August 24th, 2012
Sophia is a mom of Emily, a 6-month old baby. She is a software engineer and works from home for a reputed software firm. While working in her home-office, her Apple iPhone beeps to indicate that a message has arrived. She checks the message that reads, “URGENT! Emily is out of her crib.” Sophia rushes to Emily’s room and put her back into her playpen. The Wi-Fi presence attached to the crib sensor transmitted the status of the baby to her iPhone application.
This is a hypothetical scenario, but the technology mentioned is not. Smartphones, laptops, tablets, VoIP phones and other off-the-shelf Wi-Fi devices have changed the way we live- both literally, in terms of our emotional and physical well-being.
According to a report from IT research firm Gartner, cloud computing, social media, mobile technology and the ubiquity of information are converging to form a “nexus of forces” that will build and transform user behavior, revolutionizing business and society, disrupting old business models and creating new leaders.
What is Mobile cloud computing? Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) is a mixture of networking, cloud computing and mobile computing. It is a rapidly developing segment of the mobile market.
Why is mobile cloud computing growing?
People’s love for smartphones is growing. Smartphones, which is a versatile all-in-one communication device, is playing a far greater role in our lives and has replaced watches, cameras, alarms, music players, books and even laptops to a certain functional extent.
The Deloitte’s State of the Media Democracy study states that nearly half (42 per cent) of America’s fourteen year and older population is now a smartphone owner. Similar to Swiss Army Knives, smartphones are now used to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to texting, calling, taking pictures & making video clips, gaming, playing music, internet browsing and sending emails, making transactions for work or personal use.
When the term “internet everywhere” is becoming a reality, smartphones, cloud computing and web access are going side by side. The new technologies like cloud computing, virtualization, and mobility have created a lot of interest in companies of all sizes as it enables them to improve their ability to protect crucial information and recover from potential disasters such as floods or fires.
Benefits of mobile cloud computing:
Tech- savvy people are empowered by the cloud as it offers more flexibility and enables them to determine their usage pattern. Certain sectors like media, technology, entertainment and “knowledge industries” have shown wide adaptation of mobile services.
Obstacles facing mobile cloud computing:
It is agreeable that smartphone usage is increasing at rapid pace, but one should not forget that there is still a large number of people who are using feature phones. These lower-end phones will not disappear any time soon and phone manufacturers might come up with smarter built-in web browsers that can hinder the growth of mobile cloud computing.
The main issues with mobile cloud computing are non-availability of wireless bandwidth and fluctuations in network service delivery. In addition, adaptive network monitoring is another major roadblock for this technology.
The abovementioned challenges are not easy to overcome, but service and network providers are working (both from communication as well as computing sides) to improve a user’s mobile cloud experience. All in all, the future for mobile cloud computing is surely bright, but consumers will have to be patient with some of its shortcomings, which should be addressed in the near future.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Mandira Srivastava is a fulltime freelance writer who specializes in technology, health and fitness, politics, and financial writing. Equipped with degree of mass communication and having worked for both private and corporate clients, I have experience meeting a wide range of writing requirements and styles.
August 23rd, 2012
For quite some time, the visual effects and the animation industry stayed on the sidelines and watched as other industries moved into cloud computing. Then suddenly, the benefits became too large to be ignored. While visual effects have always relied heavily on large and flexible storage and abundant computing power it is only in recent years that almost every aspect of film production has become heavily dependent on cloud computing. Editing, storage and post production work is all carried out in the cloud.
In the early days there were some worries caused due to concerns about security, bandwidth and loss of control. Even though hundreds of other industries were already storing terabytes of data in the cloud, the entertainment industry stayed aloof. It was only after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that people became aware that organizations that dealt with very large quantities of data could be wiped out if they did not protect their data adequately.
Visual Effects studios began to look at alternate means of managing and securing their data and the public cloud was positioned just right to catch their attention. Studios realized that they could use the processing power of the cloud to reduce their own IT expenditure besides just getting reliable storage. Specialist cloud computing data centers that offered studios petabytes of data (1 million GB) and access any frame of the movie nearly instantaneously began to emerge.
Other service providers realized that entertainment businesses know very little about information technology and began to offer instantaneous plug and play solutions. MTV, Shine Group and BBC are all heavy users of cloud computing. These plug and play solutions are extremely easy and intuitive to use and require almost no trained manpower.
