We have all heard about clouds in the sky, but what is all this talk about "The Cloud?"

Cloud computing is the new technology buzz word, but what does the word really mean? And what does it mean to you?

"The Cloud" refers to cloud computing that can be defined as hardware, networks, storage and interfaces that all work together to deliver services.

Cloud computing has four main characteristics: elasticity and the ability to scale up and down, self-service provisioning and automatic deprovisioning, application programming interfaces (APIs), billing and metering of service usage in a pay-as-you-go model. This flexibility is what is attracting individuals and businesses to move to the cloud.

That's great, but what does all that mean? In real world terminology, cloud computing allows you to access information without having it stored on a device in your possession. For instance, email. When you use gmail, yahoo, hotmail, msn or many other mail providers, you can access your email from any computer, phone or other device in any part of the world.

This data is stored in "The Cloud" allowing you access to your mail at all times.

Another scenario is backup and file storage. Storing all your files on your computer or even on a back up drive, in the same location as your computer, is not ideal for a couple of reasons:

1. What if you want to access your files and you are not in your home or office?
2. What happens if you have an electrical surge or fire and loose both your computer and back up drive?
3. What if you want to share your files with someone else in a different location?

These are all great reasons to join the cloud revolution. By storing your files in "The Cloud" you have solutions for all these problems.

However, these are just minor ways "The Cloud" can work for you. Business have mainstreamed many processes using "The Cloud."

Ask 10poundgorilla.com how we can help you use "The Cloud" to make your business more efficient.