Things have continued to heat up in the database competition that has raged in recent years starring Salesforce.com vs Oracle. Software giant Oracle has drastically changed its tune regarding cloud-based services with its recent announcement of the Oracle Public Cloud. By finally embracing cloud-based technology, Oracle is set to squarely face off with salesforce.com, a company which has openly embraced cloud-based technology for years.

In an announcement made at Oracle’s OpenWorld conference, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison made a formal announcement about the company’s new cloud services. Previously, Oracle remained stoically against offering any form of cloud-based services for their customers. The company formerly took a firm stance of keeping Oracle products located at customer sites and did not offer any options for companies that wished to have their data hosted in the cloud.

Oracle’s new Public Cloud will offer a wide variety of services and options that are not available from other software vendors, including salesforce.com. One of the biggest advantages that the new cloud-based services have over competitors is Oracle’s support of open Java and SQL standards. With other companies, their applications are highly proprietary and cannot be used on other platforms. Oracle has taken a radically different direction by basing their services on open standards that can be transported to other platforms and providers.

Providers such as salesforce.com support only proprietary platforms, but the new Oracle Public Cloud will support a wide variety of industry standards including Java, SQL, XML and BPOL. While this may seem to be a risky move for the company, it grants their clients greater ownership over their data and prevents a business from being forced to use a specific platform due to compatibility issues.

Oracle will be offering a broad range of applications and services that provide a comprehensive data infrastructure that can be completely cloud-based. The offerings from Public Cloud are grouped as Application and Platform Services.

Oracle Platform Services
The platform services offered by Public Cloud include Java and database instances. The database platform has a focus on the traditional Oracle database, while the Java portion focuses solely on Java services.

Oracle Java Cloud
The Oracle Java Cloud service will allow businesses to create new cloud instances in minutes, with a platform based on the enterprise-grade WebLogic Server. Additionally, users of the service will be able to choose between deploying applications in the cloud or onsite, and they will have the ability to move applications seamlessly between the two environments. A major selling point of the Java Cloud service is how it embraces open development. Developers can create new applications using Java EE standards and Oracle ADF. Java Cloud also supports server clustering and 3rd party frameworks such as Hibernate, Spring and EclipseLink. Oracle will offer powerful management tools for its Java Cloud users as well. They will get access to the Enterprise Manager console, which grants finely tuned control over WebLogic Servers. Monitoring for systems will be done through REST and will use RESTful clients to monitor all services.

Oracle Database Cloud Service
With the Oracle Database Cloud Service, Oracle offers a comprehensive suite that addresses all aspects of database utility. It includes Oracle Database 11g Release 2, multiple access methods, powerful development tools and productivity applications. These features combine to make Oracle Database Cloud Service the most comprehensive and business friendly option available for hosted databases.

For the core database, clients get access to the powerful Oracle Database 11g Release 2. This version of the Oracle database includes support for SQL, PL/SQL and a variety of other features. It is a high availability service and Oracle offers redundant servers, storage and access.

Data stored on the Oracle database can be accessed using SQL and PL/SQL. The database can be either hosted in the cloud or onsite. Users can access the database directly from the cloud or through data loading. This grants a new level of customization to the database configuration. With these options, companies can access their data the way that they want to, without administrative headaches and shortcomings.

The Oracle Database Cloud Service also includes an array of powerful development tools. Databases can be created with APEX and applications can be developed and deployed rapidly with these unique tools. Additionally, Oracle also offers REST monitoring services and use of RESTful clients for service monitoring.

Application Services
The main components of the new Oracle Application Services are the Fusion CRM, Fusion HCM and Social Network applications. The Fusion CRM provides a new twist on traditional CRM functionality, while Fusion HCM provides a comprehensive HR management tool and Social Network seeks to improve collaboration between employees.

Oracle Fusion CRM
Fusion CRM is set to solidly intensify the competition of salesforce.com vs Oracle. Fusion takes direct aim at salesforce.com’s flagship database product and improves upon it greatly.

Fusion CRM appears to offer most of the same functionality as other major CRM platforms. It provides a way for companies to track, organize and analyze key data. However, Fusion CRM goes even farther than most typical CRM offerings. Fusion offers ways for companies to plan, prospect, collaborate and close smarter.

By using Fusion CRM, Oracle clients can dynamically create the most efficient and precise sales territories, design superior compensation and quota plans and create highly accurate forecasts. The technology behind the Fusion CRM allows it to assign different weights to sales leads and dynamically assign leads to different sales representatives based upon territories and custom rules that are fully customizable. In turn, sales representatives can even be supplied with customized sales campaigns by Fusion.

The way that Fusion CRM can customize and manage sales territories is remarkable as well. Instead of relying on managers to guesstimate territories and then hard code them into the CRM, Fusion does the legwork by utilizing ground-breaking analytics and fully customizable criteria. Territories can be assigned in a manner that will automatically assign sales opportunities to the right rep for the job based upon these factors. When looking to restructure territories, Fusion CRM takes all of the guesswork out of the process. It can forecast how clients, accounts, leads and future opportunities would be reassigned before any permanent changes are put in place.

Sales forecasts are often a point of contention for sales leaders, and Fusion CRM tackles this challenge as well. With the unique ability to use real-time analytics for the most accurate forecasts, it is possible to dynamically update and revise forecasts to be more in line with the reality that sales leaders are facing every day. With accurate forecasts available, sales leaders are able to spend less time endlessly exchanging emails and becoming frustrated due to inaccurate or impossible forecasts.

Along with the powerful forecast tools, Fusion CRM also offers the best reporting and analytics infrastructure available. The reporting tools in Fusion are extremely powerful and completely customizable. With advanced reporting tools, clients can pull the data they seek and represent it in ways that truly make sense to others. Clear and concise reports are the most effective way to present data to management, and Fusion CRM delivers on this front.

Oracle Fusion HCM
Fusion HCM seeks to bring a strong HR suite to the offerings available for cloud-based services. The Fusion HCM will encompass everything from organization management to benefits administration. The HCM application covers pretty much every HR aspect imaginable. It offers support and data analytics for hiring, budgeting, employee benefits administration, payroll and absence management. As a cloud-based service, it provides easy access for HR employees to critical data. While all data connections are secure, HR employees can use Fusion HCM from virtually anywhere. With its powerful analytical tools, Fusion can organize and present valuable data in methods that are understandable and actionable.

