By Jamie Swann, Contributing Writer
Imagine this scenario.
It seems like a typical Monday morning, you just pulled into the parking lot of your office. But this Monday morning is different.
A pipe busted over the weekend and your office has flooded. Everything is ruined. Every file, every hard drive. Gone.
While everyone is in full panic mode, you know your hard work is safe because you store everything safely in the cloud.
“In its infancy, people had a hard time trusting the cloud,” said Jim Lapointe, president of the Colden Co., business technology specialists. “Now that we’ve seen its capabilities, the trust is there. It’s just a matter of utilizing it.”
The cloud is a centralized location on the internet that stores data, making it accessible anytime, anywhere, from any device.
Most people use cloud computing without realizing it, such as web-based email.
Long ago, in the PC Stone Age, email was something you could only send and receive using a program running on your computer. Then web-based services like Hotmail and Yahoo came along and email was swept away into the cloud.
Now that people have become comfortable with the idea that emails can be stored and processed through a server in some remote part of the world, reverting back to storing emails on your hard drive seems archaic and a waste of space.
But, the cloud can be used for much more than freeing up space.
Employees who work using the cloud can work more efficiently as a team. The ability to save and access various files through the cloud allows employees to easily work from the same master document. No need for multiple versions of the same file.
“In general, the cloud service is going to give you better collaboration,” Lapointe said at a recent Northeast Florida Builders Association lunch-and-learn session focused on using the cloud for small business. “Everyone can work together wherever they can get online.”
Another benefit to using the cloud is freedom and flexibility. Cloud computing allows users to access files and information from any device in any place at any time.
Working from a cloud makes it easier to work outside of the office, with files being stored over the internet, you can use any device to access them.
“We live in a mobile world,” said Lapointe. “The cloud allows give us access to our work wherever we may be, allowing us to be more productive.”
The cloud is redefining the way many companies do business.
The percentage of U.S. small businesses using cloud computing is expected to more than double during the next six years, from 37 percent to nearly 80 percent, according to a study from consulting firm Emergent Research and financial software company Intuit.
With that in mind, the lesson for those who don’t use cloud computing is simple: In six years, 80 percent of competing businesses are expected to adopt some form of cloud computing. Those that don’t, risk falling behind.
“We have a saying at the Colden Company,” Lapointe said. “If you’re running your business the same as you did two years ago, you’re not staying the same, you’re falling behind.”