Your cloud-buster’s guide

Dec 1 2009 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

What is cloud computing?

The ability to access information from ‘virtual servers’ on the Internet.

Is it expensive to download information from the cloud?

Companies with a low budget can access software without having to spend a small fortune on a licence and additional hardware. For a company with 20 staff operating separate PCs, it costs £9,000 for the licences to operate a Microsoft Office Standard package. The same licence is available for £9 per user, per month through a cloud intermediary. Over a typical three-year software lifecycle, this works out at £6,480 - a saving of £2,520 over the 36 months.

Is my information safe?

It is possible for a professional data host to lose information - witness the recent T-Mobile Sidekick case - but experts say cloud or data ‘clustering’ can reduce the risk of data loss should a virtual server suddenly malfunction.

Who will own and run these clouds?

Currently IT giants such as Google and Microsoft are best placed because they have the biggest financial and technological muscle. But smaller IT infrastructure specialists with multiple data centres - including Stockton-based Onyx - have already weighed into the market.