Intro to Cloud Computing
Despite the fact that “cloud computing” is one of the most active buzz terms in technology these days, many people who have yet to take advantage of a cloud network are still a bit unclear on what the actual benefits are. We hear a lot about improving efficiency, increasing productivity, and even enhancing web security, all in connection to cloud computing. But here are 5 of the specific ways in which cloud computing can do these things, whether for a professional, a student, or merely for personal use.
1. Support For Organization
Because so many of us tend to do so many different things on our computers, files can easily become a bit disorganized. In particular, this can become a problem when work-related files become too thoroughly mixed in with personal files. With access to cloud computing, however, this problem can be solved with incredible ease. Whether you choose to use the cloud only for work-related files, or even to organize all of your files within your cloud, you essentially have a whole new storage system to use for organization.
2. Printing & Transfer Convenience
Particularly for students, but also for many people in professional environments, the need to print or send large files can be a bit of an inconvenience. For example, students frequently have to email themselves extensive papers and projects so that they can then access the files from a school computer to print them off in the library. Similarly, most of us have had to rely on a disk drive at some point to store large files for printing at another location or time. With the cloud, instead of having to send and receive such files, or rely on a disk drive that’s easy to lose, you can simply upload your projects to the cloud, and then access them online from any Internet capable device. In many cases, this is far more convenient for handling such files.
3. Security Backup
Perhaps the simplest and most significant benefit of cloud computing is that it offers a very natural form of backup. When you save your work on a computer, that work is vulnerable to all sorts of potential issues – the computer may be stolen, lost, or damaged, for example. However, if your files are saved on a cloud network, they are accessible from any device, meaning that even if the computer you use for work is for any reason incapacitated, your important files will remain safe.
4. Simplified Collaboration
By allowing work partners, fellow students, or whomever else you may be collaborating with to have access to your cloud network, you can also greatly simplify any sort of team project. Both in school and work environments, it can be very difficult for people collaborating on work to find time to meet together in person, simply because schedules vary so much. Working through the cloud, however, allows every member of a team to access, work on, and save a group project from any location at any time. Of course, you’ll still need to communicate with one another, but the cloud eliminates the need to coordinate schedules exactly in these situations.
5. Work Flexibility
Finally, the aforementioned ability to access a cloud network from any device that can connect to the Internet has clear benefits for your own work flexibility. Through the cloud, you can work on the same project from your personal computer, your smart phone or tablet device, or even a workplace or school library computer if necessary. This allows you to maximize your own efficiency and work when and where you are able to.