You see adverts and references to “The Cloud” everywhere, but you’re not entirely sure what it is or why it’s so important and now enough time has passed that you’re embarrassed to ask. There’s good news: You’re probably not alone.
The concept of the Cloud has existed for as long as there have been computers. Short for “Cloud Computing”, it refers to the delivery of computing resources as a service rather than a product. Essentially, instead of buying a computer capable of performing the tasks you need, you purchase the services of someone else’s computer who can do that same thing but at a fraction of the cost of new hardware. For most of us, this means getting huge companies who already have access to seriously powerful computers to process and store our data for us so that we can access it anywhere from nearly any device.
Most people don’t even realize that they’re accessing the Cloud every time that they’ve watched a movie on Netflix or listened to a playlist on Pandora or Spotify. The Cloud has permeated so much of our culture that the average person doesn’t even realize how often they utilize it.
This model frees most of us up to purchase low power, low memory devices that are significantly less expensive while still having access to all the services we require. The current generation of tablet PCs are fantastic computers in their own right, but anyone who has owned one for a while will tell you that you aren’t using them to their full potential without taking advantage of services hosted in the Cloud.
Some of the most high profile service providers for cloud computing are Amazon and Microsoft, however these two titans of the industry are facing competition from others. This article on Forbes outlines how these other services are driving down prices from both companies as well as throughout the industry as a whole. This means lower costs for any and all companies who are already, or soon to be, taking advantage of the Cloud to bring down expenses.
For most companies, this means increased efficiency for their employees and customers, particularly those who are off-site working at remote job sites or from home. The highly mobile nature of handheld PCs and especially tablets mean that they are at their best when utilizing The Cloud, whether it’s accessing files hosted by Amazon, Microsoft or important documents on their own corporate servers.
Find out how many rugged, powerful and mobile options you have in the enterprise tablet world by heading over to AbeTech’s tablet page or if you would like to know more, contact our knowledgeable staff so that we can help you find the right device to help your company start taking advantage of all the amazing new services allowed by cloud computing.
My favorite cloud service at the moment is definitely Netflix, what’s yours? Let me know in the comments!
