I have begun using file sharing and file archiving in the
cloud. And, I am happy to report that Google is now offering a cloud-based
solution.
What is Google
Drive?
Google Drive is a way to store your files on Google's servers, or "in the
cloud." If you run the free Google Drive application, then you get a
folder on your computer (Windows or OSX) that looks just like a directory on
your hard disk that you can drag your files in to.
Anything stored
in that folder is kept on your hard disk and also copied to your account in the
cloud.
You can access those files from drive.google.com or from other
computers, including mobile devices.
Other Services
If you want to
make comparisons to other services, check out Microsoft Live Mesh, SugarSync,
and Wuala. For most of my immediate projects, I have been using Dropbox
(which now has a new interface and ‘gifts’ of more space depending on if you
share or promote their product).
Dropbox is the tech elite's favored sync and
store product. It's very popular and it's easier even than Google Drive to set
up and use. It's especially easy to share files using Dropbox and everything
syncs nicely.
Bottom line, I
would use a couple of these and see what works.
More Resources
Best
Denice MacDonald
Technology experts and stakeholders say they expect they will ‘live mostly in the cloud’ in 2020 and not on the desktop, working mostly through cyberspace-based applications accessed through networked devices.
Pew said, "the number of cloud users has grown; there are 500 million people sharing friendships 'in the cloud' on Facebook, and many millions are using the cloud every time they access a Hotmail or Gmail account for e-mail, store browser bookmarks online, maintain a blog on WordPress, or store, link to and view videos and photos on YouTube, Hulu and Flickr."1
Cloud Computing Comparison Guide from Focus Research
Now you can easily choose the best cloud computing solutions for your company with this comparison guide from Focus Research.
Learn the specific differences between eight of the leading cloud-computing vendors and see which will fit your specific business needs.
Download the Cloud Computing Comparison Guide to get side-by-side comparisons of multiple topics including:
• Support Options
• Security Features
• Bandwidth and storage solutions
• Scalability
Note: You will need to complete a simple form to get this guide – but well worth it.2
Related Post: Cloud Computing: The Here and Now
Resources and Excerpts taken directly from:
1. The Future of Cloud Computing from Pew Internet
2. Cloud Computing Comparison Guide from Focus Research
Best,
Denice MacDonald
Here it is – the future of a website redesign strategy – the marriage of three critical components: cloud services, social media and web content management (WCM). Take a look at Newsweek.com who recently launched a total site redesign incorporating these significant platforms to stay ahead of the pack while enticing visitors to come back for more.
Perfect Case Study
Newsweek.com proves an important and timely case study for any organization that is in the process of a site redesign or redeployment. Reason simply, websites will now require strong metrics reporting, easy maintenance and extensibility as well as monetization and social integration in order to flourish. Such is the case for Newsweek – a publication and media outlet that has been floundering in recent times.
“The technology allows the business to grow in ways that had been holding it back,” says Geoff Reiss, vice president and general manager of Newsweek Digital. He explains that Newsweek created amazing content over time, but because of the way it was published and organized, “less than 15 percent of that content was discoverable through organic search.” The relaunch of Newsweek.com meant the reintroduction of about 70,000 items of content that had effectively been lost to site visitors.
The most popular articles at any given time aren’t from the vault, though-they’re stories, video and images linked to on social networks like Digg, Facebook and Twitter and on MSN. Reiss calls Newsweek.com a “peak-driven site. When we produce a piece of content that hits in the marketplace,” he says, “it really hits. We need to be able to serve hundreds of thousands of consumers an hour.” Moreover, traffic isn’t predictable or necessarily tied to events.
Lastly, Newsweek Digital is using Amazon cloud services to accommodate surges in traffic caused by increased use of social technologies – a marriage made in heaven.
Take a test drive of Newsweek.com ‘stories’ section and see how some of their strategy can help your organization.
Source Excerpt:
Newsweek.com redesign fuelled by social media, Amazon cloud and WCM by ZDNet
Best,
Denice MacDonald
Cloud computing—in simple terms— is virtualized resources served over the Internet. Cloud computing is often provided "as a service" in the form of 'infrastructure as a service’ (IaaS), or more commonly as ‘software as a service’ (SaaS).
Why the buzz? Cloud computing customers can minimize out of pocket or long-term budgetary needs when they incur new demand or fluctuation requi
rements for their infrastructure or massive web properties. Instead of having to invest time and money to keep websites and infrastructures operational, cloud computing customers simply pay for the
resources they use, as they use them.
The direct benefit of cloud computing
is agility and flexibility — meaning that customers no longer need to forecast drastic upbeat in traffic – they can simply promote their websites aggressively and on-demand.
Learn More:
What Cloud Computing Really Means by InfoWorld – discusses the various solution offerings including SaaS.
Cloud versus cloud: A guided tour of Amazon, Google, AppNexus, and GoGrid by InfoWorld – provides insight into various vendors – including pricing and relationship differences.
What is Cloud Computing by Salesforce via YouTube - Salesforce currently is ahead of the pack and does a great job of explaining the semantics and benefits of The Cloud.
Best
Denice MacDonald