The Cloud is forming

The hosting of all information, sound and images, as well as computing power, is rapidly moving to the Internet creating “The Cloud”. That shift is happening now and the future impact on all business models will be dramatic.

Trends: Very soon all digitized information – numbers, text, pictures, sound and video – will not just be transported over the Internet but stored there also. Next computing ability will reside on the Internet. Thus, in one place we will have all information and the processing of data. This combining of all function, utilities, information and images is called the Cloud.

Major technology players in software, hardware, storage, and computing services are implementing the concept now.

Access will be through small but powerful hand-held devices such as Netbooks and iPhones. (Upon reflection, we have returned to the early technology days of mainframe computers with terminals as the only access.)

The Cloud will eventually hold all information including business and government records, forms, documents, and files. It will also hold all personal information such as financial, banking, medical, education and assets. Everything. Managing, analyzing, manipulating – any computational activity – will occur in the Cloud. It will simply be more efficient and convenient. Yes, there will be privacy debates, but effectiveness will prevail.

Future Impact: The business impact will be enormous. The shift of service and processing will create new business models. More virtual businesses will exist and traditional physical ones will become much smaller or disappear. Technology infrastructure investment cost will plummet. Outsourcing and individual power will increase.

[Note: The Next Internet is one of 10 areas with greatest future impact that I track in the “Way of Tomorrow” series.]

Jerry Matthews assists organizations and individuals in creating successful futures. He does that through future presentations, strategic facilitation, and executive advice. FutureJerry is his periodic observation on today’s trends that could shape our future.

© 2009 Gerald W. Matthews. All rights reserved in all media. The content of this post may be forwarded in full without permission provided it is used for nonprofit purposes and full attribution and copyright notice are given. For other purposes contact Jerry Matthews.