Oracle Social Network
The Oracle Social Network application aims to address the common shortcomings regarding workplace collaboration. It uses a wide variety of innovative tools to create a real-time collaborative environment to boost productivity across the entire organization. It has support for multimedia items amongst users and allows them to securely share videos, voice, text and content regardless of physical location. Oracle Social Network is fully integrated into other Oracle applications, including Fusion CRM and HCM. The real-time tools included in the application include real-time shared markup, chat, application and web conference sharing and full content searches. Users can manipulate their individual stream of messages by flagging critical information, utilizing extensive filtering capabilities and creating a live digest, which gives a snapshot of their unread activity stream.

The new cloud-based offerings by Oracle are comprehensive and provide a much more cohesive experience for companies wishing to take key applications to the cloud. While Oracle is a relatively late adapter of cloud-based services, their new platform appears extremely solid and offers functionality and control that is not currently matched by other cloud-based providers. With comprehensive tools that can be cloud-based or located onsite and the ability for customers to retain control over their data, the new suite of tools from Oracle looks to be a major contender in the world of cloud-based applications and databases. Oracle Public Cloud appears to be doing many things right that their leading competitors do wrong.

In the ever-evolving world of mobile broadband communications, big changes happen all the time. On September 20, at the CTIA Wireless 2011 show, Nokia Siemens unveiled one change that should prove to be especially significant. Their new Liquid Net technology, which is being compared to cloud computing, is poised to revolutionize the way in which broadband capacity is distributed. The primary goal of this new technology is to make more efficient use of available capacities. As more and more smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices are being used to stream videos and for other bandwidth-intensive functions, this new technology is sorely needed.

The Announcement

The big announcement by Nokia Siemens did not come as a surprise, at least among those who keep tabs on the industry. There has been a pressing need for a change in the way in which mobile technology and broadband are delivered. Several different companies have been working on the issue, but Nokia Siemens has emerged victorious. In fact, the technology was being rolled out at the same time that the announcement was made. This dramatic announcement surely put even more pressure on other companies, who are feverishly scrambling to come up with similar solutions of their own.

What is Liquid Net?

To understand what Liquid Net is, it helps to think of it as being akin to cloud computing. It basically refers to making more efficient use of available capacities on a broadband network. Under a traditional configuration, there is no fluidity in the capacities that are available to broadband users. Therefore, users in big cities must share limited numbers of base stations, which can cause service interruptions, slow speeds and many other issues. Meanwhile, those who are in the suburbs or less crowded areas have more capacity than they can possibly use. Liquid Net adds fluidity to the way in which broadband capacities are made available to users.

The Problem with Current Technology

As noted above, the way in which traditional broadband systems work is woefully inefficient. Large chunks of broadband capacity sit untouched in parts of the country that are relatively uncrowded. Meanwhile, people in bustling cities are all competing for a finite amount of broadband capacity. When a new smartphone is unveiled or a major update is launched, capacities are maxed out and users experience major problems. This poses serious problems for mobile broadband providers, which is precisely why Liquid Net has been developed.

The Ever-Growing Demand for Broadband

Demand for broadband has been growing exponentially, especially over the last handful of years. After all, smartphones aren’t the only devices that are making use of these networks. Tablets, Blackberrys and other devices are sucking away at broadband capacities as well. The fact is that broadband networks need to be able to accommodate approximately 1GB per mobile user per day. If they fall short of that minimum, huge issues crop up and they are left with disgruntled users, which can seriously cut into their bottom lines.

How Liquid Net Helps

Currently, it is estimated that up to 80 percent of the processing capacity of today’s base stations is untouched. It’s also believed that up to 50 percent of core networks’ capacities are not used. At the same time, people elsewhere aren’t able to gain access to the broadband capacities that they need. With Liquid Net, the computing power unit is removed from the base station. Instead, it is shared between all stations. It is directed where it needs to go. This reduces the need for dedicated equipment and dramatically improves the efficiency of broadband networks. This change represents a new architecture for mobile networks.

Ebb and Flow

Due to the ebbing and flowing nature of broadband demand, it simply isn’t possible to use dedicated equipment to meet the needs of all users. There is no way to predict when and where broadband capacities will be needed the most. Instead of attempting to build even more base stations, then, Nokia Siemens’ Liquid Net works by directing broadband capacities where they are needed the most. In this way, the new technology is quite similar to cloud computing, which also pools resources and distributes them where they are needed effectively and efficiently.

Baseband Pooling

One of the key features of the Liquid Net is baseband pooling. Baseband pooling works by centralizing the resources that are needed to conduct certain functions. It is a way to share resources in a way that is cost-effective. Users themselves will never notice the change has been made, at least not in a negative way. If anything, users should notice more consistent speed and reliability. This should prove to be true in bustling urban centers and in rural areas alike. Those who live in less populated areas shouldn’t have to worry about decreased speeds; after all, many sparsely populated areas are only using about 20 percent of what is available.

Beamforming

Another important part of the Liquid Net is a process that is known as beamforming. Beamforming works by focusing specific radio connections and directing them at specific broadband users. This helps to streamline the process of making the most efficient and effective use of available broadband capacities. All of this work happens instantly and without any direction from everyday users. As the new technology is rolled out, broadband users shouldn’t notice any interruptions or problems. Nokia Siemens is already implementing this technology and will continue to roll it out even more in the weeks and months ahead.

When will it be Available?

Due to the fact that the new Liquid Cloud technology has been developed by Nokia Siemens, only users on those networks will have access to it right away. As with any other major change in mobile technology, however, other carriers and providers are sure to follow suit right away. It is in the best interests of many mobile providers to make use of this technology as quickly as possible. Their networks will pale in comparison to the speeds of those that are running on Liquid Net technology.

The Competition

As noted above, the competition is going to be hot on the heels of Nokia Siemens. In fact, Alcatel-Lucent has already developed its own version of the technology. However, their version is extremely stripped down and basic when compared with that of Nokia Siemens. On top of that, Alcatel-Lucent will not be making the technology available until 2012. They are just the tip of the iceberg however. Many other providers are sure to be rolling out their own versions of the Liquid Net in the upcoming months. It is the only viable way to keep up with broadband users’ demand.

Will the introduction of the Liquid Net have a major impact on the everyday use of mobile devices? That remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, though: It paves the way for even faster speeds and more innovative features. Under current technology, limits were rapidly being met. Thanks to Liquid Net technology, those limits have been pushed back by a large degree. This will free things up so that exciting new changes and upgrades can be made. As the technology is rolled out, reduced speeds, slow downloads and other problems should start to diminish as well and user satisfaction should increase.