Reality TV shows the way
Yet another big fan of cloud service is reality TV. The format of cloud services allows reality TV producers to store enormous amounts of raw footage, tag it rapidly and locate specific scenes very rapidly. This searchable database of tagged video is the backbone of the production and due to the sheer size and processing capability needed is something that only the cloud platform could achieve.
Contract Management
Those who know something about the entertainment industry are aware that there are a large number of contracts that need to be negotiated for every production. These contracts have to be refined and approved and then are subjected to negotiation and consequent re-editing. For this to be done on-line there is a requirement for collaborative file sharing and document management.
This requires specialist capabilities that companies are rarely able to find in-house. You need to set up an online conference room where participants can discuss and share documents as the negotiation progresses. It is no surprise to find that there are a number of companies that specialize in offering precisely this kind of service while being able to demonstrate strong security and manage version control of documents as well. Among many other users of this kind of cloud computing service, DreamWorks, Media Horse and Relativity Music Group are some well known names.
Vfx is supreme
However, it is the visual effects groups that are the best known and most powerful advocates of cloud computing. Many studios feared that connecting to a data center over the Internet would make work painfully slow and perhaps kill the creative process altogether. Service providers have worked with RAM and Flash to bring latency down to acceptable limits, the best service providers are able to achieve 0.1 millisecond.
DreamWorks uses a 15,000 processor core cloud service to animate its characters. Just four seconds of animation takes 96 frames and these take nearly 10 hours of computing time to ensure that the animation is precisely as the director has visualized it. Once that is done, the 15,000 core processors get to work stitching the frames together. Doing this kind of work with only in-house equipment meant millions of dollars in costs. Doing it in the cloud is much cheaper and needs very little setup time.
Democratizing the Industry
The cloud is also making it possible for small producers to experiment like never before. It has brought down the costs of production and this will result in many more productions that would otherwise never have made it to the screen. More realistic 3-d and graphics are just the beginning of a new trend.
Cloud computing is fast becoming an inseparable component of the entertainment industry. Quality is going up all the time while costs are dropping. Think of this when you watch your next film.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Sanjay Srivastava has been active in computing infrastructure and has participated in major projects on cloud computing, networking, VoIP and in creation of applications running over distributed databases. Due to a military background, his focus has always been on stability and availability of infrastructure. Sanjay was the Director of Information Technology in a major enterprise and managed the transition from legacy software to fully networked operations using private cloud infrastructure. He now writes extensively on cloud computing and networking and is about to move to his farm in Central India where he plans to use cloud computing and modern technology to improve the lives of rural folk in India.
August 22nd, 2012
Japan has one of the biggest gaming industries in the whole world at the moment. A lot of Western social and gaming companies are trying to break in to Japan’s massive market of gamers because of the huge potential revenue from these consumers. However, the challenge that comes with entering this market is not an easy burden to take. Those who have tried and probably failed could attest that the Japanese market could be quite resistant to foreign invasion when it comes to their beloved games whether online or downloaded into their personal computers or mobile phones.
An excellent example of a slow reception of outside products would be Facebook. While the rest of the world is going crazy over this social media platform, the Japanese have developed their own social and gaming media that best provide what they want. The localized context of their games is much more attractive to Japanese gamers as well as the nature of using aliases instead of their real names.
So if a foreign company wants to make it big in the Japanese social gaming scene, there are various factors to consider when creating that strategic plan to promote your game in this country. Topping this list is the current culture of the Japanese when it comes to accessing their favorite games. The most effective approach to reach this market is by going mobile. It is a common scene in the streets of Japan to see a person using and playing in their mobile phones. A lot of them include games in their mobile phone payment plan because it is a common form of entertainment. And while Americans focus on social networking with featured games, the Japanese have games in the forefront of social media with chatting and messaging on the sidelines. Giving your games a local feel to adapt to their culture while being accessed on mobile phones is your biggest asset to lure those Japanese consumers.
The multi-billion dollar gaming industry in Japan has also hit its peak when social games featured monetization techniques wherein the gamer could purchase virtual goods embedded in the game. This definitely made a huge impact for Japanese gamers who enjoyed such a practice. However, a recent controversy has sprung up over the legality of such a money-making technique. Anyone wanting to enter the local market has to understand the nature and effects of using this gacha approach in their games before deciding to include it in their game.
