Cloud computing seems to be the latest buzzword in marketing and social media but the concept is, in fact, not new. Those people who may be unfamiliar with the term cloud computing do not realize that they probably are, in fact, familiar with cloud computing. Anyone who has used a Web-based e-mail application, like Gmail or Yahoo!, has experienced the benefits of cloud computing.
Cloud computing has had a prominent role in the almost explosive popularity and use of social media, with Web-based software such as Facebook and Myspace having become networking tools used all over the world by far-reaching demographics, and for a number of purposes. Twitter is the latest cloud computing social media tool, and it, too, has been widely successful, growing with popularity even more rapidly than Myspace and Facebook. Twitter is now used by major broadcast media and television news networks, as well as businesses, and even the White House.
Social networking applications are a few significant illustrations of how cloud computing has effected the ease and accessibility of communication across lengthy platforms, with Twitter being the most prominent illustration of “real-time” communication. A single message can reach a user’s multitude of “friends,” “followers,” or connected users in real-time, thus revolutionizing the phrase “staying connected.”
Customer relationship management (CRM) has also been revolutionized by cloud computing, with substantial examples provided by both Google and Amazon.com. Cloud computing has greatly improved the ways in which businesses communicate with consumers, manage contact and sales information, and operate as a whole. Hence, many businesses’ have rapidly changed their sales and marketing initiatives in response to cloud computing systems.
But what exactly is cloud computing? Let’s start with the concept. A Web-based software relieves the heavy lifting duties of the software and hardware of individual computers. Users simply need Internet access and a Web browser. All information is stored remotely; therefore, the user is not required to download any information, making the the actual computer or device used irrelevant to the information the user stores. The software and information is stored elsewhere, on the “cloud.”
Cloud computing can essentially be divided into two basic parts: the front-end and the back-end. The front-end is the interface the user views and works with. The back-end is the computer(s), server(s), network(s), and database storage systems that provide and maintain the software. This collaboration of systems on the back end provide the platform from which users access and utilize the software. The user does not see how the infrastructure works on the back-end, and it usually is not relevant. On the back-end, the centralized server and computer, or group of computers, administers the entire system. Traffic is monitored, and the server responds to the demands of the user, or client, to make sure that everything runs smoothly. Something called “middleware” is used to allow all of the computers to network together and communicate with one another.
Problems or glitches in cloud computing applications are not the responsibility of the user, but of that remote centralized system. Hence, when a problem arises in Facebook software, for example, Facebook closes the system for “maintenance” (all the user data is saved and unaffected), and corrects the problem – the user cannot alter the actual Facebook software. (This is the distinction between cloud computing and open source networking, in which users can access and change the software and source codes, and then redistribute the software. These terms are sometimes confused and erroneously used interchangeably when they are not the same.)
Cloud computing, still in its infancy, has sprawled into a general umbrella-like term, under which many Web-based software solutions are being developed. Cloud computing offers many possibilities that can continue to change the world of social media, the way businesses handle customer relationship management, and a host of other possibilities.
