Cloud computing is no new concept in the IT
industry but it would seem that one single definition is still yet to be established.
Nodreen Kiwanuka, one of Metia's Account Executives, shared this great 5
minute video which breaks cloud computing down into layman terms.
[View:view:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJncFirhjPg]
We agreed
that the IT industry is still
defining cloud computing but that the most more
digestible definition was that "cloud computing is putting more of
your material out there and less on PCs and servers". Nodreen even found a
visual to explain cloud computing for me:
= not cloud computing
Nodreen explained that “instead of storing all of your everyday
programs and documents on clunky servers below the office IT department in the basement,
an organisation could store this online which makes it easily accessible for all”. She pointed out that "cloud has faced opposition especially on the
security front, with growing concerns around ‘loss of control over data’ and
privacy with information being so easily accessible".
On the plus side, Nodreen said that "the growth of cloud adoption will almost certainly evoke a
bout of fierce competition between major
providers of cloud services, essentially creating a great deal of
variety when it comes to both different
cloud structures and increasingly robust security offerings. Aside from the reduced IT costs, scalability, improved disaster
recovery and data backup, collaboration across devices and the world….frankly,
you’re saving the
environment”. Therefore, "to cloud" seems to be the answer to this question.