Cloud computing: “cuckoo land” or a cloud with silver lining?

Judging from the amount of bad press cloud computing has received on the Internet you might be forgiven for thinking you should not touch anything associated with cloud computing.

Well, the truth is cloud computing is just a marketing term and marketing terms come and go. I remember when multimedia was the hottest thing in computing if you could add the term multimedia to your product it was sure to sell. Now multimedia is old hat.

Cloud computing is hot at this point. It is the collective term for when IT power, such as applications and connectivity, is delivered over the Internet as you need it, rather than stored locally on a desktop computer.

Seeing this as an opportunity for development, many companies both large and small have jumped on the band wagon. The list of these companies include (but is not limited to) Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce.

What is it?

Cloud computing is a blanket name covering many web-based activities;

For example, Google Apps is a collection of web-based programs and file storage that can be accessed via a web browser. These applications are free and the software is stored on Google’s servers, which mean no installation is necessary.

To access the service, users log in to Google, to access their applications and files. All the applications in Google Apps work through a web browser. Users must have a Google account to use them.

Google Apps includes a customizable start page (iGoogle) and Google Sites (with web page creator). Also communication tools such as Gmail, Google Talk, and Google Calendar. Productivity tools are also included — with Google Docs you can create and edit text files, spreadsheets, and presentations.

Microsoft Office Live concentrates on giving you the tools to establish a web presence (design a website), plus a set of business applications in the form of a collection of password-protected lists, libraries, workspaces, and tools that help you collaborate with clients and co-workers. These applications can be customized to meet your needs.

An example of a how a smaller company has embraced cloud computing is Salesforce.com — this company has formed a strategic alliance with Google.

Salesforce has helped to alter the business software landscape by producing a web based contact management application. This application is a subscription-based service over the web and it completely eliminates the need for software. As part of the alliance, salesforce.com will be the first on-demand company to resell the Google AdWords platform, acting as an official distribution channel.

The Salesforce Platform, as the world’s first on-demand platform, enables customers, developers and partners to build powerful new on-demand applications that extends beyond CRM to deliver the benefits of multi-tenancy and The Business Web across the enterprise. The Salesforce Platform allows applications to be easily shared, exchanged and installed with a few simple clicks.

Concerns have been raised about many aspects of cloud computing and some see cloud computing as bait to lure users into using free online applications, which will be turned into subscription based services at a later date.

Other concerns include the fact that you lose control of both your apps and your data. Some Internet doom mongers cite the fact that should you loss Internet access you not only loose your ability to use your applications but the ability to access your data as well.

For example, one area that could potentially benefit from the cloud computing concept is on line accounting. Sage and Mamut/MYOB both have Internet-ready versions of their applications that many small business need constant access to. They also need to keep control of their software updates allowing them to choose when updates are performed. The last thing you want is for your accounts system to stop working when you’re running your month-end accounts. Therefore, many accounts departments would put off updates until less sensitive time, with Internet based services you lose this control.

In practice it is very rare for companies as big as Google or Microsoft to experience outages. It does happen but you can be sure it will be fixed at lightning speed. If your computer goes down you would not have been able to access your information anyway. If your Internet connection goes down then this can be a problem and represents your biggest worry.

Other potential problems include loss of control. Because access rights are shared across the services, security relies on how carefully others protect their login credentials. Furthermore, it’s not impossible that at some point in the future these services will get hacked.

Where is it going?

Cloud computing potential out-ways the concerns about it. In a way it’s nothing new, many of us have been sharing data, and storing information, documents and photos online for many years. Server based tools have also been available for many years, for example, online virus checkers. I would argue that “Cloud Computing” is much more than marketing hype. It a useful and growing set of Internet based applications and services.

The advantages of cloud computing are that your data is not stored in a desk-bound computer. The data is stored on secure, backed up and disaster-proofed servers such as Host1Plus offers. These servers offer far more protection than your office could ever provide. Many of the applications are free and can grow as you grow, with many services offering premium paid for services.

For cloud computing to work, you need to make sure you have both local and Internet based file storage. Don”t abandon computer based applications just yet, and you need to monitor the market and should your current service provider start charging for what was a free service vote with your feet and move.