Perhaps a universal strategy not only applied to Japan but to the rest of the world is by having free games that could be downloaded either from their computers or mobile phones. Affordability is of course anyone’s concern whether you’re from the East or West. You could start by offering free trials for social game applications and then sell it for an economical fee to your customers. By getting advertisements placed in your games, you could rack up some profits in the mean time. You could also offer a premium content fee which is most often used in Japan.
Choosing what type of social game you have to develop for the Japanese market is also a crucial point when wanting to enter their gaming industry. There is a need to study and understand the kind of games that Japanese enjoy and patronize. Most of these games could involve but are not limited to puzzles, cards or role-playing. You have to know which would tickle their fancy to make them want to play it over and over again. If you still feel lost in making that strategic move, you can do what others have tried, which is tying up with or paying for services of a Japanese developer who knows how to make that game relevant to the local market. Another option is by merging with existing successful game makers in Japan to promote your game. By doing this, your game could be enhanced and advertised instantaneously when connected to a big name in the Japanese gaming scene.
No matter what your tactic is, the gaming industry in Japan is a huge undertaking to execute. It is not a simple market to penetrate but once you know which routes to take based on research and marketing strategies, you can reap the benefits of this top-grossing industry that has taken over the gaming world.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
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.
August 21st, 2012
There is no question that most experts agree that cloud computing represents the future of IT. However, some factors, such as the disproportionate media coverage to recent issues with cloud computing companies, inadequate legislation (particularly in Europe,) and a general distrust of new technologies makes many businesses skeptic about migrating their whole IT infrastructure to the cloud. Fortunately, there is no need to migrate the entirety of your business all at once.
The cloud is, by nature, flexible. This means that a transitional approach towards a successful migration to the cloud is usually the best option. This can be an effective sales pitch for cloud vendors looking to attract skeptic clients as well as a way for businesses to get used to what is, essentially, a whole new way of thinking about computing and storage. In this article we will take a look at a five-step process that can allow businesses to migrate seamlessly to the cloud while also allowing management to get used to the idea of working within the infrastructure of a cloud-based system.
Processing and storage viewed as utilities
The key to changing how we view computing is to start thinking of computing as a service, as one additional utility your company hires. Just as electricity, water, and sewage are both reliable and essential to most businesses, computing needs, such as storage and processing, are also essential and, in the right hands, are just as reliable. It would probably not be cost-effective to purchase a power plant to power your company’s electric equipment. Similarly, today it is no longer cost-effective to build a data center for your storage needs. However, changing this mindset takes time, which requires a gradual approach.
Five gradual steps for moving completely to the cloud
Fortunately, thanks to the flexibility that the cloud gives its costumers, a gradual migration is usually the best solution. While there is usually no need for it from a technical point of view, from a human resources standpoint it will help avoid human error and allow everyone involved to shift into the cloud as well. The following five steps can help make the transition to the cloud a smooth one:
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.
August 20th, 2012
Distance learning has become quite popular lately, and many institutions are bombarded with a lot of concerns as the number of their distance (online) students gradually increases. However, the most important challenge faced by these institutions is the need to provide unhindered, flexible and quick access to the bulk of teaching instructions, lesson materials and learning platforms for students so as to give them the unique opportunity to attain greater educational achievements.
Distance education requires the use of large amounts of data and learning resources that need multi-faceted IT infrastructure in the areas of storage and the provision of easy and quick access to interactive videos, online academic chats and teleconferences, digital feedback system and digital library services. Incidentally, these on-demand educational technologies have caused several institutions to either expand their in-house IT structures or outsource some of these services to third-party IT firms. This is because new servers, networks and storage facilities are needed to meet the upsurge in amount of data produced by the large number of distance-learning students. However, this practice has been discovered to be non-economical because the affected institutions have to suddenly increase their annual budget for IT requirements.
Hence, cloud computing has been recognized as one of the best solutions to the problem of bloated IT budget for institutions that run distance (online) programs. Apart from helping these institutions reduce their overhead IT expenditure, cloud computing also provides some highly competitive features of reliability, scalability and speed. For instance, institutions normally spend a lot of money to set up and maintain new educational technologies. But such expenses will be unnecessary when they move their in-house IT structure to the cloud. Some of the options available to distance-learning students, as far as cloud technology is concerned include:
Based on the merits of cloud computing highlighted above, distance (online) education administrators should consider adding cloud computing to one of their strategies to make their institution’s performance optimal. Since cloud technology allows interoperability, online learning administrators need not worry about whether their current hardware, networking system, servers and applications will work perfectly with the newly introduced cloud computing. More so, cloud technology enhances fast delivery of educational content, quick reception of feedback and students’ comments and the storage of huge amount of data generated in the course of learning.