If you think that cloud computing is a one-size-fits-all proposition, think again. While the basic concept of cloud computing is relatively simple to understand – it basically involves computer services that are provided over a network instead of “in house” – there is more than one type available. As this service has matured and evolved, a couple of different variations have been developed. These variations have been made to accommodate a wide range of different users. After all, what works for one company may not work for the next one. Learn more about the primary types of cloud computing in this informative article.

The Three Types of Cloud Computing

There are three primary types of cloud computing: public, private and hybrid. Each model includes slightly different features, and each one has benefits that may appeal to some but not to others. When most people think of cloud computing, they think of the public cloud. The majority of the people who use cloud computing are using the public cloud as well. However, the public cloud is not right for everyone. Private clouds have been developed to accommodate those whose needs aren’t adequately met by the public cloud. Not surprisingly, some people need the best of both worlds. In that case, the hybrid cloud is an excellent option.

Which Clouds do People Use?

The specific type of cloud that a company uses is going to depend on many different variables. According to a recent survey, whose results were made public during the GigaOM Structure Conference this past June, 75 percent of respondents believe that they will be using cloud computing within the next five years. The compound annual growth rate or CAGR of cloud services is holding steady at an impressive 67 percent. Clearly, people are realizing and enjoying the benefits of cloud computing.

As for the types of clouds that are actually being used, the answer varies. The public cloud is extremely popular. It is ideal for situations like the initial launch of a new site because it is highly scalable. It can accommodate virtually any type of setup, from simple ones to ones that are much more complicated. It is also the most cost effective option that is available today. If price is the top priority, the public cloud wins hands down. Additional situations in which it pays to use the public cloud include:

The Salesforce.com Winter ’12 release promises to bring many exciting new changes, upgrades and updates. Nearly every aspect of the wildly popular cloud-computing platform is changed or updated in some way. That being said, users will not be overwhelmed by the changes. They are just subtle enough to bring much-needed improvements without drastically changing the overall design and flow of the platform. According to the official release page, there are more than 150 new features. To get a better idea about what to expect, an overview of the most important updates, changes and new features is provided below.

Dashboard Filters

The Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com now features dashboard filters. This feature allows you to add easy-to-change filters to the dashboard. When a change is made, it is applied to every single dashboard component.

Data.com

In the latest version of Salesforce.com, Jigsaw becomes Data.com. More has changed than just the name, though. One of the most notable and exciting changes concerns Dun & Bradstreet information, which is now contained within Data.com. Thanks to that addition, Data.com offers superior account information and contact data, which makes it a more robust feature all around. The new version also works to keep track of company and contacts’ social accounts, which will enhance the other social media features of Salesforce.com.

Chatter Messages

Chatter messages allow users to send private messages through Chatter. This will come in handy in situations when it’s not appropriate or necessary to initiate contact with the entire company or team at one time. It also allows users to see when another person is logged into Salesforce.com.

Chatter Approvals

In the Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com, it is now possible to manage approvals through a user’s Chatter feed. This should enhance productivity and largely eliminate the need to switch between various screens.

Social Contacts

When viewing a contact’s record, information from their Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook feeds will also appear. This information will only be displayed, of course, when a contact’s usernames for such services are known. Thanks to the upgrade of Data.com, however, it will be easier than ever to keep such information current.

Updated Reports Tab

The Reports tab has been given a major facelift in the latest version of Salesforce.com. For the Winter ’12 release, it puts Dashboards and Reports in a single place, which makes it a lot easier to run them when they are needed. If you have many different dashboards and reports, you will appreciate the addition of an enhanced search function. This function allows you to track down precisely what you need a lot more quickly and efficiently.

Customer Interaction in Private Chatter Groups

It is now possible to invite customers and partners to join you in private Chatter groups through Salesforce.com. These private, secure groups are great places to exchange ideas and to perform a multitude of different tasks. Depending on the situation, such groups could be used to share messages, posts, files and other information. There is a great deal of control involved in inviting customers into these groups, so there is no risk of allowing the wrong people in.

Visualforce Charting

The addition of pre-built components for charts and reports dramatically streamlines and enhances the Visualforce process. They no long have to be built from the ground up, which is sure to save you a lot of time and effort. This update makes sense because many people create large numbers of very similar reports and charts.

Sharing Chatter Files

The Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com allows you to share Chatter files with anyone. They do not have to be on Chatter. This is accomplished through the creation of an encrypted URL. The URL can then be shared via email or instant message. Many people are sure to get a great deal of use out of this new feature.

Upload and Share Files Simultaneously

It’s now possible to kill two birds with one stone when uploading and sharing files. The latest version of Salesforce.com allows you to share and upload files at the same time. When you are ready to upload a file, you can also elect to share it with certain people or groups. There is no longer a need to go back and perform this in two separate steps.

Redesigned Chatter Desktop

The ability to use Chatter through the desktop has proven to be quite popular. The Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com improves upon the last design. The interface has been redesigned to make it easier and more intuitive to use than ever.

Chatter Feed Enhancements

Several exciting updates have been made to the Chatter feed. It is now possible to “like” comments that are made by others. This not only lets the person know that you “like” their comment, but it allows you to receive updates from the thread in question. This update is quite similar to the “like” function that has been available on Facebook for some time.

It is now also possible to share and play YouTube videos on the Chatter feed. Once a video has been posted, it does not automatically play. The user must click on the video to play it. This is an important point because some people may not want videos to start playing at random.

Salesforce Knowledge Articles Enhancements

Enhancements to Salesforce knowledge articles have been made in the Winter ’12 release. The most notable one is that articles can be imported along with 49 different translated versions at one time. It is also possible to save older versions of published articles.

Updated Service Cloud Console

The Service Cloud console has a sleek new look for the Salesforce.com Winter ’12 release. You will notice that a lot of the extra white space has been eliminated.

Security Enhancements

A significant array of security enhancements are debuting with the Winter ’12 release. Updated encrypted custom field permissions are just one example. Just-in-Time provisioning for portals is now also available.

Cloud-Based Flow Designer

This new feature is currently in beta, but it is sure to pique many people’s interest. It allows users to update content and create new flows from within Salesforce.com. You should be on the lookout for additional enhancements to this exciting new feature in future releases of Salesforce.com.

SiteForce

SiteForce is debuting with the Salesforce.com Winter ’12 release. It’s a CMS editor that makes it a lot easier to create pages for sites. It gives you a lot more flexibility when it comes to customization. Many people are anticipating it to be a major improvement over VisualForce.

