One tech word that we’ve started to hear a good amount without explanation is “cloud” what is the cloud, what are cloud services, why do companies get “the cloud” can individuals get cloud services? The cloud is basically storing a great deal of things from data to applications onto a secure online source so that people can use them from anywhere. Some companies offer free cloud services for individuals. This is fantastic for someone who wants to be able to bounce between locations and keep working on the same project. Imagine if you will, someone works in the city of Austin for a company, but lives outside of the city in the metro area. With the cloud services they can take work with them if they need to, this might sound like a bad thing, along the lines of “now I can’t escape work” but think of it this way, it makes it easier for people to work from home.
Cloud services require fast internet and a lot of server space. Universities have been using them to make it possible to standardize what programs students use. Universities being education institutions and not ones designed to compete based on direct measurable output tend to have terrible cloud services. They typically are slow and make you use an old OS to operate at all. It’s ironic that small companies with 1/100th of the budget are more likely to have better cloud services because they have more incentive to do it properly. Imagine being able to insure that everyone is sharing information properly, using the right systems, and they don’t even have to be in the physical building but can be spread throughout the city of Austin.
Think of the flexibility that provides a company with their employees. If someone needs to take a few days off because their kid is sick they can still be productive and get at least some work done. For people who otherwise would not be able to escape work they actually can because they can take work with them in a manageable way. It also reduces the need to focus everyone in one geographical area. We’re still thinking small throughout this article by keeping everything located around Austin, full cloud services would allow someone to connect to what they need for work on a different continent and all they need is to have access to the internet for it. Properly implemented cloud services are extremely safe and secure, while also providing an almost Sci-Fi level of interconnection and accessibility. Cloud services and the reaction to them (namely that people aren’t as excited as they should be) help show how technologically advanced we are. We basically live in the future but don’t realize it. We got distracted by the wrong measuring stick, we don’t have Lunar Colonies, but instead we have the ability to access to information, services, and applications everywhere.