Though users are still concerned about security, privacy and long-time efficiency of cloud computing, the good news is that some institutions that had already moved their IT structures to the cloud are enjoying some benefits of doing so. Now, they worry less about maintaining in-house IT systems and they are happy about the extent of flexibility and scalability provided by cloud computing; in other words, if they lose some students in their distance-learning programs, they can consequently reduce their required storage and networking requirements. This is not possible in an in-house IT facility whereby software, hardware, applications and other materials acquired to facilitate online education cannot be reduced even if the number of students that enrolled for the courses suddenly declined.
As a matter of fact, cloud computing not only gives flexibility and a faster rate of access to educational materials stored in the cloud, it also helps institutions cut expenses and enhance better academic performance.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/
August 17th, 2012
Cloud computing in Japan has been around longer than you might think. Though it seems like this buzz word has just exploded, it has been living inside our homes for quite some time now with the advent of the internet. For years, cloud computing has been serving the communication needs of the locals with the country’s capacity for revolutionary advancements in technology. One of the clearest manifestations of Japan’s super power abilities when it comes to cloud computing is how it is being utilized for the social media market.
Initially, Japan’s social media scene mainly revolved around home-grown networking sites that incorporate gaming into their services aside from the usual sending of messages, chatting and sharing of photos and videos. These social networking sites use cloud computing to store the information of the user on a remote server so that it can be accessed anywhere and at anytime by the user. The flexibility offered by cloud computing is also apparent in the usage of mobile phones by the Japanese to access these social media sites. It’s been noted that Japanese people are more active in social media thru their phones rather than in their personal computers. By having a cloud computing service provider, social networking companies are able to allow their users to remain up to date with their personal pages instead of just being tied up to their desktop computers at home.
These local social networking sites have zoomed past other popular media in the West such as Facebook and Twitter. For a time, it seemed that these Western sites won’t be able to gain a strong share of patrons in Japan. However, over time, Facebook and Twitter have garnered the needed followers for a strong boost in their business most especially due to the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in 2011. These foreign social media sites were the saving glory of the victims and their families in the affected regions of Japan.
With telecommunication infrastructures being hit by this tragedy, these social sites were key to knowing the status of the people, conducting rescue and relief operations, and coordinating disaster contingency plans. Only with cloud computing can all these communication gateways became possible. This only goes to show how social media thru cloud computing, when used in the most optimal way, can surpass the usual meeting of new people or catching up with the latest gossip done in most social networking sites.
Moving on to other social media, it has been said that majority of blogs in the world are written in Japanese. The locals have learned to utilize blogging networks not only for sharing their personal stories but they could also start their own forum or communities as well as enjoying available games. The additional services available to blog sites only demonstrate that social media has undoubtedly encompassed so many platforms nowadays as companies start to maximize the potentials of cloud computing.
So if you are planning to start your own company or promote your existing business in Japan, you should begin to study how cloud computing and the social media can benefit your end. By using available social media sites, you can effectively advertise your products or services to your target market. Since a lot of Japanese remain active online, you will be more visible and approachable to your potential customers this way. You can also monitor the reactions or recommendations of your customers online with these social sites so that you can further improve your product. Current trends that affect your business are also easily learned thru online forums which is why you need to make the effort to socially connect thru these varied types of media.
Cloud computing can thus allow you to build your own interactive website or even your own social media network in order to reach those elusive Japanese audience for your business. The impact of cloud computing for businesses is massive with social media being in the forefront of it. And more than any other country in the world, Japan has been seen to lead the pack in cloud computing infrastructures and policies, which is why any business wanting to grow in Japan needs to take advantage of this technological phenomenon while it’s still hot.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
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.
August 16th, 2012
One morning, you arrive at the office and receive your phone and electricity bills, you tend to pay it online and soon you get to know that your credit limit has expired. What will you do now? Since yoou are strapped for cash, you unwillingly go to your friends and borrow some money. Well, borrowing is not bad, but you feel some guilt about it.