The changes and updates that are debuting with the Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com include a little bit of something for everyone. Whether you’d like more options when it comes to communicating with your customers, or if you would like to have greater control of the customization of various pages, you are sure to approve of the latest version of this very popular cloud-computing platform. A wide range of small but important aesthetic changes also make for a more streamlined and intuitive experience. Now more than ever, it is a breeze for newcomers to get up to speed with this platform. The new changes and features are creating plenty of buzz, and they will continue to do so.

Even as a vast array of businesses and organizations are discovering the benefits and advantages of cloud computing, many of them aren’t putting it as fully to use as they could. Despite the breathless reports about companies switching almost entirely over to the cloud, it’s clear that security concerns are holding many businesses back from fully implementing the benefits of cloud computing. In many cases, misconceptions about how security works in cloud computing are causing people to wrongly believe that it isn’t right for government entities and other organizations that deal in highly sensitive and confidential material.

According to the Cloud Computing Tracking Poll, which involved the participation of more than 1,200 IT professionals, 32 percent of companies cited security concerns as the reason for not implementing the use of cloud computing even further. Indeed, respondents generally stated that, while many companies are using cloud computing to some degree, a significant proportion of them haven’t made any sort of dramatic switch. In many cases, a significant portion of a company’s information technology continues to exist and run through physical hardware. The fact that security issues are cited as the main cause of this is interesting because many IT professionals agree that the cloud is exceptionally safe.

One of the biggest advantages of cloud computing from a security standpoint is that it eliminates the need for things like flash drives and DVDs. Those types of things can all too easily end up in the wrong hands. When that happens, sensitive information is a breeze for just about anyone to access. When such information is stored in the cloud, however, there is no chance of dropping a disc or another form of media and inadvertently allowing someone else to access it. Everything is stored virtually, so there’s no physical type of data storage that can be breached.

Naturally, many companies are aware of this benefit. However, they are quick to point out that hackers are becoming more sophisticated in their methodologies than ever. If a hacker breaches a company’s private cloud, for example, he would then have full access to a bevy of highly sensitive data. Many of these fears arise due to the possibility of a hacking collective like Anonymous gaining access to a government agency’s private cloud. If that was to happen, the hard work would be over. Upon leaping that hurdle, hackers would generally have free reign over the agency’s data and information.

Indeed, there are many reports about the misgivings of several top government agencies about the full implementation of cloud computing. One thing that has triggered so much discussion about the topic was the order to put cloud computing “first.” This order was given by the White House back in December 2010. At the time, Vivek Kundra was the White House Chief Information Officer. He is the one who relayed the order to all government agencies. The order did not make cloud computing implementation a requirement, but it did ask all agencies to consider cloud computing over traditional hardware solutions.

Under the terms of the order, all agencies were asked to identify three services that could be switched over to the cloud. The government’s primary motivation for this request was, of course, financial. It is much more economical to manage computer services in the cloud than it is to manage them via traditional hardware. Agencies were given a timeframe of 12 months to identify one service to switch to the cloud. They were then asked to identify another two services within 18 months. Despite the fact that this was a clear order, many agencies have been holding back.

The main reason that so many agencies have been dragging their feet about switching their services to the cloud is security. Just like many businesses, many government agencies have serious reservations about the security of cloud computing. The State Department, the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health have all voiced specific concerns about the security of full cloud computing implementation. Most government agencies do not want to be early adopters of the technology. They want to wait and see whether or not other agencies experience security problems before they go ahead with the switch themselves.

As reluctant as many government agencies have been about switching certain services to the cloud, many have already switched other services there. For example, the State Department has already switched its public website to the cloud. Basically, agencies seem to feel no reluctance about switching non-sensitive or non-confidential information to the cloud, but they are much less trusting when it comes to sensitive or confidential information. That is perfectly natural, of course, but many of those concerns are unfounded. While a successful hacking attempt would be catastrophic, it’s just as risky to keep the data on hardware-based systems too.

One thing that isn’t helping when it comes to perceptions about security and cloud computing is a recent report by the Government Accountability Office. According to that agency, reports of security problems have gone up by an incredible 650 percent in the space of just five years. This shouldn’t keep businesses or government agencies from considering the cloud, however. A hybrid model is one great alternative. Under that scenario, highly sensitive information is kept on a private cloud; non-confidential information is kept on a public cloud. Under this model, companies and government agencies can enjoy the cost effectiveness of cloud computing while still benefiting from enhanced security features.

Above everything else, it’s important to keep in mind that cloud computing is still a relatively new concept. It may seem like it’s been around forever, but it is still a newcomer when compared with other types of information technology. As a result, it’s going to take time for a wider range of companies and organizations to embrace the technology. As more and more government agencies move to the cloud, however, ongoing concerns about security should start to fade. Eventually, people may even come to consider cloud computing to be a lot safer than other alternatives.

Salesforce.com bring a lot of exciting features to the table for today’s businesses. One feature that really has people talking is SFDC’s Knowledge Base. This product is designed to seamlessly integrate an ever-evolving and growing list of data for customer service reps, sales reps and just about anyone who needs instant access to pertinent information. Unlike in years past, SFDC’s Knowledge Base is constantly up-to-date; there is no worry of inadvertently supplying outdated information to customers, suppliers and others. In turn, your customer service reps will be more reliable and your customer satisfaction rate will soar. What does Knowledge Base have to offer? Check out the basics below.

Putting the Internet to Good Use – Many employers look at the Internet with concern, since they feel that it is nothing more than a distraction for their employees. SFDC’s Knowledge Base proves them wrong, though, since it pulls all of the most relevant information around and puts it right at sales reps’ fingertips. Why should your reps have to spend hour after hour searching for the right answer, when the Internet can harness all of that information for you? You can put the online world to work for you by plugging into SFDC’s Knowledge Base.

Provide 24/7 Support – The Internet never shuts down. If you have customers in multiple time zones, this is an especially convenient fact. Salesforce.com utilizes the power of the Internet to give your reps the answers they need, when they need them. There is no “down time” to deal with, and your reps will always be armed with the most current information. If anything, the Internet is growing larger and larger by the day. It’s not going anywhere, and the usefulness of SFDC’s Knowledge Base isn’t going anywhere, either.

Put Social Networks to Work for You – Social networking is often frowned upon by employers. However, it can be used for the forces of good, too. SFDC’s Knowledge Base is clear evidence of that fact, since it can incorporate elements from popular social networking sites to bring your customers the answers they need, when they need them. Knowing that your reps are out and about on social networking sites will bolster your company’s image, and Knowledge Base makes it very easy to do.

Continuously Involving – and Improving – Information – The information that is culled by SFDC’s Knowledge Base is never static. Instead, it is always growing and evolving. In turn, your reps can become more and more knowledgeable, too. Ultimately, your company will be able to provide streamlined and effective customer service each and every day. What’s not to love about that?

