What Is Cloud Technology?

Change is inevitable.  Just as personal computers and the internet redefined business computing over the last 20 years, Cloud technology is poised to dominate the new age of computer usage.  It’s not unlike the evolution of the manufacturing industry, which has gone from huge warehouses full of inventory to on-demand delivery.

Cloud computing is the next step in the evolution of computing technology.  The goal of Cloud technology is to make the data and tools you need to run your business always accessible from anywhere in the world on any computing device that can access the Internet.

Understanding cloud technology (also known as Software as a Service or SaaS) is easy:  it’s the same jobs, documents, and files you’re used to using on your computer except all your work is performed and stored online.  Think of a high-rise apartment in which residents share the same infrastructure and services like security, but everyone manages and uses their apartment as they choose. “Cloud” is a visualization term that allows you to imagine a huge cloud of data floating on the Internet. Instead of using traditional software, which has to be bought, installed and maintained on every computer in your business, with SaaS software everyone shares a single software application that is customizable and flexible enough for all to use. Similarly, all your work documents can now be stored in the Cloud instead of your hard drive or servers.

Cloud computing is a better solution to run your business.    Instead of running and managing all of your applications yourself internally, your applications run on a huge shared data center.  It’s as easy as plugging in a lamp and turning it on.  When you use any application that runs in the cloud, you just login and start working.  It’s that simple.