Cloud Computing: You are already there….

When it comes to Cloud Computing many small business owners have a degree of confusion over how the Cloud works, what it is, and how to get there. The reality of the situation is that most likely they are already using a variety of Cloud solutions without knowing that they are “in the Cloud” already. Certainly a more sophisticated utilization of the Cloud could involve Amazon or Azure infrastructure in the Cloud or advanced applications which are only accessed over the Internet and do not reside locally on premise based infrastructure. From the simplest “pop” email accounts to Office 365 to bookkeeping apps such as Quick Books Online the Cloud has allowed small companies the freedom to pick and choose how they wish to access their information and where they want their data to reside. Cloud based backup solutions are gaining popularity among small business owners due to reliability and ease of use versus older premise based solutions, however premise based solutions backed to the Cloud are also increasing in sophistication and popularity.
Hybrid Cloud and premise based computing solutions working together tend to be gaining traction in the small business space as well. The advantages of local authentication with products like Active Directory from Microsoft allowing administrators to control access rights of users and controlling functions like printing and scanning are very popular for business owners while allowing users the added advantages of Cloud based solutions where necessary.
In today’s small business computing world the advent of Cloud Computing is already here to stay.