If you’re ready to bring your customer service strategy into the future, sign up with Salesforce.com today. Their Knowledge Base is sure to blow you away with its effectiveness and speed. Your reps are sure to thank you for it, too! At long last, knowledge management and CRM are joined together in harmony.

Cloud computing is quickly gaining attention because it is revolutionizing the way that people do business, but what many are not considering is the data protection issues that may inherently exist within such a concept. Understanding the impact that cloud computing has when it comes to data protection and data security laws are important. Government bodies and non-profit organizations, especially, need to consider the data protection impact of cloud computing on their organizations.

In the past couple of years, the concept of cloud computing has expanded from being a business concept with some promise to becoming one of the IT industry’s fastest growing segments of business. Now companies that were hit by the recession are realizing that by tapping into that cloud, they can gain quicker and more effective access to the best business applications, drastically improving upon their infrastructure at a cost that is fairly negligible. But what other costs are there that may have initially been missed?

1 – Every security system which has ever had its security breached was once considered to be infallible.
2 – There are risks involved in cloud computing, and understanding these risks is of vital importance when tapping into the cloud for better business.
3 – Looking at how hosting companies for cloud computing have approached the concept of security and data protection.
4 – Understanding the law and the jurisdiction where the data is being hosted or stored is an important part of getting the most out of data hosting.
5 – There are luckily a number of best practices in terms of security and data protection for companies that are in the cloud.

When it comes to data protection and security in the cloud, here are some best practices that are worth considering and putting into action.
- Companies should inquire about systems for exception monitoring,
- Companies should be vigilant about updates, ensuring that staff are not suddenly able to gain access to information of privileges that are not meant for them.
- Companies should ask about where their data is being kept. They should be willing to inquire about the details pertaining to data protection laws in the jurisdictions that are relevant.
- Companies should seek out the assistance of an independent security audit for the host responsible for the data to ensure the highest level of data protection and security
- Companies should figure out which third companies are being dealt with by the host, inquiring to find out who can and cannot gain access to your data
- Companies should take care to develop good policies regarding passwords and how they are chosen, changed and protected
- Companies should look into penalties and availability guarantees
- Companies should find out if their cloud providers are capable of accommodating their own personal security policies when their data is involved.

These best practices can certainly have a positive influence on data protection and security issues within the cloud.

The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted on July 30 of 2002, and it is also known as the Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act, or as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act in the senate and the house respectively. Also known as Sarbox or as SOX, this is a federal law that was enacted in the United States in reaction to the fact that many European countries were dealing with accounting and corporate scandals including WorldCom, Adelphia, Peregrine Systems, Tyco International and Enron. These scandals were costing billions of dollars to their investors, and huge companies were collapsing, which shook up the security’s market across the nation.

There are both pros and cons that are associated with hosting a company’s data abroad, such as hosting data from European countries and firms in the United States. In general, many European countries are strict about where they host their data, even when it comes to cloud computing themes, and European laws often reflect an interest in keeping information and data local, rather than hosting it in other countries. It could potentially be impacting the sales for those companies based on where they are hosting their data because some forms of hosting will be more secure, as well as more cost effective than others.

There are definitely a number of benefits associated with hosting European data abroad, including in America. The legal benefits of hosting data in another country are overwhelming. Additionally, there are always cheaper areas for hosting in terms of labor and equipment costs, and companies often seek out more cost effective methods of data storage and hosting even if it means taking the storage operation to another country. Hosting space tends to be at a premium in European countries, where it isn’t in the United States. However, it is important to consider that the internet backbone in the United States is generally much stronger in comparison to in Europe.

Another benefit of hosting European data in America is that there are more internet datacenters for storage located in the United States, meaning that space availability for hosting is certainly much greater here. These types of considerations can definitely affect sales for a European country looking to host their data in a more cost effective and more productive way.

There are also cons associated with hosting European data in America or in another country for that matter. For example, there are security concerns when it comes to hosting data in unfamiliar territory. While hosting internationally can give a company greater global reach, it also stretches the company thinner, which could reduce security and safety for hosted data. Another concern is always the laws associated with hosting data internationally, as all laws on the subject must be adhered to in the country responsible for doing the hosting.

Companies that are looking for an application that can handle SaaS or Software as a Service development and management are going to find a solution in the combination between SDFC or Salesforce.com and Google Wave.

The focus behind the design of Google Wave is for it to serve as part of the next generation in communication and collaboration through the internet. Google Wave works similarly to other messaging systems such as Usenet and email, but rather than sending a message coupled with the previous thread of messages, requiring that all responses be stored in the inbox for each user for the purpose of context, these message documents, which are called waves, complain the complete thread for each multimedia message, known as a blip, and these waves are stored perpetually on a single central server. The waves are then shared with the collaborators who are able to be added as well as removed from the wave as needed during the existence of said wave.

Google Wave makes it possible for applications to be developed that are basically placed inside what is known as a wave. Those applications are then capable of interacting with any of the people that are on the wave. What happens then, is that Salesforce can be engineered in such a way that it allows customers and companies alike to interact with the wave, providing the software in a more direct manner into the wave as a service.

What this is going to achieve has to do with allowing customers as well as companies to interact with one another in a way that is much more real time than what was previously possibly by any means. Google Wave is also going to make it possible for easy monitoring of all of the software in the wave by way of robots that Google Wave uses. What these robots can do is make the concept of real time monitoring a lot easier.

As far as many companies are currently concerned, Google Wave is providing the possibility for being the ultimate tool in collaboration, which aligns with the concepts of cloud computing and allows businesses to do more than ever before. By increasing the possibility of collaboration between businesses, employees and customers, Google Wave is making it possible for businesses to operate on a much more effective level than ever before. Google Wave, combined with Salesforce.com, is definitely going to be far reaching when it comes to capabilities of being used for the management of SaaS development.

Google Wave is making collaboration over the internet easier than ever. Google Docs and other Google services have been improving on online collaboration some time now, but Google Wave is quickly proving to be a much larger step in the right direction, making business and SaaS management and development a lot simpler than ever before for many people.

With so many different social media and social networking platforms out there, how can you determine which is going to be the best one for your business strategy? Social media platforms have certainly exploded in terms of popularity, and this has created tough choices for many of the companies that need to find the best possible means of communicating in the public eye.

There are a number of different popular social media platforms to choose from, including MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and numerous others. With so many choices out there, it can be difficult to figure out which platform, or what combination of platforms is going to drive the best possible results for a business.

