Businesses invited to spend a day in the clouds
IF you haven’t heard of cloud computing or software as a service then the challenge set on the UK’s first national cloud computing day may come as a surprise.
Businesses are being invited to dump their desktop applications for 24 hours by technology firm KashFlow to encourage them to evaluate online applications and speed up the migration from traditional word processing, spreadsheets, accounting, email and contact management systems installed on computers to their web-based counterparts.
Small businesses will be able to share their experiences throughout the day online. A post-event survey will reveal important small business opinions about how cloud computing will help the UK to work more efficiently.
KashFlow managing director Duane Jackson said that the world of business was discovering web-based software and that it was important that SMEs didn’t get left behind.
“Cloud computing generally represents much better value than installed software
– and in some cases it’s actually free,” he said.
“Many applications also include free online storage helping businesses to synchronise, backup and access data anywhere in the world.
“But I suspect there are a number of areas that aren’t being catered for. The business tasks and processes where participants can’t find an online solution are likely to be more revealing than the areas where they can.”
Cloud computing is being hailed as the next technology revolution as it removed the need to implement software upgrades, pay for maintenance or add more hardware.
However, the technology is in its infancy and business leaders have voiced concerns over support issues and mandatory upgrades, which could corrupt existing data.
