Posted by Maria Dimitrova

Read this if: You want to be one step ahead of your competitors in business

Gain: Save time and money. No installation of software. No IT and computer admin on your PC. No need to upgrade your PC every 2 years because the power of your PC no longer matters.

Cost: free or some subscription fees. If you have a computer or phone, no new hardware is necessary. There is also a loss of security as your files will be stored on a remote computer. Cloud computing may bot be for everyone.

Imagine going to an important meeting delighted after having prepared everything carefully and then all of a sudden an unexpected problem arises with your laptop and you can’t access the data you need for your presentation.

Or your computer gets stolen and you have not backed up your data. Even in less dramatic cases PCs are often the cause of frustration and the loss of time when their capacity doesn’t allow you to do more complex tasks and store great amounts of data.

Enter Cloud Computing

Information technologies are constantly developing and staying aware of the innovations will give you and your business a competitive edge over your rivals. And even better if the advantage requires no new hardware: Cloud computing provides you with numerous ways in which you can optimize your work, save time, facilitate team work and at the same time save money.

Instead of carrying around a storage medium such as a DVD or thumb drive, you can store and access your personal files and do word processing on a remote server.

The principle behind it is that any device (a computer, a netbook, a smartphone, or a tablet) connects via the Internet to a pool of computing power, applications, and files. Your device just needs a browser and requires little in the way of memory or processing power on its own.  This eliminates the necessity to invest money in new software or hardware as the service provider may combine the processing power of multiple remote computers in “the cloud” to achieve the complex tasks. These tasks would normally be difficult, time consuming, or expensive for an individual user or a small company to accomplish, but when the service provider does them and spreads the cost over many clients the cost is low.

An example of the benefits cloud computing brings to business:

Bring your team and project work to a new level with Google docs

One of many cloud computing services is provided by Google docs. Google Docs serves as a collaborative tool for editing amongst users and non-users in real time. Documents (such as Excel or MSWord files) can be shared, opened, and edited by multiple users at the same time. Users can be notified of changes via e-mail. The majority of document-sharing services require user fees, whereas Google Docs is free.

Two users of Google docs say:

“It’s great for generating attendance and checklist forms, among other things! I have students complete simple multiple choice tests.  Their answers get dumped in the spreadsheet, and I program the spreadsheet to check their answers and calculate a score. ”, Jean-Louis Bontront, a teacher

“One reason why I like Google Docs so much is that I can share these documents with my colleagues. It also allows me to chat with them on the side, and see them typing or making changes live. This makes Google Docs one heck of a collaborative tool”, Aditya Kane, Editor in Chief of rtBlogs Network

Here are the ways in which you derive benefits from Google docs to make your business more efficient:

1.  Create word processing documents

2.  Share documents with other people on the same project

3.  Create a document that could be edited by multiple people simultaneously for collaboration purposes.

4.  Divide documents into different folders/labels/projects

5.  Share folders with selected people

6.  Create forms to collect information from clients

7.  Create forms for feedback after completion of projects

8.  Email form or embed form in blog or website for quick responses

9.  Create presentations with Google presentation tools as an alternative to Powerpoint.

10.  Create spreadsheets using Google Spreadsheets-helpful with managing time spent on each project and amount of money owed by each client!

11. Offline editing access to word processing documents. You no longer need an Internet connection when inspiration strikes. Whether you’re working on an airplane or in a cafe, you can automatically access all your documents on your own computer.

The wide variety of  Cloud computing providers:

Google docs isn’t the only option for cloud computing services. You can choose if you prefer Microsoft Live Mesh, Windows Live SkyDrive, Box.Net, Dropbox, etc. Research all these options to find the one which best meets your company’s needs.

Products specially designed for cloud computing

You can take advantage of cloud computing with any device connected to the Internet with a web browser. However, if you are looking for a new computer,  there are now products that have been specially designed for cloud computing services. Google Chromebooks are such an example of these cutting-edge products.

Chromebooks can instantly run your browser-based applications, whether in the cloud or behind your firewall, and apps virtualized through technologies like Citrix^®. And an entire fleet of Chromebooks can be managed from one web-based console – making life better for users and IT admins alike. Some of their beneficial characteristics include : they boot in 8 seconds and resume instantly, built-in security to protect against viruses and malware and many others which you can check on http://www.google.com/chromebook/#features.

Within a year the market will be saturated with such low cost devices. The days of the PC are numbered.