Cloud Computing: Changing the Face of the world

Cloud Computing: Changing the Face of the world

Cloud computing is a bold new frontier in human interaction. That is, how we interact with each other, our product, our favorite stores, and even our music is now drastically different than just a few years ago. Cloud computing offers “ the full scalability, reliability, high performance and relatively low cost feasible solution as compared to dedicated infrastructures” (1) But the beauty of Cloud computing is not just how much cheaper it is, but in how it can literally change the world. It has the ability to create (jobs), destroy (regimes), and share(media). But for entertainment’s sake, let’s start with Egypts Government being overthrown.

Writer for and Cloud computing journal, Tim Estes, wrote “On January 25, 2011 the overthrow of the Egyptian government began - quietly at first, with non-violent demonstrations of long-held grievances”(2) Later on, the ability to share, speak, record, and rapidly disperse information amongst a motivated crowd was key in Egypt's revolution. With Cloud computing, Estes writes, “we were able to see the trouble brewing in Egypt months before it was exposed through protests in the street. “ The information stored on servers and in “the cloud” shows just how much information was there and who was accessing it. Cloud computing helped to motivate an entire country to fight for a brighter future.

However, Cloud computing is not just for tearing down governments.  It is also meant to help create.The use of shared documents, like in Google drive, allows users to create manifestos and have others work, shared, edited, and forwarded all across the globe. Due to cloud computing’s low cost, companies like Google are able to offer more services for free than ever before. Additionally, according to www.eweek.com “Google's Partner Program Looks to Get More Businesses Into the Cloud" (3) because the ROI is higher due to the scalability of Cloud centric services.

Speaking of creation, Amazon and many other companies have used Cloud computing to create more jobs. In fact Forbes magazine recently wrote an article stating that “Just as cloud computing is a game-changer for many companies, it is also changing the nature of jobs – not only within the information technology department, but in other parts of the enterprise as well.” (4) The use of these technicians is similar to utilizing a database administrator. He or she has to “plan, design, create and operate, secure, monitor and maintain the database”(5, page 149) without individuals like administrators, Cloud computing can still be considered not as secure as dedicated infrastructures. That being said, without the right people guarding your information, it( a dedicated infrastructure) can also be hacked into.

In Conclusion,  whether or not one uses Cloud Computing depends on how secure you want to be and if you are using a secure system. So, we must make a choice, do we sacrifice convenience and price for security. Or do we allow ourselves to be potentially open to harm. For individuals in Egypt, the choice was clear. I for one am glad to use Cloud computing, and I welcome it into my technological life.

1.http://www.pbltt2011.mfu.ac.th/download/full_paper/C3_Fizza%20Abbas-TTPBL-Full%20paper_A%20Review%20on%20cloud%20computing%20security%20issues%20and%20challenges.pdf
2.http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/node/1918552

3.http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Googles-Partner-Program-Looks-to-Get-More-Businesses-Into-the-Cloud-380292/

4.http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2011/12/26/cloud-computing-is-changing-many-job-descriptions/

5.Information Systems- Page 149, bottom right column, second to last paragraph.