worry about it filling up. What makes
this figure more fantastic is that the amount of space Google is providing each
user is increasing by about 128 Megabytes a year. In addition to those 5-Million e-mails a user
can archive an additional 64,000 e-mails a year.
Thanks to cloud computing we are dealing with big piles of
data and they are stored on remote servers throughout the internet. The raw power is staggering.
So what does this mean to you the small business
person? It means that you can have the
power and capacity of a large business with an IT budget of millions of dollars
for a fraction of the price. You do not
need to spend thousands of dollars for servers and software. All you need is a connection to the web and
the power of the cloud is in the palm of your hand.
At E3 systems we take a lot of pride in how we have used
cloud computing and the internet to make it easy for a small business to manage
their inventory. With our Sully 2.0
system, you can keep track of Bills of Lading, Invoices, Packing Slips,
Shipping Labels, and Purchase orders.
Contact us today and we will show you how easy it is to use.
The “cloud” is nothing more than a fancy way of saying the “internet.” Many of us are using it each day and do not
realize it. What makes it so fantastic
is that as prices fall, storage increases and raw computing power improves it is
going to make our lives easier and more connected. As a business person you should not be afraid
of the cloud but embrace it.
Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment