As many technology fans may already know, cloud computing has become the most recently touted product of Internet start-ups and titans alike. The concept behind the technology is to have data storage infrastructure in place that can be accessed by a multitude of devices. With such a backbone network in place, users will be able to have their personal data available at any time across their laptops, phones, and tablets. The cloud’s momentum has continued to expand with recent product offerings from both Microsoft and Apple that embrace the technology.
Released alongside iOS 5, iCloud was launched by Apple on October 12, 2011. ICloud allows users to store music, photos, applications, documents, bookmarks, reminders, notes, iBooks, and contacts in the cloud, which consists of data centers, located around the world. Other services available via iCloud are Photo Stream and Find My iPhone. Photo Stream stores a user’s last 1,000 photos on Apple’s servers for up to 30 days for free. Find My iPhone allows users to track the location of their iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. It can also remotely play sounds and send messages to the device as well as remotely erase its contents. Every Apple account is granted 5 GB of free storage with additional storage beyond that available for purchase. Within one week of its release, iCloud had over 20 million users and it has been predicted that eventually the user base could grow to over 150 million. The success of this product is very encouraging for supporters of cloud computing.
Microsoft has also moved into the cloud computing space with the release of Office 365. Released on June 28, 2011, Office 365 is the next generation of Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite. This suite contains a bundle of applications including Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online, Office Professional Plus, and Office Web Apps. In the cloud, Microsoft Exchange is an email and calendar solution that allows users to store 25 GB worth of emails on Microsoft’s servers. Microsoft SharePoint development has continued into the cloud and now allows users to collaborate, share, and edit documents on the Internet. It has even given way to third party developers for the platform like synergyonline and itransition. Microsoft Lync is a messaging client that also allows users to have textual, audio, or video connections over their computers. It will be interesting to see if Skype is integrated into this product in the future after Microsoft paid billions to acquire the company. This suite is setting the tone for commercial cloud computing solutions.
Cloud computing may still be a fledgling technology, but it has potential to change the way users interact with computers and the Internet. Now that two of the largest technology companies are fully behind the technology, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the multi-billion dollar tech companies offer their own solutions. Cloud computing will be making technology headlines for years to come if the current pace of its expansion continues.