On a similar note Polonius, chief counselor to King Claudius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet said, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” Do you know why you have gone out and borrowed some money? I will tell you – it is because you could not track of your expenses well. You don’t know how you spend your money and where has all the money gone? So, you need to track your spending pattern to know where you can save money in terms of tax returns.
While setting up a business you might have spent on computers, data storage equipments, networking infrastructure, software packages with valid licenses and so on. Today, enterprises are looking into ways to cut down on spiralling costs in almost all spheres they are likely to be engaged in it. Particularly, every penny counts in a small business set-up.
The old days of receipts and expense files are history:
So, you can keep track of all your expenses by installing software solution on your PC or pick any cloud solution for it. However, if you are running a business that makes you travel frequently and you rarely sit still, it is advisable to select cloud applications. Naturally, the mobile business owner requires a mobile solution that helps you to track expenses without carrying around piles of receipts. In today’s business environment, creating and processing expense reports manually, has become a thing of the past. Additionally, today’s tech–savvy consumers do not want to do business with companies that look outdated.
Here are few reasons why should you use cloud solutions to track your business expenses:
With the significant advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) over the last half century, you can possibly see the reason why so many business ventures are now centered on the cloud as they offer the necessary levels of scalability to suit any kind of expanding business environment.
There are many companies that are offering cloud-based expense management solutions. You need to be very careful while selecting one, as this would have sensitive data. Don’t hesitate to ask hard-hitting questions about security settings, employees who will have access to your information and more. Always use different complex passwords for your PC, laptop, or smartphone and keep your device locked or password protected when not in use.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Mandira Srivastava is a fulltime freelance writer who specializes in technology, health and fitness, politics, and financial writing. Equipped with a degree of mass communication and having worked for both private and corporate clients, she has experienced meeting a wide range of writing requirements and styles.
August 15th, 2012
One of the greatest challenges that cloud technology brings with it is the need for developers, IT professionals, and companies to be more open in their interactions. Cloud computing, by nature, requires the interaction of various entities and, as this technology grows, interactions between various companies are becoming the rule rather than the exception.
Because of this, it is important to understand which parties, if any, are involved in your cloud computing services apart from your company and the vendor. Third parties can enter a cloud computing service in an outsourcing agreement. The cloud computing industry is also very fast paced and you may find that your vendor has been acquired by a larger company or merged with another cloud services business. Third parties can ensure that you are getting the best possible range of services from a variety of sources. However, since the introduction of other parties to a cloud service also adds risk, it is important to address third parties in your contract.
Outsourcing issues in your cloud services contract
When you enter a contract with a cloud computing vendor, it is important to get information on whether the vendor is outsourcing some of its services to another cloud computing company. For example, a well-known SaaS vendor runs many of its services at a third-party’s data center using that third-party’s IaaS services. These kinds of interactions can make cloud computing contracts difficult to navigate. In the best interest of the consumer, it is important to mitigate risk by ensuring that your contract contains the following provisions for your cloud computing vendor:
Outsourcing is not a bad thing. In fact, the whole concept of cloud computing is essentially a form of outsourcing itself. In fact, as the industry gets more complex we can probably expect to see a higher degree of specialization. Unlike today, cloud computing vendors will need to become much more specific with their services, which will necessarily mean that any cloud computing contract will include various parties.
What happens in case of an acquisition or merger?
The cloud computing industry is one of the fastest paced tech industries today. We are still on the ground floor of a technology that is growing in leaps and bounds. This means that, at least today, you can expect the business landscape to change dramatically at a very rapid pace. Just looking at the last year, you will find numerous examples of large companies (such as Skype, Success Factors, and Yammer) being bought by the industry giants, and mergers are quite more frequent than in other industries. While this helps the technology advance and the market grow, it can be a bit difficult to navigate when it comes to your cloud services contract.
A new owner may not be willing to continue with the same products or to accept the terms you had in the contract with the previous owner. To mitigate these risks, it is important to include language in your current contract that allows you to plan for a merger, bankruptcy, or acquisition of your present cloud computing vendor. A good way to do this is to establish that all parties and their successors (regardless of the process resulting in their succession) will be bound by the terms of the contract. To transfer those obligations and rights to a third party, they should first need the prior consent of the other party of the contract. This means that your current cloud services vendor will still be held responsible, even if the company passes into new ownership.
The Bottom Line
Many of these issues can be navigated safely with the help of a professional. Today, Cloud brokers are rising organizations in the Cloud computing industry. They basically connect cloud clients with cloud vendors. By managing multiple parties for you and finding the correct vendors for your company’s needs, a cloud broker can reduce costs and help you navigate what is becoming an industry full of complexity.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.
