Cloud Connected

Last year, I nominated cloud computing as an important topic to monitor, as I can see it becoming more and more relevant to the way we use our online devices. The events over the last couple of weeks have highlighted some of the issues relating to security and possibly consumer confidence.

At a recent Samsung showcase, they presented a monitor that had no hard drive or processor – just a direct wireless network connection. Using the supplied keyboard and mouse, the monitor was linked directly to a server which fed the screen all the tools you’d normally expect on a local hard drive-based computer – operating system, applications, ability to save and edit documents. However, none of the work was saved locally – it was all stored on the cloud. You can imagine how easy it would be for, say, a customer service department to be fitted out with such a setup – one central server to maintain, and as many thin, or ultra-thin, clients as required. The efficiencies and cost savings could be huge, and reinvested into staff and other areas of the business.

When Google announced the first Chrome-based netbooks recently, its pitch was not to the typical end user. In fact, the business model for Chrome is more about subscription-based services for enterprise-level customers than mums and dads, and similar to the scenario above, provides an “always-on” and “always up-to-date” computing solution. Anti-virus, software upgrades, new applications – no downtime to load these onto each notebook. The next time the notebook is used, it has all the latest updates because its cloud connection does.

So how quickly will end users gravitate towards the cloud? Well, in many ways we are there already. Facebook and Gmail are just two examples of serious amounts of information being held somewhere, in some server in the world, and easily accessed through the internet. But who has a copy of their entire Facebook activity archived on their computer? If there was a serious security breach that affected either access or the information stored, there would be a global uproar.

Of course, as we all know, millions of people woke up a couple of weeks ago to just that situation, with the Playstation Network security breach affecting anyone that used Sony’s online gaming services. It was the largest and most serious mainstream online break-in so far, and it may dampen consumer confidence to put their trust in the cloud.

Cloud computing for corporations is a solid proposition, because the company is in control of the entire ecosystem, from servers to software to the roaming hardware. They may even outsource some of these components but it is still very much a closed system, and therefore more protected.

I think cloud computing for consumers will be a slower burn. The mentality shift from local storage and access to being reliant on internet access for the majority of tasks that historically wouldn’t require online presence is already happening now. One of the biggest hurdles to gaining mainstream acceptance will be security and stability. We want easy and fast access to our documents, but expect them not to be hacked into. Having a choice of cloud providers based on speed and security could become a new commercially viable industry.

For consumers to have the same experience on the cloud as they would on a traditional PC, network speed needs to be fast – real fast. This is where the NBN comes into play. These two technologies are developing and being produced in parallel, and by the time they both meet, cloud computing on a chosen secure network with speeds that the NBN can deliver will change the way we work and play.

In the meantime, the enterprise and commercial industry will continue to develop the cloud, and we as consumers will reap the benefits as their lessons are integrated into the next generation of cloud-based devices. I can’t wait to see and test the new products as they become available. I’ll keep you all in the loop – from my blog in the cloud.