Cloud computing is the next big thing

Of course I am proud of Satya Nadella, a man of Indian origin, who has been named as the next CEO of the giant Microsoft software company. Much has been already said about his education in India and his 22 years of service in Microsoft before earning the title. Much debate has also gone on to ask if we should be proud as Indians or express remorse over the fact that brain drain still exists?

My focus will be a wee bit different on the announcement that we will be seeing a lot more of Cloud computing in the years to come since Satya is a man who headed the Cloud initiatives for Microsoft for several years.

What started a few years ago ubiquitously as a need to use the huge warehouse of servers around Silicon Valley, has now redefined digital innovation, thus creeping into hardware and software and setting new standards for ease of computing.

The idea of cloud computing has been around for a while. Telecom companies are a good example, since all data resides in a remote location with a virtual access. Virtual Computing (VM) was the first step, but these were secure environments since the access was restricted. As the technology of cloud computing got more mature, it became open and unrestricted, reliability of data and delivery became the prime indicators. Soon desktops became thinner, CPU got obsolete and laptops became lighter.

Cloud became a reliable online storage system for all files and a convenient way to access data from a variety of devices such as a computer, phone or a tablet. Most companies also provide free cloud storage like the iCloud of Mac.

Other devices use software like DropBox to share files. Cloud services also look after your music, photos, apps, contacts, calendars and much more.

iCloud from Mac is a good example of the seamless synchronisation that happens. For example, if one buys a song through iTunes on the Mac/PC, the same track will appear on the iPhone, iPad and iTouch(iPod).

In the same manner, if you click a picture with your iphone, it will appear automatically in the Photo Stream inside iPhoto on the Mac.  To work on the go, a document created on the Mac on your work desk, can be edited, revised and finalised on the iPhone while travelling in a car. Best of all, there is no manual need to sync- all this is seamlessly done with the help of iCloud, which is enabled on all these devices.

Cloud computing has already made our machines lighter and helped us stay in touch with our data from anywhere. If Microsoft and Satya Nadella have their way, Cloud will re-invent, re-engineer and innovate even more.

Here’s a toast to the first Indian CEO of Microsoft and raising the bar of expectations for more Cloud in our day to day lives.