Cloud Computing Made Simple

Article = none, personal opinion.

What is Cloud Computing ?

Cloud Computing is the act of putting 10 gigabytes of data on the internet, usually in some other country such as the United States , where it takes forever and a day to access , meanwhile your brand new hundred dollar Terabyte (1000 gigabytes) back up drive sits on the shelf unused.

Who Needs Cloud Computing ?

Cloud Computing is needed by morons without a high school education who don't have the wit to buy a 16 port router and plug all their computers into it. (Windows and Mac machines will self configure themselves at that point, no programming required). They are afraid of computers , terrified even , and despite running a business worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars can't be bothered to spring for a couple of cheap 100$ computers and try it out for themselves.

What are the Challenges of Cloud Computing ?

Since the only one to use Cloud Computing are the ones afraid of computers, the biggest challenge is that they probably didn't bother to hire some guy with even minimal technical skills. Which means every con man and snake oil salesman out there is going to take them for a ride, and they're going to blow thousands and thousands of dollars on worthless trinkets that do absolutely nothing for them. Then they're going to stand there and say "Why the **** did I buy all this junk in the first place ? " and toss it all in the trash , and vow never to touch a computer again.

Then they'll go bankrupt because the guy next door actually hired some kid out of high school who's a computer nerd, not even a real technician , and therefore has a serious advantage over him.

Who should use Cloud Computing ?

Pretty much no one. Take a computer course or two at your local high school , or just hire a high school graduate who has a home computer and likes to talk about it a lot. (Listen for the words "online games, Em Em Oh , Wow , star wars") .

I've heard horror stories about people losing all their data

Yes. That's why you hire a reliable employee , not one who's late all the time or one you catch playing computer games on the company machine. It's your equipment , not theirs, and unless you're runing a gameing shop thats a firable offense and you should be quick to fire them over it.

What about my employees being on face book all the time ?

There's not much you can do about them being on the internet on their own cell phones. But your business network shouldn't have any internet so they shouldn't even be able to have internet access.

What about my email ?

Get a blackberry or other smart phone for that. Your office network shouldn't be connected to the internet unless you have very technical people on staff. Virus's , trojens, people surfing facebook all day , it's quite the nightmare. At best you should have a single computer for your own use in your office hooked up to the internet ,and it shouldn't be hooked up to the network at all. if you need access to your internal network , have a second computer and use a thumb drive or data stick to move data back and forth.

What if I need internet access for my business ?

Then you need a computer tech on staff, at least part time. Because you've openned the door to being hacked , to virii , and to your staff chatting with their friends all day instead of doing their work , and that needs to be tightly controlled. And it's a full time job. Be certain to examine the option of just having one or two computers isolated from the rest of the network for that purpose before you open up the whole network to the world wide web and the dangers that it entails.

Conclusion

Cloud computing is an attempt to put all the problems and technical support "in the cloud" or on the internet , so that you don't have any in house technical costs. Unfortunately , they aint giving you a free ride, they want their money too. And you are now placed in the position of a con man trying to take you for a ride, and you having no one on staff to tell you "Hey man , he's ripping you off you know". Sorry, but you gotta suck it up. You need one person on staff who knows accounting , so your book keeper doesn't rob you blind, one person who knows computers so your computer company doesn't rob you blind, etc etc. Your best hope is to get people with multiple skills (book keeper and reasonably computer savvy) not going without.