Cloud computing is growing and it’s here to stay. Slowly but surely, cloud computing is changing the way we live our lives, the way we process information and the way we work. First we’ll dive into how and why this is happening. Then, we’ll take a look at some recent events proving this trend is here to stay.
Slowly Changing Our Lives
According to one Wall Street Journal article, cloud computing will change everything from the way people shop to the speed at which businesses go global. While not everyone may become a gamer in the sense that we’ll all be sitting around glowing monitors exercising our thumbs in a quest to vanquish the enemy, we will find gamification playing a role in our everyday lives. As more and more information is moved to the cloud rather than being housed in company silos, it has become easier to track and quantify individual actions. Already stores have begun to offer rewards to customers that walk into stores or scan barcodes on products. This is not too different from completing quests and leveling up with points and achievements in games. With even more data coming into the cloud next year, this trend will continue to grow.
Cloud Computing is Growing
Already you can choose to get work done using your desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone or netbook computer. While these devices have a wide range of processing power at their disposal, they all serve as equally good portals to applications in the cloud. The cross platform nature of cloud computing is one reason why it has become so popular. A well-designed app allows users to access information and resources from anywhere in the world using any device connected to the Internet. Since most of the processing and heavy lifting is done in the cloud, it doesn’t matter what device the end-user has at their disposal. Businesses benefit by keeping their data safe on servers located in the cloud and individuals benefit by having access to that information anywhere they can get online.
Trend Toward Cloud Computing
A quick search will show you thousands of newsworthy business cloud computing events. This trend has been building for years and it continues to grow rapidly. Small and large businesses are all finding ways to use cloud computing to their advantage. Some are exclusively hosting their services in the cloud while others are opting for a blended model. Here’s a quick list of some of the bigger events showing the trend toward cloud computing.
1. Gatwick Airport to move major central databases to the cloud
2. Sanmina-SCI (SANM) using Google Apps
3. Netflix hosted on Amazon servers in 2010
As the Netflix move to Amazon servers shows, the trend toward cloud computing has been going on for some time. Back in 2010, Netflix was moving to the cloud and their business is still strong today. This began with startups that wanted to rent industrial grade IT resources that would help them rapidly scale their businesses. Today, even major corporations and international airports are seeing the benefits of moving parts of their infrastructure into the cloud. This trend has been building for some time and it shows no signs of slowing down soon.
Image source