Cloud Computing - A Concept Whose Time Has Come

For years typewriters were the rule in offices around the world. Then, sometime around the late 1960s or early 1970s, along came word processors, which were basically glorified typewriters that used a little bit of computer technology. For the first time, however, corrections could be made on a document before it was printed. This proved to be a tremendous time saver and also created documents that looked much more professional.

Software programs like WordPerfect and Microsoft Word came along next. For the first time it was possible to create and save a document in a computer file. It was also possible to make changes to a completed document. Next came spreadsheet technology with programs like Lotus 123 and Microsoft Excel.

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Companies had a need to share files between employees and thus computer networks were created. For the first time files could be shared with other authorized network users. The problem is, as networks grew they became extremely expensive. Each network typically had to have an administrator and several IT professionals. Companies spent millions of dollars customizing network software to make it applicable to their business models. For multi-national companies, or even companies with multiple locations in the same country, the expense of network administration became staggering.

Over the past year, or so, a new concept has been emerging that is being referred to as cloud computing. The concept is really quite simple. A cloud computing service provides access to a computer network which they administer. This eliminates network administration for the end-user. As a matter of fact, the end-user doesn't even have to know the physical location of the system providing the cloud services.

Have we lost you? Okay, let's illustrate using a really simple example that will perhaps make it easier to understand.

Let's imagine that you own a company with ten employees who are located in ten different states. You want all of your employees to have full access to all of the features offered in standard office suite software, but you don't want to purchase ten licenses. Also, you want your employees to be able to share information - but you don't want to spend an elaborate amount of money to establish a network that ties all ten computers together.

What if there was a cloud service that featured all of the practical tools necessary for your employees to share information and conduct business?

Imagine that each of your employees could simply log into the cloud service with a user name and password. Using this information, as a matter of fact, they would be able to log in from any computer in the world. Once logged in, they are given access to an entire set of tools: word processing, spreadsheet, presentation software, etc. Each employee is able to create documents that they can save using storage space provided by the cloud service.

Using this oversimplified example, it is easy to see the advantages are immense. First off, you would not have to purchase multiple licenses. Secondly, each of your employees would be given access to work on the same files. Thirdly, all of the administrative costs and headaches of setting up a network are gone --- the cloud service takes care of everything. Your employees simply log in, do their work, save their files and log off.

This is an overly simple illustration, but it helps you to understand the concept of cloud computing. Now just take a moment and imagine all of the possibilities for the varieties of services that might be offered by computer cloud service providers. The possibilities are limitless.

Cloud Computing - A Concept Whose Time Has Come

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