Cloud Computing: The Shape of the Future?

Strange things are happening way up high, as invisible virtual clouds filled with encrypted data and identification systems keep filling the sky. Look hard enough, and you'll just about see the sun finally setting on pre-Internet computing. Cloud computing is the next big thing in the world of IT, and it's a concept that could well take the 'personal' out of personal computing, as everything from data, documents, programs, games and even your antivirus protection could soon be stored in the virtual cloud, rather than on your own computer.

Cloud computing is effectively Internet-based computing. Everything is stored in cyberspace, so users can access data and use applications stored in the cloud from any computer, anywhere on earth. Software or games stored in the cloud can also be rented on an ad hoc basis. According to the Markess International research institute, the market for cloud computing grew 25% between 2008 and 2010, while the Gartner IT research and advisory group is predicting a market worth in excess of $14 billion per year will develop between now and 2013. Anyone who's anyone is heading for the clouds it seems, with telecoms operators, software and games publishers, IT giants, security heavyweights, online research groups, printer manufacturers and more all heading for the skies. This new approach to computing and software is slowly taking over, and is set not only to revolutionise the way we compute but also to seriously shake up the software and hardware markets.

Pay as you go

Having heavily invested in in a huge number of servers to prop up its online retail activities, Amazon began offering its enormous processing and data storage capabilities to other companies all the way back in 2006 (Amazon EC2). It was certainly a great way of softening the blow of the firm's costly investment, but what benefits did this new cloud computing service offer to businesses? Cloud computing notably allows a company to store all or part of its data on secure third-party servers. These virtual safe-houses offer companies (SMEs, more precisely) a greater amount of freedom, as they can rent as much or as little storage space as they need (usually via some kind of subscription), as well as hire software solutions as and when required (accounting, CRM, HR etc.), in relation to their busy or quiet periods or as the company grows.

For businesses, the cloud helps keep the cost of material equipment, software and staff to a bare minimum. Plus, as companies don't have to invest in software themselves, they don't have to worry about updates.

Cloud security

While the cloud is now floating its way down from the business world to the high-street, the main stumbling block is likely to be security. It's difficult for users to believe that their data will be safely protected and their confidentiality guaranteed when their data is being stored by a third party. Farming out data to external sites leads some to fear that they'll lose all control over their 'virtual lives'. Companies specialising in cloud services and even some market analysts, on the other hand, claim that data is actually much safer in the cloud than stored within your own four walls.

Symantec, the company behind the Norton security suites (antivirus, backup etc.) was very quick to get involved in the cloud. As well as cloud-based security systems, the company is also offering online storage solutions for data archiving and backup. The firm has so far been aiming its cloud-based services at businesses, and has set up 14 data-centres specifically for handling cloud-side business data. But while some businesses have total faith in the cloud, other professional and consumer users have doubts about the system's security. 'Companies are probably about as sceptical of the cloud as they were of the Internet when it was just taking off,' explains Laurent Heslault, head of security technologies at Symantec. 'In 1998, only 15% of businesses believed the web had a future, others saw it as some kind of technological gimmick aimed at teenagers!'

Symantec has been hard at work diversifying its range of services over the last three years, and the company now does much more than just keep your computer free from Trojan horses. As well as backup services and data-centres, it has, for example, developed an Internet Clean Pipe solution to filter web traffic and e-mails at the source, so all those evil nasties will be filtered out of the cloud and will never even make it as far as your computer. However, cloud solutions providers still have a long way to go to gain the confidence of potential customers. 'What people need to understand about our cloud-based management and virtual storage solutions, is that we use data protection protocols that are much more sophisticated than those we sell to Joe Bloggs on the high-street,' affirmed Laurent Heslault of Symantec.

Yet still, in 2010, locally stored antivirus systems continue to have a variable track record, and so convincing consumers that they're better protected by a virtual solution located in an intangible cloud miles from their home will probably take more than a gargantuan leap. But for Laurent Heslault, computing is undoubtedly moving towards the cloud, with ever-more functions and services reaching for the sky: 'it's inevitable,' he said, 'there will certainly be obstacles to overcome, largely linked to cultural fears and apprehensions, but the transfer of information and systems into the cloud can be compared to what's already happened to money. In the past, you kept it under the mattress at home, whereas now, it's kept off-site in a bank, and it's available to you wherever you go and whenever you need it.'

An extension of your computer

With more and more digital devices invading our day-to-day lives, we're now producing as much virtual content (photos, e-mails etc.) as we're consuming (MP3s, videos etc.), and all of those gigabytes of digital data have got to be stored somewhere. A computer is all very well and good, but it's no longer sufficient for many users' storage needs. An external hard drive is a good solution, but given that they're subject to system failures and theft, there's always a chance you'll lose those treasured holiday snaps forever. So what about online storage? Well, the cloud has actually been part of our lives for a very long time already. In fact, I bet many of you have been using it since the dawn of the Internet, you just didn't know it.


