Tired of paying thousands of dollars to use a piece of software like Photoshop? Don’t worry, because in the near future you will be able to use almost any piece of software for only a few cents. Welcome to the world of cloud computing.
Put simply, cloud computing involves using a web-based service to host all the programmes a user needs to complete a task. Remote machines that are owned by another company run everything from e-mail to complex supercomputing programmes. It is these computers, servers and data storage systems that create the ‘cloud’. All the user needs is an Internet connection and the ability to run the cloud computing system’s interface software, which is often as simple as a web browser.
There are tremendous benefits to using cloud computing. For one, the user only needs a relatively basic, inexpensive computer because all the hard work and heavy lifting is done by the computers in the cloud. The end user’s computer doesn’t even need a big hard drive because most information is stored on the cloud. This means you can access your information anywhere with an Internet connection and won’t have to worry about carrying around your own computer.
Software-intensive businesses benefit the most from cloud computing. Instead of buying individual software licenses for an entire office staff, one would only have to load one application. Cloud computing systems give organisations company-wide access to various applications, for a small fee. Considering software like Dreamweaver, Photoshop and even Word cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars, the savings are huge.
Space and electricity are saved as well, since less physical space is taken up by computer equipment. Companies only pay for what they use, and do not have excess capacity taking up space and resources. Another advantage is that service providers can collect a huge amount of data about the usage habits of their users.
Another exciting aspect of cloud computing is its ability to turn ordinary computers into supercomputers. Most computers make use of only a small percentage of their processing power, and are able to run other programmes in the background. If they were all linked up they could generate massive amounts of computing power. For years NASA and other organisations have been recruiting members of the public to ‘donate’ the spare power on their computers to calculate things like the effects of global warming. Instead of spending millions on a supercomputer, NASA gets volunteers to create an almost free virtual supercomputing network (grid computing).
While cloud computing offers many great benefits, it also poses a number of problems and risks. Guaranteeing security and privacy are probably the biggest concerns. Like all other computers, those in the cloud are at risk of being hacked and their data being corrupted or stolen. Many people are reluctant to put their precious information on someone else’s system. Another concern is that if the Internet crashes, the user is stuck with nothing. Other worries are that software sales might decline and that the hosts might claim to own the data.
In spite of concerns, cloud computing is becoming hugely popular and is showing steady growth, especially in this recession economy. Commonly used services like e-mail (Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail), Google Docs and online file storage systems like 4shared.com are good examples of cloud computing becoming commonplace. For instance, the city of Los Angeles recently outsourced all its e-mail to Google. Even games are migrating to the cloud.
Cloud computing is opening up windows of opportunity and innovation in the business world, says Price Waterhouse Coopers. Instead of it taking months or even years to deploy IT infrastructure, businesses can set up their software systems almost instantly, and much more cheaply than before. Using cloud computing is an inexpensive and flexible way to deploy infrastructure as needed. IT departments are free to scale capacity up and down as usage demands, with no up-front network, hardware or storage investment.
Cloud services account for 25% of the IT industry’s yearly growth and, at current rates, will be behind around a third of the IT industry’s net growth by 2013, according to research firm IDC. At the moment, the global cloud market is valued at $22 billion but will balloon to $55 billion in 2014. For instance, RightScale, a cloud platform manager that has launched over a million cloud servers, reported a 300% growth in server numbers between June 2009 to June 2010. And Amazon’s cloud computing arm raked in half a billion dollars this year.
Analyst firm Gartner has named cloud computing as one of the biggest trends of 2010 and it will only grow from here, especially as companies seek ways to cut costs in the recession. The rise of smartphones will also push up the use of cloud computing as software on the cloud means desktop power on your cellphone. Cloud computing is getting ready to take the world by storm. Get ready for the heavens to open.
Put simply, cloud computing involves using a web-based service to host all the programmes a user needs to complete a task. Remote machines that are owned by another company run everything from e-mail to complex supercomputing programmes. It is these computers, servers and data storage systems that create the ‘cloud’. All the user needs is an Internet connection and the ability to run the cloud computing system’s interface software, which is often as simple as a web browser.
There are tremendous benefits to using cloud computing. For one, the user only needs a relatively basic, inexpensive computer because all the hard work and heavy lifting is done by the computers in the cloud. The end user’s computer doesn’t even need a big hard drive because most information is stored on the cloud. This means you can access your information anywhere with an Internet connection and won’t have to worry about carrying around your own computer.
Software-intensive businesses benefit the most from cloud computing. Instead of buying individual software licenses for an entire office staff, one would only have to load one application. Cloud computing systems give organisations company-wide access to various applications, for a small fee. Considering software like Dreamweaver, Photoshop and even Word cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars, the savings are huge.
Space and electricity are saved as well, since less physical space is taken up by computer equipment. Companies only pay for what they use, and do not have excess capacity taking up space and resources. Another advantage is that service providers can collect a huge amount of data about the usage habits of their users.
Another exciting aspect of cloud computing is its ability to turn ordinary computers into supercomputers. Most computers make use of only a small percentage of their processing power, and are able to run other programmes in the background. If they were all linked up they could generate massive amounts of computing power. For years NASA and other organisations have been recruiting members of the public to ‘donate’ the spare power on their computers to calculate things like the effects of global warming. Instead of spending millions on a supercomputer, NASA gets volunteers to create an almost free virtual supercomputing network (grid computing).
While cloud computing offers many great benefits, it also poses a number of problems and risks. Guaranteeing security and privacy are probably the biggest concerns. Like all other computers, those in the cloud are at risk of being hacked and their data being corrupted or stolen. Many people are reluctant to put their precious information on someone else’s system. Another concern is that if the Internet crashes, the user is stuck with nothing. Other worries are that software sales might decline and that the hosts might claim to own the data.
In spite of concerns, cloud computing is becoming hugely popular and is showing steady growth, especially in this recession economy. Commonly used services like e-mail (Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail), Google Docs and online file storage systems like 4shared.com are good examples of cloud computing becoming commonplace. For instance, the city of Los Angeles recently outsourced all its e-mail to Google. Even games are migrating to the cloud.
Cloud computing is opening up windows of opportunity and innovation in the business world, says Price Waterhouse Coopers. Instead of it taking months or even years to deploy IT infrastructure, businesses can set up their software systems almost instantly, and much more cheaply than before. Using cloud computing is an inexpensive and flexible way to deploy infrastructure as needed. IT departments are free to scale capacity up and down as usage demands, with no up-front network, hardware or storage investment.
Cloud services account for 25% of the IT industry’s yearly growth and, at current rates, will be behind around a third of the IT industry’s net growth by 2013, according to research firm IDC. At the moment, the global cloud market is valued at $22 billion but will balloon to $55 billion in 2014. For instance, RightScale, a cloud platform manager that has launched over a million cloud servers, reported a 300% growth in server numbers between June 2009 to June 2010. And Amazon’s cloud computing arm raked in half a billion dollars this year.
Analyst firm Gartner has named cloud computing as one of the biggest trends of 2010 and it will only grow from here, especially as companies seek ways to cut costs in the recession. The rise of smartphones will also push up the use of cloud computing as software on the cloud means desktop power on your cellphone. Cloud computing is getting ready to take the world by storm. Get ready for the heavens to open.
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