Cloud computing is an exciting and popular new trend. It is typically defined by the use of virtualized, scalable, web-based applications, and is closely tied to the idea of software as a service (SaaS). As the Internet becomes an increasingly ubiquitious presence in both our lives as consumers and our business world, the cloud computing trend is expected to grow and evolve. It promises a future where computers are not only inexpensive, portable devices, but where all of our software needs can be met through a web browser.
One welcome trend promised by cloud computing is an increase in business innovation. Cloud computing lowers the startup cost for new ventures, allowing ideas to more easily come to fruition. As developing cloud applications becomes faster and cheaper, competition will become fiercer, but the quality and innovation of the best enterprise applications will only improve. One can only hope this lower cost and greater return on investment will revive a stagnant industry and lead to a new “dot-com boom” rivaling that of the late 1990s.
Another future area of expansion for cloud computing is onto mobile devices. We are already starting to see this trend with the proliferation of iPhone apps. In the future, applications will be easily accessible through mobile phones, PDAs, and even in-car systems. It is conceivable that nearly any device capable of input and output will become a portal to the cloud. Furthermore, as bandwidth increases, multimedia, voice, and video may replace the typed word as the de facto data input method.
Much discussion of cloud computing is focused on benefit to the consumer, but it also provides benefit to companies, especially in the area of customer relationship management (CRM). Cloud applications have the advantages of being virtualized and scalable. In other words, their capacity expands seamlessly as your business grows. Call centers, tech support, online chats, customer self-service, analytics, and many other aspects of CRM are now moving into the cloud – and becoming streamlined as a result.
The full implications of this technology are only beginning to be understood, but imagine the synergy of providing for several of a customer’s cloud computing needs at once. Currently, several major companies are willing to provide free E-mail and social networking to millions of customers, in part because of the invaluable marketing data obtained. Computer users are increasingly willing to share personal information through online communities such as Facebook. How much more valuable will this data become as more and more aspects of our lives are shifted to the cloud?
The future of cloud computing will not be without its challenges. First and foremost, security must continue to evolve. Users of the cloud must feel confident that their important data remains safe and private. While cloud computing is arguably more secure on a local level (there are no local servers, terminals, or backup media to exploit), there are some dangers with broadcasting data over the internet.
Cloud computing applications must always be developed with security in mind, but additionally, the future of cloud computing depends on the security features of the Web browser (as recent Internet Explorer security breaches have demonstrated). Furthermore, cloud computing raises issues of copyright and intellectual property that the courts have just begun to explore. One might assume that the client retains full rights to all data stored on the cloud, but is this truly the case? Terms of service must be carefully worded (in accordance with pertinent law) to guarantee the client’s right to their content. These questions will all need to be answered before the largest and most conservative corporations are willing to migrate to cloud computing.
Nevertheless, judging by the number of people who log onto social media sites every day, or who need to access the tools of their business from any location, cloud computing is here to stay.
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