Applications on Cloud Nine
Why do so many act like cloud computing is all new? It has clearly been on the scene for years, growing healthily through its expansion of technologies aimed at specific needs of targeted consumers. Cloud computing companies know exactly what generates millions of users based on daily activities made easy through various software online.
A new wave of applications has emerged which negate the need to drain your personal savings in purchasing software. Cloud applications (often referred to as Software-as-a-Service) have certainly made an impact on the lives of businessmen, on-the-go professionals and the youth who patronize these applications. Costs have been cut in software application, installation, maintenance and technical support, while computers with higher memory or faster performance need no longer to continually be bought. Meanwhile, owners of small IT companies can reduce overheads with less hardware, fewer employees to monitor hardware, and fewer customer service agents to face irritated consumers that use different versions of the product.
Applications like Google Docs now provide the platform for anyone to create, store and share documents or spreadsheets. No longer confined to your desktop computer at home, you can access any information or file on the cloud by simply bringing your laptop or mobile phone anywhere with a simple Internet connection.
Sharing of these data also requires minimal time and effort – a stark contrast to the slow uploading, sending via email or saving on flash drives. Intended addressees can easily get hold of these files by merely connecting to the internet. Dropbox is also a good example. Pictures often have high resolution and take a longer time to upload or attach. By just sharing a folder in Dropbox, anyone can quickly view and have a copy of their most cherished photos.
The storage capability of these cloud applications also comes in handy during computer breakdowns. By having their files on the cloud, users immediately have a back-up drive that will not simply crash at any moment. These applications are quite inexpensive compared to back-up hardware that many big businesses pay for. Scalability is also a strong suit for any of these cloud applications, since user needs are often diverse.
The scope of services offered by cloud applications is also evolving and improving by the hour: customer relationship management, sales databases, and finance applications among others. All these applications are either free or significantly lower than alternatives.
The only hard pill to swallow is the question of security. Since you are basically putting your information out there, confidentiality is put to the test. How safe will your data be on the cloud when control is primarily not in your hands? The guarantee that it won’t be used for advertising campaigns or Youtube uploads should be a key motivation for finding a cloud application that provides a highly secure and safe environment that respects your privacy. For all its immense benefits, cloud applications must first and foremost uphold what they promise, which is the ultimate customer service. And that includes strict user protection. To give you a better illustration of what a fully-featured security service is like, visit the Security section of this site.
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About the Guest Author:
Rodolfo Lentejas, Jr. is a fulltime freelance writer based in Toronto. He is the founder of the PostSckrippt, a growing online writing business dedicated to producing top quality, original and fresh content. To know more about him, please visit www.postsckrippt.ca. Like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.
