Silver lining to gold: cloud computing is changing how businesses work, benefit.

• Author: Monterio, Brad J.
• Position: Technologyupdate

The end of he last decade and the beginning of this one were filled with hype about cloud computing, as well as the nirvana it was supposed to deliver to businesses--and, more recently, thanks to Apple's iCloud--to consumers. Chief information Officers and If professionals were inundated with a storm of marketing messages about how cloud computing should become part of their strategy, and that they should shed their old-world models and cultural beliefs about technology in the workplace.

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CPA firms and internal finance teams were not able to seek shelter from the storm. Today, the clouds are beginning to lift to reveal the beginnings of a sunnier outlook the golden lining, as I like to think of it.

As an entrepreneur and business owner, board member for a global organization, consultant to technology standards developers and adviser to technology solutions companies, my head has been "in the clouds'. of late. In the last 18 months I've seen how the cloud is changing old paradigms within the office environment such as document creation--and how we collaborate and produce results. For example, how companies author information and complex internal and external reports.

I also can't help but notice the cloud revenue forecasts of both Gartner and Forrester. Gartner estimates a $149 billion market for cloud services revenue by 2014 an increase From the $100 billion estimated to have been spent in 2012.

With my curiosity piqued and tablet in hand, I undertook some research (using cloud technology into cloud computing to find out what is happening, how companies are benefitting. why it is becoming more accepted and how it is changing die way people work.

Challenging Old Business Models

As an entrepreneur, disruptive business models and shifting paradigms always get my attention. Cloud computing does just that. What's changed so that more companies are spending on cloud solutions? Why is cloud more appealing today than just a few short years ago?

To understand what cloud computing can do lot your business, including CPA firms, its important to understand the basics. Sadly, the term "cloud computing" has become so broad that the general business community is not sure where the cloud boundaries end.

In its September 2011 Special Publication 800-115, The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing, the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST) defines cloud computing as "a model for enabling ubiquitous. convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management elliot or service provider interaction."

According to NIST, cloud models in general have five essential characteristics:

1. On-demand, self-service. A user can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed and automatically, without requiring human interaction with each service provider. In the rapidly changing world of a mobile workforce and even more mobile clients, the availability of technology solutions must be flexible enough to keep pace with these fuming targets.

2. Broad network access. Capabilities are...