The thing that needs to be understood about these social media platforms is that each one serves a different purpose or a different niche, which is why so many have become popular throughout time. The key to understanding which social media platform is going to be the best possible platform for your business is to know two things:

1 – What strategy your business is trying to enact, or what goals it is striving to achieve,

2 – What social media platform best addresses that need or best serves the niche that you are attempting to reach out to,

For example, if you are looking for a way to build brand awareness and get to know your customers, then you may want to create a profile for your company on social networking websites like LinkedIn, MySpace and FaceBook. These websites allow you to build up a following, sharing blogs, photos, news information and messages with friends and other members of the site.

If you are looking for a way to build company and brand awareness while sharing news and other information about the company, or if you are looking for a way to start one on one conversations with past, present and future customers, you should look into a social media platform like Twitter. Twitter offers the ultimate in one on one conversation as well as public communication, allowing your profile to speak out to its followers or to communicate directly with individual users. Twitter is all about finding the right conversations and joining in.

The key to choosing the right platform for social media marketing, then, is to know what you want to get out of it. Once you know what it is that you hope to achieve in social media marketing, then that is when you can make the right platform selection. If you choose the wrong social media platform, you put your company in jeopardy of never quite getting the message out. The solution may simply be to try different platforms for social media until one is found that your company is comfortable with. There are plenty of conversations to participate in out there. Social media marketing is a great way to build brand awareness, get to know customers, communicate news and simply hold conversations all over the globe in one collaborative space.

Google recently decided that they would be creating their own operating system, and then Microsoft decided that they were going to be putting their next Microsoft Office incarnation up on the internet for free availability. What this means is that Google is rivaling Microsoft by developing their own operating system (Google Chrome) and Microsoft is rivaling Google by offering online document applications just like Google Apps.

Microsoft Office happens to be one of the most important products among the company, as it offers Microsoft Access, Excel, PowerPoint and Word. The chances are that you have used one of these utilities before. As a result, Microsoft Office has basically become the standard on a global level when it comes to office software, and so it has been a cash cow for the company for most of its history.

So what does all of this mean? It means that when the newest version of Microsoft Office is released, it is going to be available in stores and for purchase online as per usual. But if you would rather use it online, you can simply visit the main website for Microsoft, log in and use all of the utilities there for free. It will be like having your own personal copy of Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel running right out of your web browser. The buttons and then menus are going to be nearly identical, and yet its use is going to be absolutely free.

Of course you should realize that there are going to be some differences. For example, you are going to have to have an internet connection in order to use the new online version of Microsoft Office. You will not be able to gain access to all of the more advanced features that are built right into the paid version. However, for most people and for most situations, the online version is likely going to be more than enough to get the job done.

Google vs Microsoft Again

This plan is not going to come as a great shock, as pundits have been talking about this possibility ever since Google Apps was launched by Google. The competing suite of web tools includes spreadsheet software and a word processor and it is designed to be accessed completely online.

By taking Microsoft Office and moving it online, Microsoft is hoping to be able to slow down the growth of the Google Apps, so that they can begin to get more people using Microsoft Office exclusively, and maintain their market share. If it is being offered for free, why not use it? They do not seem to be worried about taking a hit in terms of revenue, either, because there will always be paid versions that businesses can use and some home users will still want to use the full paid version. This is a logical move on Microsoft’s behalf, and so we are not surprised to see what they are planning. The whole thing is slated to become available in 2010.

The Salesforce.com cloud computing platform is becoming increasingly useful for non profit organizations. There is a lot of speculation about the ways in which cloud computing platform from Salesforce.com can help non profit organizations and groups.

Salesforce.com happens to be one of the most popular Ondemand Application Platform , and it is gaining a lot of popularity among non profit organizations because there is a special nonprofit starter pack that Salesforce.com offers. Accessible from virtually any browser and customizable in a myriad of different ways, this special web-accessible, web-enabled database solution for cloud computing is quickly gaining a serious amount of popularity for good reason. What makes it even better for non profit organizations is that it is offered for no fee through what is known as the Salesforce.com foundation.

Salesforce.com offers a powerful tool in the nonprofit starter pack. It offers a et of customizations that are specifically designed to turn the salesforce.com CRM into something that supports some of the most common processes for a non profit business or organization. This starter pack consists of a myriad of custom objects, custom fields, custom reports, page layouts, workflow, Force.com code and also Visual Force pages. This starter pack intended for non profits is being made available as a collection of Managed Packages that anyone can install. When nonprofit groups sign up for Salesforce.com CRM assistance, they can choose to use the regular salesforce.com software, or the special nonprofit starter pack version, which basically means that the starter pack is pre-installed on their donated instance of the app.

The purpose of the Nonprofit Starter Pack offered by Salesforce.com is to help non profit organizations utilize Salesforce.com so that they can further their unique missions. This is a very flexible and user friendly platform, that makes it truly powerful when it comes to helping an organization manage everything that it needs to manage. Because Salesforce.com is so flexible right out of the box, it can seem a little bit too much like a completely blank slate for people that are brand new to using it. The purpose of the nonprofit starter pack is to fill that blank slate in with a setup and configuration that already addresses many of the group’s key business practices and processes.

Although every nonprofit is unique, this starter pack, coupled with Salesforce.com software has been built to support many of the most common business practices and processes along a very large group of different non profit organizations. It aims to support a wide number of different business and non profit processes that are needed in order to handle the CRM aspect of managing an organization. It supports the tracking of organizations and individuals, the grouping of people within a common household, tracking of donations that are pledged over a period of time, tracks key relationships between different individuals and supports tracking of relationships between organizations and people as well.

The recent Salesforce.com and Adobe alliance has made it possible for businesses to leverage the power of Force.com in conjunction with Adobe. There are new plenty of new possibilities that have been made available in the realm of cloud computing. The Adobe Flash Builder is going to help Force.com change the offerings included in its platform, and this alliance is also going to make it possible for enterprise applications to become easier not only to develop but to use as well.

This alliance is bringing about a brand new offering that combines the Force.com platform’s power with the ubiquity and the richness of the Adobe platform in order to enable an all new generation of rich internet applications or RIAs that are cloud based in nature. This brand new office, which is known as Adobe Flash Builder for Force.com is integrating these two platforms together in order to bring the richness behind consumer Web to the enterprise cloud applications so that a brand new and significantly improved level of productivity by developers can be enabled and maintained.

Both Adobe and SalesForce.com clearly share a common vision when it comes to the acceleration of developer success with the use of cloud computing. By bringing Adobe Flash together with Force.com, it is becoming more possible to create new types of business applications capable of running in the cloud and they will be easier than ever to use in the consumer web.