August 14th, 2012
Like all other cutting edge technologies, cloud computing has a number of security issues that are peculiar to the medium. While none of these are insurmountable, it is still necessary that they be handled correctly. Since most of the environment is virtual in nature, the security and business continuity challenges are very different from those faced by more traditional IT centers. Today, about 40% of servers are virtualized and it is expected that in another five to six years, nearly 86% of servers will be virtual. Therefore the challenges of managing the security of virtual devices will only increase. The key areas that will have to be addressed in the future are –
Many users also give great importance to integration with third party applications. You may not need this capability today, but at some time in the future, the need could arise. You would not want to make major changes to your application just to ensure this.
With cloud computing services becoming the backbone of many companies, selecting service providers who offer these fundamental capabilities will help you get the best from your cloud investments.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Sanjay Srivastava has been active in computing infrastructure and has participated in major projects on cloud computing, networking, VoIP and in creation of applications running over distributed databases. Due to a military background, his focus has always been on stability and availability of infrastructure. Sanjay was the Director of Information Technology in a major enterprise and managed the transition from legacy software to fully networked operations using private cloud infrastructure. He now writes extensively on cloud computing and networking and is about to move to his farm in Central India where he plans to use cloud computing and modern technology to improve the lives of rural folk in India.
August 13th, 2012
Japan has always been regarded as a slow adopter of every new, non-Japanese technology. There are some facts to support this observation. A typical example is the unexpectedly slow acceptance Japanese businesses have for social media like Facebook, Twitter and Mixi etc. In a survey reported in Nikkei Computer, the results tabulated below indicate that Japanese businesses are cold to the idea of massively using social media in their day-to-day business activities; however, this revelation obviously points to the fact that there is a huge possibility for their usage in the near future.
Purpose |
|
|
Mixi |
Get info before Newspapers & TV |
49.3% |
31.9% |
5.8% |
Get info on products & services of interest |
20.6% |
12.1% |
8.6% |
Advertise and promote products & services |
2.7% |
3.2% |
0.5% |
Source: Nikkei Computer
The figures above show ample opportunities for future expansion in the use of social media as Japanese businesses warm up to the adoption of these technologies in their daily business operations. And foreign developers and marketers of social media applications will also have equal chances of entering gallantly into Japan’s social media market.
So, how can cloud computing facilitate the use of social media in Japan? The table above indicates that a moderate number of Japanese businesses have already been utilizing social media to obtain information about products and services of interests. This entails that large amounts of information will be collected on daily basis, which may include the price information, specifications of products and services, contact/communication information etc. This bulk of information requires appreciable space on these businesses’ servers for storage, processing and retrieval. In this case, cloud computing will offer more storage capacity for these businesses while making sure that the information obtained is protected and stored in a format that can be easily accessible to these Japanese businesses’ usage.
Secondly, the results above reveal a hope for future increase in the utilization of social media by Japanese businesses in the area of advertising and promoting their products and services. This revelation attests to the expectation that the social media market in Japan will be big and profitable, calling all potential new entrants into the market to be ready for quick action.
And as the volume of advertising and products/services promotion on social media increases in Japan, companies (both local and foreign) that offer these services will have a lot to gain if they migrate their storage facility to the cloud so as to be able to handle the huge amount of data that will be generated by this action. New foreign entrants into Japan’s social media market will hugely benefit from coming into the country because Japanese businesses usually act in a group, meaning that once the concept of using social media has become popular, so many Japanese companies will come aboard at once to apply the same procedure to their day-to-day operations.
However, there will be huge demand for data storage, protection, easy accessibility and flexibility. And the only way to achieve this purpose effortlessly is for the social media companies, developers of social media applications and other accessories (software and hardware) to adopt the cloud technology. Cloud computing, tested and trusted, will offer these companies (both local and foreign) the needed storage capacity, security assurance, flexibility and scalability. The good news is that companies can scale down their storage capacity in case Japanese businesses suddenly withdraw from using social media in their advertisement and products/services promotion.
The points raised above strongly support the fact that cloud computing is the only solution for dealing with the projected demand for social media services in Japan in the coming years. Without it, it will be impossible for social media companies as well as their Japanese customers to grow in size and profitability.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/
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