What do cumulonimbus, stratus, and cirrus have in
common? If you answered that they are all different types of
clouds, you're right. And that's where the future of meetings
is heading.
The increased focus on installing Wi-Fi in hotels, cafes, and
everywhere else has led us to the next logical step: Cloud
storage. You may be familiar with the concept. It is basically
a remote, shared hard drive, accessible by many employees on
the road or at events where they would rather use a smartphone
or tablet instead of lugging around a laptop. A more advanced
type of cloud computing is software-as-a-service, where actual
programs are remotely, but for our purposes here, we focus on
storage and file transfers.
You have likely heard of the almighty "cloud" at your
workplace, in your personal life, or on TV. It has reached
something of a tipping point and now seems that everywhere
people have their heads in the cloud. I started using cloud
storage in the fall of 2010, and while that really isn't that
long ago, in the minds of the public, IT departments, and at
most organizations, that is a lifetime.
At the time, many IT departments were skeptical about the idea
of a public cloud. Let's take a step back and look at how this
technology has come so far since then.
What Is Cloud Technology?
A cloud is essentially a lot of servers and server farms
located in various places around the world, set to back up
specific data. All your data lives in multiple places, so it
can never be lost or deleted. For a fee, an individual or
organization can claim a certain amount of storage space from
these server farms which they would access through an internet
connection. Part of the initial thought behind cloud networking
was to help small business owners manage their networks more
easily. Instead of buying all the equipment to run an entire
network, along with the IT staff to manage it, the small
business could buy network space from a cloud service and have
a fully functioning network without the startup and upkeep
expenditures, including a staff to manage and troubleshoot it.
Once this concept started making its way into the mainstream,
the public started seeing the benefits of using the cloud to
help manage information and processes from mobile devices. The
only thing needed to access these servers is an internet
connection. Since laptops, tablets and smartphones all have the
capability to access the internet, they can all share
information between devices and create their own little
networks. Thus began the cloud boom of the mobile era.
Who Are the Main Players?
Cloud networking options have sprung up all over the place, but
two have moved to the head of the class: Box.net and Dropbox.
Both platforms operate on the same storage principle, but
provide different features for users.
With Dropbox, you can create folders and share them with
individuals. The same can be said of Box.net, but Dropbox takes
it that extra mile by supporting comments for collaborators to
stay up-to-date on the latest changes. You can also assign
tasks so people know what they need to be working on. That can
definitely help individuals who are located throughout the
country stay on task as well as post comments about a shared
document you all might be working on. Box.net also has a
contacts feature that allows you to easily interact with people
with whom you are collaborating.
Until the recent emergence of iCloud and Google Drive, Box.net
and Dropbox were the two biggest players in the field, with
other cloud services like SugarSync, Huddle, and others playing
around the fringes. Google Drive threatens to upset the playing
field for Dropbox and Box.net.
Google Drive works differently than Box.net and Dropbox because
it has a built-in office management system that must be used,
which takes away some of the flexibility.
iCloud syncs all Apple devices together but it differs from the
other three because it only works with Apple products and apps
that support iCloud. This service allows the user to sync
documents through the cloud app regardless of where the
document originated. It might seem like a slight distinction
but it is an extremely important one when it comes to ease of
use across platforms.
How Does This Relate to Meetings?
If you want to get rid of your binder, most believe that
identifying a tablet of choice is the only step. But it is only
the first consideration to be made. The other is deciding how
you will share information between all your devices,
colleagues, facilities, and supplier partners (i.e. selecting a
cloud service). The cloud is what pulls the whole mobile
approach together and makes it both possible and efficient.
Here are some things to consider when selecting a cloud service
for you organization:
• The amount of free space the service offers.
• The ability to share folders and documents seamlessly with
others on another platform.
• The ability to get a document on and off mobile devices and
return it to the cloud after editing it.
• The ability to manage concurrency issues with multiple users.
• The ability to cache data onto devices to use while not in an
area of internet connectivity.
Don't let these questions frighten you, but be aware that there
is a lot that goes into selecting a cloud storage company and
determining how to integrate it with your mobile hardware. So
one needs an intimate understanding of both the mobile hardware
as well as cloud networking to know how they will work together
in tandem.