According to Gartner's technology trend forecasts, cloud computing will be mainstream within two to five years, but at the moment many people are still unclear about what it is and what it can do for them and their business. One of the big problems is that because it's so new and is moving and developing so fast, it's difficult to actually pin it down with a definition.
On a very basic level cloud computing involves vendors supplying computing services to lots of customers over the internet. It brings together different internet technologies and developments under one umbrella and offers a new way of delivering IT services. Cloud computing offers numerous benefits for small business. It allows them to cut costs, reduce IT requirements, offer flexible working, trade internationally and improve business continuity and disaster recovery policies. In effect, it levels the playing field in terms of access to technology and software - it's no longer prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to source, buy, and implement.
Background
Going back to the beginning, it's important to understand why cloud computing has emerged, what makes it different from other technological developments and why we're seeing an explosion in this field. Cloud computing has emerged because the developments in broadband, hardware, and web technologies have come into alignment creating huge new potential.
In simple terms, we now have widespread high-speed internet access, cheap powerful processing power, new web-based programming tools and platforms. Combined, these mean that the internet can now be used for much more than just browsing and shopping.
This is why we've seen an explosion in social media, iPhone apps and all those annoying games on Facebook as techies around the world explore and play with all this potential and new ways of doing things. The ultimate example of this is Twitter, which was created without any clear purpose or even any way of making money. In spite of this it has caught on virally and become a tool used daily by millions of people.
We’re not just talking about a minority activity here and it’s not just about geeks creating Facebook games and iPhone apps. The main players in cloud computing who are driving it forward are Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon and Oracle. Big business is sitting up and taking notice – Coca Cola have recently created their own internal cloud and migrated 100,000 employees onto it in just two weeks. This highlights one of the main benefits of cloud; traditionally implementing such a major technological change would have taken anything up to a year.
Cloud Computing and you
So what does all this mean to small businesses? There is now a whole new way that IT services can be accessed and delivered that can enhance how your business functions and improve sales and profitability.
The three areas of cloud that you need to be aware of are SaaS (Software as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), and PaaS (Platform as a Service). All these areas are ‘as a Service' because you don't buy anything but subscribe (normally monthly) and pay for what you need, as you go - you can change or cancel your subscription whenever you like.
PaaS is basically the tools that are available for developers to create cloud applications. Many of the bigger companies are now creating their own cloud platforms, such as Microsoft's Azure and Google's App Engine, that allow you to create your own cloud software that integrates with their software. For example, you could create a new product that integrates with Google and sell it via Google's App Store, opening up new markets for you with the added brand and selling power of Google to help you launch it.
IaaS is the infrastructure or hardware that developers use to build, access and store your cloud. The big news here is that cloud allows small companies to share the sort of resources that were previously only available to big companies, at affordable prices, and allows them to scale up or scale down their resources as needed.
By storing your information in a professionally managed data centre you're getting access to the best, most powerful, continually serviced servers by sharing them with other companies. Users also have the peace of mind of knowing that they won't fail, are automatically backed-up and that they can up or downgrade instantly.
SaaS, however, is the most important development for small businesses. Essentially, it is software delivered over the internet and subscribed to on a pay as you go basis. The big advantage here is that it's not dependent on what sort of computer you've got, which model and which operating system and you don't need any IT expertise to install or use it. As long as you've got access to the internet, it should work.
SaaS allows you to do all this with the guarantee that the information you're getting is up-to-date, secure and can be tailored to your needs and budget. It also means that small companies can have access to more advanced automated accounting functionality like multi-currency and stock control that allows them to trade internationally or over the internet and compete in bigger markets with larger companies.
In conclusion, cloud computing isn't the future: it's now. It offers opportunities and choice to help small businesses grow and succeed. Small companies must ensure that they take advantage of new technology such as cloud computing to help them compete with larger organisations - cloud computing levels the playing field.
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