Adobe’s Flash Builder for Force.com is going to empower developers from the cloud to the client by allowing them to build applications that will work in the same way that people do. It will make it possible for intuitive and interactive UI or User Interface features to be added including drag and drop, increasing user acceptance, improving upon productivity and reducing help desk requirements. It will incorporate in advanced visualizations for data including dashboards and charts which will provide a greater level of decision support.

Adobe’s Flash Builder for Force.com will make it possible to turn multiple step process applications into single screen experiences in order to build upon efficiency as well as usability. Adobe’s Flash Builder for Force.com will also provide client side integration on a light weight basis in order to unify the experiences of users all across systems both inside and outside of firewalls into single applications for greater business visibility.

This is a solution that is also going to empower developers with the flexibility that they need to scale applications so that they can apply to a wide variety of different businesses. This includes building applications that support desktop and browser deployment, adding rich user interface elements to SalesForce and Force.com applications that already exist, and creating new components for applications that are specifically tailored to certain job functions and use cases so that they can be integrated into already existing applications.

This combination of Adobe Flash and Force.com technologies is completely changing the speed at which developers can create excellent content for clients and their business applications.

Cloud computing, which can be perceived as anything that you do outside of your firewall on the internet, is a relatively new concept that is quickly becoming a hot buzzword. Cloud computing, which includes the hosting of data, e-mail and applications, is a concept that is being offered by a myriad of major companies, including Salesforce.com, Oracle, Amazon, Google and Microsoft just to name a few. The jury is still out when it comes to whether or not cloud computing is just as safe as when you are doing business using your own servers.

Although cloud computing is being touted as the next big thing, as well as a natural progression in online business, some people are beginning to worry that the bubble is going to burst if we allow it to grow before the development and implementation of a code of standards. There are risks and rewards alike associated with cloud computing.

There are a number of pros associated with working in the cloud, including reductions in cost, improvements in IT flexibility and an increase in storage capacity. The cost of storing data and processing power for a cloud vendor is spread out among a number of users. More often than not, the service is free. Businesses, then, will not have to invest in training IT personnel, new infrastructure or licensing of new software every time it wants to be able to increase data storage or update applications.

For smaller businesses that do not have large IT staff, cloud computing is capable of virtually eliminating the need to have an advanced level of IT knowledge or IT resources. Cloud computing is also capable of allowing businesses to scale their computing resources and their needs in order to meet demand by users while storing data online, meaning that local servers can be freed up.

There are two primary risks when it comes to cloud computing, and these are reliability, and issues that relate to security and compliance. Your business is going to be in a serious amount of trouble should the cloud happen to disappear, for example. If the server for your cloud vendor goes down, then your business will be unable to access data, including important documents and email, until the server is restored.

There is also no security standardization when it comes to cloud vendors. You are not going to know where your data is actually being stored, and this raises some compliance issues if your data is being stored with an offsite third party in a country that has unique standards for data security and data privacy. Some cloud vendors are beginning to give more control to their users when it comes to data location, however, so this is not likely to be a risk associated with cloud computing forever.

There are both risks and rewards associated with using cloud computing for your business. The important consideration is whether the risks outweigh the rewards, or the rewards outweigh the risk in determining whether or not this technology is right for your business needs.

Cloud Computing focuses on providing access for users to services, applications or storage without actually having to reveal any of the underlying technology and science behind how the elements are made to work. There are numerous pros and cons for the use of Cloud Computing, with different pros and cons applying to different applications and usages. Cloud computing is not for everyone, so understanding the pros and cons is important in determining how it can impact your business.

Scale and Cost

The cost associated with cloud computing is said to be one of its greatest pros because costs are greatly reduced. Capital expenditure, also, is converted into operational expenditure. Another great benefit of cloud computing is the scalability, as on demand provisioning for resources makes it possible for cloud computing to offer greater scalability for many business types that use web services as their system interface.

Encapsulated Change Management

Encapsulated change management offered by cloud competing achieves a number of different business goals and business objectives, including improvements in customer service and in service delivery. Encapsulated change management may also lower working capital requirements while aiding in the management of resources and fixed assets.

Next Generation Architectures

Social networking and social media technologies are becoming increasingly important as a manner in which customers can find the information that they need. Cloud computing is utilizing these next generation technologies and architectures in order to allow companies to benefit from the web.

Choice and Agility

Cloud computing provides a great amount of choice for the businesses utilizing it, and the customers that rely on it to find the information that they need. Cloud computing is an agile technology that offers benefits to the businesses that decide to utilize its principles.

Security

While in some situations security is improved in cloud computing over other similar technologies, this is not always the case. There are concerns regarding loss of control over data that is sensitive, as well as concern over the lack of security over stored kernels. While security is being improved overtime.

Lock-in

Many of the currently emerging platforms for cloud computing are proprietary in nature, and what this means is that interoperability and portability are both going to be issues for many businesses. I believe the next big talk will be not about cloud computing but about how to connect different clouds without any hassle or they are already connected for the customers, and the customer will have a choice to switch between any cloud computing vendor.

Lack of Control

When the cloud computing system goes down, business managers can find themselves feeling completely helpless because they suddenly have no visibility of the infrastructure. Cloud computing can provide somewhat of a feeling of lack of control, where business owners find themselves having to rely on someone much higher up to find and rectify the issue.

Reliability

While cloud computing may be suitable for disaster recovery and business continuity, some major cloud computing services have experienced outages, and sometimes little can be done when businesses are affected. Good thing is we are almost close to start trusting the reliability of this cloud ecosystem.

Surprisingly, things that are good, are generally good universally, and this can be applied to green computing too.

Computers, if used recklessly, can be big polluters. Do you know that if your computer is left on for a year it requires 500 trees to consume the CO2 produced by it? With millions of computers quietly (and in some cases noisily) buzzing all over the world, you can very well imagine how much carbon dioxide is being produced and released into the atmosphere. Add to it the toxins like mercury, cadmium, lead and chromium oozing out of the computer junk (batteries, motherboards, cathode ray tubes, circuit boards, mercury switches) that is being generated at a phenomenal rate, and you’ve got a really dark side of one of the most revolutionary technologies developed by the human race.

A big problem with computer technology is that it becomes passé very fast. Some industry experts claim that average computer technology becomes obsolete every two months. It doesn’t mean we’re trashing our PCs and servers every two months but if millions of people change their computers even every 3-4 years you can easily calculate how much hardware is being dumped just like that.

