cloud computing, fast responses to FAQ

if you've been discussing the cloud, you've probably been asked (or have asked) these questions...

if you have ever been discussing, or reflecting, on the cloud, you have probably asked yourself, or you have been asked, a number of common questions. In my experience and knowledge, the answer should be very brief, however, in many occasion it sparked a long confusing debate sometimes moving all the way to politics (what about our privacy!?!) and conspiracy theories (big brother wants to know more and more...).

Now, I am not here to debate or discuss such topics, if I did, however, I would start with social media and how much information people give willingly (and for free); if I were the big brother I wouldn't have to move an inch.

Getting to the point - here are some frequently asked questions that (in my experience) have triggered some level of debate.

what if the internet goes down?

Well, first of all that's very rare now, especially in big cities. However, sometimes the internet does go down in the work place and when that happens, one way or another, the productivity plunges until connectivity is restored (many phone systems also stop working if internet is down). But these days also at home, an internet outage bothers us quite a bit.

Furthermore, many cloud applications have 'work off-line' modes, that (as the name suggests), allow users to perform a number of options while off-line. Think of all sales reps in remote areas; they are still taking orders no problem, even if there is no mobile coverage. In addition, cloud-based applications have been designed to cope with the temporary off-line situation; most legacy application are not.

And, your connection may be down for the day, but if you have the cloud you can send employees home to work from their connection, what are the chances that they are all down?? You could also use GSM connectivity, probably mobile networks are still working. Basically, there are a number of ways to work around a prolonged internet outage... with the cloud.

One more thing, if you are working on the cloud and your computer crashes you lose no work, ever thought about that?

I do not deny that internet going down is an issue with the cloud, but so is it without cloud. And again, the cloud is never really 'off-line', you can always access it from some place.

what about security?

Your data is probably safer on the cloud, security-wise and back-up wise. Besides, most probably you already have data available on the internet.

A business today must have an e-commerce platform where customers can buy (or at least order), view their bills and history and provide their details for on-line payments. This means that you have a database on line holding your entire stock with prices, promotions discounts etc;  you have an order history for all your clients including their personal and payment information. In addition, you probably have (or are planning to get) a CRM for your sales representatives.

But even if you have no e-commerce platform, but just sales reps and delivery staff working with hand-held devices, laptops or tablets, even if using secured applications, sensitive data must be accessible via the internet.

To cut a long story short, the issue with security is an issue in itself. It has nothing to do with cloud as such; it has to do with the nature of the internet. It is there, cloud or no cloud.

what about privacy?

All I have said for security is true for privacy. It is an issue that is part of the nature of the internet. If you use internet in any way (and everybody does today), you will have to deal with security and privacy issues.

Please, feel free to comment and share!
;p)