"Cloud Computing", It's More Than Just a Cool Buzz Word

In the last six months or so I have been hearing a great deal of buzz about "Cloud Computing". Cloud Computing is not a reference to Cirrus, Cumulous, Stratus or the other forms of clouds related to the science of meteorology.  I recently saw an AT&T television commercial professing the benefits of Cloud Computing and how much better life in the cloud is. I must say, I was intrigued by the concept and decided to explore this latest hot tech resource. Being one who uses three different flash drives, numerous documents on my laptop, desktop, and iPhone, Cloud Computing carried some interest for me.

In my research on Cloud Computing I found there is really no universal definition for this concept. Much has been written lately in popular IT magazines and e-books on Cloud Computing, so almost everyone has attempted to garner a definition. The most simplistic, albiet understated definition I could find for Cloud Computing was "on-demand web-based services". I will not attempt to add to the confusion by providing my own definition, instead I will share how I have used this newest form of technology.

For me Cloud Computing has provided a sense of comfort and freedom knowing that I can now save all my written documents and pictures on a secure server that I can access from any computer/smart phone/tablet, anywhere as long as I can access the internet. I no longer need to save files on my flash drive, computer hard drive, or send myself email attachments of documents (Power Point, Word files, Excel, and others). With Cloud Computing I can save ALL my files using FREE "Cloud" based tools, such as Google Docs or Dropbox and access the files anywhere. Through these Cloud providers I can access my files and make changes, my changes are then "synced" across all my devices. If I am working on a project with others, I can give these individuals or groups access to my files and they too can make changes. Any changes to the files are date stamped and the name of the person making the change(s) is recorded.

If you use a computer regularly and need remote access to documents no matter where you are in the world, store multiple files on thumb/flash drives, or work with others on projects requiring that you send/receive e-mail attachments, I would encourage you to consider using cloud based storage solutions.

"Cloud Computing" is more than just a cool buzz word.