It’s not merely a problem of dumping obsolete hardware — although it’s a very serious situation — even when we’re using our computers actively they are putting a strain on the environment. Computers don’t just consume electricity for running, their fans also constantly release hot air, causing extra stress to your cooling system and consequently, increasing your overall electricity bill. Despite their humongous utility value computers:

• Create lots of toxic waste
• Use lots of electricity
• Put a strain on the environment because more natural resources are used to create power required to operate computers and their accessories

So how do we mitigate the negative effects? We can’t just stop using computers; in fact that’ll be disaster since almost every aspect of modern-day living is controlled by computers. What we can do is, as individuals as well as businesses, devise procedures, habits and corporate philosophies that help us use these magnificent machines in a less damaging manner. Here are a few things we can use:

• Switch off computers when not in use: Yes, there is a misconception that if you switch off and on your computer everyday it causes wear and tear. An average computer can be switched on and off 40,000 times, so switch off your computer without fretting much, because it uses up lots of energy even while running in idle mode.

• Pay attention to energy-saving settings on your computer: Lots of energy can be saved if you set your computer to hibernate or go to “sleep” when it is not being touched for some time, and no, a screen saver does not save electricity.

• Don’t upgrade unless it is absolutely necessary: Upgrade or purchase new hardware only if the existing one is a hindrance rather than a productivity tool. Many schools and offices in the 3rd world countries are still using those 386s and 486s and they manage pretty well. It’s imprudent to upgrade just to show you’ve got the latest gadgetry.

• Donate, rather than discarding: As mentioned above, in many countries people are still using those early-90s computers and they’ll love to receive more: old technology is better than no technology. By donating your old computers you’ll avoid turning them into pollution-causing junk as well as opening new doors of opportunity for underprivileged people.

• Use optimized software: Badly coded software too can cause unnecessary strain on your computers and force them to consume more electricity than needed. By software from reliable vendors who have a good track record of supplying efficient software.

• Use computer parts that use less electricity: Smaller computer screens use less energy compared to the larger ones. Flat screen monitors use less electricity. Compared to desktop computers laptops are much better in terms of electricity consumption. Similarly, a laser printer uses 90-100% more electricity than an inkjet printer.

• Share resources: If you can use a mainframe, opt for it rather than giving individual computers to your employees. Even if computers and desktop can be shared by more than one individuals, explore the possibility in order to reduce your hardware/software cause as well as electricity bill. In many offices printers and scanners are already being shared.

• Use latest technologies that help you avoid setting up your own hardware/software infrastructure: With cloud computing you can do that. HaaS (hardware as a service) for instance allows you to use hardware from a remote location through visualization. This saves you the hardware, software and power cost.

All you have to do pay as you use — this means you neither pay more nor less, just as much as you use. In fact more and more work is happening in the cloud these days and the best examples can be the remotely hosted office applications such as GoogleDocs, Zoho and MS Office Online and great project management tools like HighRise.

As Internet connectivity and surfing speed improve we’ll witness more and more people accessing the cloud to perform their daily computer chores rather than cracking up their hard-disks and expensive processes. This will significantly reduce the negative impact computers have on the environment.

There is a thin line between ‘innovation’ and ‘value innovation’. Many organisations spend millions in innovation, but, they fail to calculate the financial implication of their innovation. It is therefore very critical to realise some of the benefits of the innovation up front and the cost of introduction of innovation and the sales from acceptance of acceptance of innovation. If I had to calculate ‘Value Innovation’ I would do so by using the following formula

Value Innovation = Sales from customer acceptance of innovation – Cost of Introduction of Innovation.

I work in the IT Industry, where, Innovation is an everyday word. The benefits of integrating IT with Business Process are many and I do not want to discuss them all here. What I really want to discuss is the failure to comprehend the word innovation especially in the IT industry. Innovation should be aimed at making the life and daily task of a consumer easier. There can be no other purpose of innovation there should not be. Many innovations are simple invention that can generate no revenue yet waste precious company resources. ‘Value Innovators’ understand the demand in the market; they see the market gap, the need of product, the customer segment that will use the product and the choice available (there are many more). They then design and develop a product that will meet this demand. They keep it simple and the ease of use the product is also simple. I can instantly give you two such examples, Apple iPod and Google Search.

Also, many companies understand the need of the time and provide ‘innovative services’ or come up with ‘innovative solutions’ that help to save money and reduce the cost of operations. The idea of using Cloud Computing is one such innovative idea. Here the cost of introduction of a service can be reduced tremendously. Companies like Google, Amazon and Salesforce are helping customers to realise the benefits of Cloud Computing.

Cloud computing is currently being perceived as a big thing for businesses on the internet. Everybody appears to be looking forward in an attempt to move their data toward cloud computing. But what is going to happen after the cloud? More specifically, what’s next after cloud computing?

The concept of Cloud Computing focuses on being able to provide user access to services, storage and applications without needing to reveal any of the underlying science and technology that makes the elements work.

Cloud computing has already existed for quite some time now, but many people are just now beginning to realize its full power and potential thanks to the improving of speed in computers and the internet. Cloud computing allows businesses and organizations to store their applications and data in a way that they can access them from absolutely anywhere. Some cloud computing applications are capable of being extremely reliable and secure, making it a nice option for many businesses.

Cloud computing makes it possible for online applications to interact with other applications and websites. Cloud computing has made it possible to interact on the internet without having to install certain applications on your computer, negating the need for software and hardware updates and making it simpler to access information and data online. Just as you can access an e-mail account from virtually any computer with an internet connection, it is quickly becoming possible to access a myriad of other types of data and information in the same way. There are many examples of what cloud computing is attempting to achieve, such as Google Apps and Google Docs, Amazon Turks, YouTube, Flickr and other web based applications and storage systems for example.

There is a lot of information moving around on the internet. There are purported to be more than 5 billion users on the internet today, and with so many people online, there has never been more information available at our fingertips. With so much information moving around, now is as good a time as any to begin to work with more capable information systems, and cloud computing is making this happen. By making it possible for different web technologies to communicate with one another, a business can easily take all of its important information and communication to the web for easier accessibility, better security and increased usability. The improvements in accessibility and usability that cloud computing is achieving are making the internet simpler to use both for businesses online and their customers as well.

Cloud computing technology may have been around for a while now, but we are only beginning to realize its full potential. Right now, cloud computing is the future of the internet, and the future of technology collaboration for many businesses. The future is currently in our hands, and it will be interesting to see what can be done by leveraging the power of cloud computing to improve business on the internet.

Hot Topics in Enterprise Cloud Computing (PaaS and SaaS) from American Data Company on Vimeo.