News Article

Office in the Clouds

For a few years the term 'Cloud Computing' has been floating around, now suddenly it seems to be a reality for many business users.

Cloud computing is basically the ability to access and use applications and services online rather than directly launching and running them from a local machine. Google has just announced its next step in controlling the power of the cloud - Google Chrome OS. Chrome OS will be lightweight and designed to run on the small netbooks that have flooded the market in the last few years. Chrome OS will integrate with the range of cloud applications and services that Google currently offer to millions online.

The popularity in netbooks has compounded the pressure on Microsoft to move towards cloud computing. Netbooks are small, low specification laptops, perfect for web browsing and cloud computing. Netbooks cannot run system intensive software (Windows Vista OS would not work on netbooks). Many netbooks shipped with light weight Unix based operating systems or the smaller Windows XP, almost cutting Microsoft out of the whole equation.

Not to be outdone, Microsoft's latest operating system; Windows 7 will offer a version that works on netbooks. Recent Microsoft cloud services have been met with a mixed reaction, including Windows Azure and Office Live, Microsoft is also planning to release a fully online version of its popular office suite in 2010.

Unlike many of Google's provided services (Search, Gmail or Maps) their 'Apps' service is not free for all to use. Corporate users are required to pay an annual fee (£33), because unlike many other Google services, 'Apps' does not have any advertising integrated into it. Microsoft has been tight lipped about the pricing off its online office offering but it is likely to be in the same ball park and competitive with Google's offering. OpenOffice, the free office suite also has an online version available.

Apart from office application the cloud also gives users access to a host of other online offerings that were once only local and client-based:

• Amazon also offer cloud based services, most notably online file storage facility Amazon S3
• Adobe released a cut-down version of Photoshop that works directly through a web browser. Other online image editing services include: Fotoflexer, Picnik and Phoenix.
• Edit your video content with JayCut.co.uk. Yahoo recently shut down their online editing service called Jumpcut as part of a company re-structure.
• Salesforce is the number one CRM product on the market, and it is almost exclusively online

Cloud computing means that IT overheads are reduced and hardware requirements for each user will also be reduced. If a computer can connect to the internet and run a web browser then it can access the cloud. While hardware requirements drop, demands in network bandwidth increase as more users migrate under the cloud.

It is unlikely that Google or Microsoft will go out of business anytime soon, but they will have access to a great deal of information and data about any person or organisation using their cloud. Leaving all your important company data on a remote server can be a hard to accept for some users. Despite the security issues the argument for Cloud Computing is compelling: cost effective, truly collaborative, accessible, and platform-independent.

A fast, reliable internet connection is essential to use cloud services. Powergroup offer a variety of connectivity solutions that enable businesses to harness the power of the cloud. Please contact Powergroup on: 01908 605188 or email: info@powergroup.co.uk to find out how Powergroup can help you move toward cloud computing.

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With 14 years of experience Powergroup's roots and pedigree are based in Powernet, one of the longest established and most respected independent Internet solution and service providers in the UK.

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For more information on how Powergroup can help you increase productivity and reduce your communication costs, please contact us. Call: 01908 605188 or email: info@powergroup.co.uk

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