Take the range of online services proffered by Google (Google Documents, Gmail, Gtalk, Picasa etc.), for example, or even your Yahoo! Mail or Hotmail account. All of these services are web based. Your e-mails, uploaded photos and Google Documents are all stored in cyberspace—now known as the cloud—rather than on your computer hard drive. In fact, you no longer need to have a load of different programs installed on your computer hard drive to write a document or build a spreadsheet, as services like Google Documents keep everything—from the application itself to the finished documents—stored in the cloud. In an age when users are constantly on the move, this is incredibly convenient, as wherever you may be, and whatever computer you're using, all you need is a high-speed broadband connection and your login and password to access e-mails, store, backup or archive data, and share content with users all round the world. Plus, with the Chrome OS, Google is taking things one step further, as this new operating system will soon offer users a single, simplified and customisable interface for accessing all their applications online. It's set to give users total freedom in computing.

Obviously, moving things from individual hard drives to one common cloud poses a big problem for software publishes like Microsoft (Office is currently facing stiff competition from Google Docs) and IBM. Software giants such as these seem to be left with no other choice but to offer free or low-cost 'virtual' solutions that customers can use as and when they like: if you can't beat 'em join 'em. However, their solutions are still light-years behind what Google's got on offer, and they tend to be aimed at businesses rather than consumers.

 Not-so-silver lining?

The cloud could seriously affect computer hardware manufacturers too, as users will no longer need to invest in a powerful computer if most of their activities are carried out on the web. This trend has already begun with the growing popularity of netbooks and even smartphones! That's a pretty tough blow for computer manufacturers, as even if netbook sales are growing, sales of more powerful, more expensive machines keep on falling.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10

Asus Eee PC 1008HA

Samsung N220

Sony Vaio VPCP11

Even video games are moving to the cloud, and we're not just talking about online Flash games either, but heavyweight, big-name titles. OnLive, the first online games on demand service was announced at the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo last week. This service, due for launch in the US later this year, will allow gamers to play all the games they want, whenever they want, without having to worry about whether their hardware is up to scratch. A similar online games platform, called Steam, already exists, offering users access to games stored in the cloud by entering an activation code. Basically, you buy the game once, then you can play it as many times as you like. Just enter your login and access codes on any computer with the downloadable Steam system installed, and the system then downloads the game each time you want to play it. It's a kind of half-cloud system really.

Microsoft too is taking its first steps in the cloud by means of a video games platform. At the last Mobile World Congress, the firm presented its Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system with an integrated Xbox Live online gaming platform. This means that Xbox 360 consoles and mobiles running WinPho7 will basically have access to the same cloud-based gaming system. So one day, in the not-too-distant future, a compatible game you start on your Xbox could then be continued on your mobile phone and then finished on another Xbox 360. With online games and even the appearance of cloud-based Office applications, the next step for Microsoft is perhaps to move Windows into the clouds, with an OS that follows us from device to device as, when and where we need to use it. In this respect, the 'window' will no longer the operating system but the hardware, which effectively becomes no more than a basic tool for accessing one globally unified system.


As old habits die hard, it's likely to be the next generation of users that guides us towards the future of cloud computing and gaming. 'Younger users don't really understand why a software application has to be tied to a specific piece of hardware,' says Laurent Heslault. 'For them, you should be able to play a Wii game on a PS3 and vice-versa. It's the software they're interested in, not the machine.' So maybe a TV or a monitor will soon be the only real window we'll need, as one day consoles and computers themselves could become virtual, totally cloud-based systems. And with broadband currently reaching speeds of 100 Mbps, nothing is impossible.

Who needs hardware?

So it looks like cloud computing is here to stay, and it could well change the face of computing as we know it. On average, cloud computing currently only accounts for 6% of a company's total IT costs (source: Markess International), but according to Forrester Research, in 2009, 46% of companies polled said they were interested in the concept, even if only 5% said they were actually using this kind of system. The potential for cloud formation is therefore enormous.

Still, even if cloud space is growing fast, maybe one day consumers and companies will come over all nostalgic and dream of going back to the blue skies of cloud-free computing. Maybe they'll barely even be able to imagine a time when we kept everything sorted locally rather than in cyberspace.

Who knows, maybe one day the users of the future will want to reclaim their independence from all things cloud-shaped ...

Apple MacBook 13" White	Packard Bell dot VR46	Samsung R780	Sony Vaio VPCEC1