Head in the Clouds (MToaS 45)

After reading some of the recommended readings on cloud computing I did some more research into this brave new world of data collection. It's a fascinating thing.

Yes, I do many things "in the cloud." Google docs, wikis, online banking, etc. etc. It's useful and, generally speaking, for anything you could want to do (ie. write a letter or report) there is someone out there who has figured out an easy way to let you do it, often for free. The hardest part sometimes is simply sifting through all the different kinds of applications, widgets, etc. to figure out which one you want to use.

Oh, and remembering your passwords and usernames.

I also think it's interesting to see how online storage is becoming the new way to think about protecting your valuable information. Create an online library of all your books, DVDs and CDs, upload all your photos, scan and make PDF's of all your important documents and store them in the cloud, and if your house burns down or gets busted up by a tornado then at least you can recover these things. Strange how making something virtual somehow makes it more secure against loss.

Of course, security concerns still linger. What if someone hacks into your data? What if the company you're using suddenly vanishes from the Internet-o-sphere? What if a glitch "out there" affects my ability to create something right here?

In the spirit of the thing, I found a listing by GoGrid CEO John Keagy about the future of cloud computing. GoGrid is one of many companies that are set up not so much for individuals but for companies, with the idea being that the organization uses GoGrid for information storage instead of worrying about servers and on-site storage (what happens, I wonder, to IT departments then? Do they get smaller or larger with cloud storage?). Regardless, without further ado, ten predictions for cloud computing in 2009:

1. Asking “is the Enterprise ready for the Cloud” will be analogized to “the Internet is a fad”
2. There will be some Cloud security breaches that will become super high profile
3. Questioning the security of the Cloud will become less vogue
4. The demand on companies to develop Cloud strategies will be likened to Y2K certification
5. Cloud strategies will be proven to be more important than Y2K certification
6. SAN storage will not emerge as being relevant to Cloud Computing
7. NoHardware.com will illuminate the spirit of the Cloud movement
8. RackSpace stock will claw back to $10.00
9. Al Gore will announce he invented Cloud Computing
10. Cloud Computing will (fill in the blank, for example, ...be the silver bullet to slow or stop the recession? ...enable companies to maintain profitability? ...bring government into the 21st century?)

I think it's interesting, cool, and could be a real boon to libraries, both in terms of productivity with wikis, GoogleDocs, etc., and in the archival sense of scanning and saving books, art, oral histories, etc.

Brave new world and a little CYA for the old one. Could be an all-around good thing.

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Pic credits: Image: 'Sunny Side Up' www.flickr.com/photos/74122471@N00/233472093