What is the Cloud?

Think of the Cloud as a utility - just like water or electricity. Turn on a tap; water flows. Turn on a light switch; electricity flows. You don't think about where the water or electricity is coming from, just that you operate the tap or switch and it works.

The Cloud is the platform that enables a bunch of services to work on your computer/phone/tablet – pretty much any device able to be connected to the Internet. Connect it, and it just works.

If you have a G-Mail or a Hotmail account, both of these are services are completely maintained and stored online. You never actually hold this product in your hands. You have various devices which interact with it, but it lives in . . . yep, you guessed it The Cloud.

Reckon and MYOB have now both launched their Cloud accounting software solutions.

QuickBooks Online Hosting and MYOB LiveAccounts both take the hassle out of installing, storing and upgrading software as they do it all for you online. All you need is the device to view and interact with it. Everything remains in the Cloud to access whenever and wherever.


Why is everyone 'going Cloud'?

There are a stack of benefits and reasons for moving into the Cloud, but it all comes down to making things more accessible.

So long as the Internet can be accessed, then information and services can be accessed.

Platform issues become less of an issue. Web based solutions are likely more accessible via web browser rather than hard-coded applications, this means that they are more likely to be compatible across a number of platforms including PC, Mac, phone, tablet and more.

The cost saving on infrastructure has a huge appeal to businesses. Large investment in hardware and software are no longer as necessary when everything can be housed and run offsite.

The Cloud also allows updates and upgrades of software to be seamless and require little to no effort from the end user.

Individual benefits vary depending on the industry and/or service being provided of course, but there is no doubt that for businesses with a computer/IT focus in particular, taking business into the Cloud can have massive benefits.

Why should I go Cloud?

Likewise to the benefits of businesses going Cloud, it has similar benefits for users.

Anywhere access on any number of devices means that you can be as connected as you want to be. No longer will you need to be a slave to your desk – because that's where your computer with your software is. Having your information in the Cloud lets you access and use it wherever you can connect to the Internet.

Maintenance, updates and upgrades become a thing of the past. With a service online, updates and upgrades are automatically added with little to no effort required on your behalf.

Disaster recovery and data back-up

During the recent floods in NSW and QLD, businesses that used Cloud-based solutions would have all of their data and information automatically back-up, sitting safe and secure on a server offsite. Those who had it stored on a hard-drive or in paper form, run the risk of losing it all should disaster strike.

Now What?

The in's and outs, pro's and con's, good and bad points of moving into the Cloud could be discussed in a lot more detail, but ultimately it's up to you to decide if moving into the Cloud is right for you. Large businesses are taking this very seriously though.

Microsoft declared that 'the Cloud would be a major platform for their business model from now on'.

Apple CEO Tim Cook stated during their annual earnings conference that 'iCloud was not just a product or service of Apple, but an integral part of the company's future'.

And Google, arguably one of the biggest businesses in the world, wouldn't even exist without the Cloud.

The word 'Cloud' may just be a great marketing buzzword you hear a lot, but what the word represents is more than hype. The Cloud is the future, and is very quickly becoming an integral foundation of how the developed world will interact.

(Pearce, D 2012, 'What's all this Cloud computing stuff about?', MYOB, viewed 15 January 2013, http://myob.com.au/blog/whats-all-this-cloud-computing-stuff-about/)