Pest Management Professional, April 2012
tech trends Put Your Head in The Cloud Dean Stanbridge Contributor Cloud based versus traditional software applications E ven though Internet based aka cloud software applications have been available for more than a decade the technology just recently found solid footing What is The Cloud In short cloud based programs run via the Internet rather than on your computer I recently asked Mario Massarella a computer software designer with Toronto Ontario based Filbitron a cloud solutions provider why we would consider this technology instead of traditional software applications He had some interesting insight Traditional software program upgrades can require more computer space and speed to run The average shelf life of a complete software update is only between 12 and 16 months Companies often have to incur costs of the software upgrades and related required hardware upgrades Cloud based technology eliminates those capital costs by assigning upgrades to the providers of the secure networks As a cloud based software subscriber typically one only pays annual or monthly subscription fees Since the applications run over the Internet you do not need to upgrade your computer as the programs become more robust Research has shown the average small business has no firewalls seldom updates its anti virus protection and rarely backs up computer data Since cloud application providers often share network space the security redundancy is far greater than any one small company could engineer or afford With cloudbased solutions not only is your connection to your software and data secure but your data is backed up in redundant storage To protect your data from catastrophic occurrences such as a fire or natural disaster these storage facilities often are located states or even countries apart Data security is paramount to these providers so even if your software provider were to go bankrupt your data still should be securely stored on the overall network The Cloud is where its at If it wasnt successful companies such as Google wouldnt be investing huge amounts of capital in it Sure there are certain applications not yet available via The Cloud that offer unmatched functionality and flexibility and therefore are wise to purchase But I suspect most of us will have our heads in The Cloud by 2015 PMP You can reach Stanbridge a PMP and longtime tech columnist at dean@ directlinesales com 68 April 2012 Pest Management Professional mypmp net
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