Q: I'm interested in "cloud computing" but can I run all my IT from this?

A: Cloud Computing is very current with many software packages now being accessed by businesses through the internet. This removes the need to have hardware installed on your local IT network for the software to run on. All of this points towards costs savings in terms of capital expenditure as well as ongoing support of the IT hardware it sits on.

The resources put in place by providers of cloud computing are much more significant than a normal business could or want to ever put in place. This is why company's like Microsoft and Google are spending a significant amount of money in building secure and environmentally friendly data centres as the battle of providing cloud computing gathers momentum.

You can run your entire business over the cloud, from email, calendar, documents and spreadsheets to data backup. This is why the sale of netbooks is on the increase. They cost less to purchase, have very little, if any, software installed and are considerably lighter to carry around if on the move.

If you do go down this route you need to check the data backup process of the service provider. Additionally you should also look at the Service Level Agreements which guarantees a certain amount of availability of the services. All credible service providers also replicate their centres across different locations giving you improved business continuity.

One note of caution to make when adopting the cloud is your increased reliance on being able to access the internet and the download and upload speeds you get. What is your contingency should your internet become available as you would have nothing local on the network that you could work with if you have placed everything in the cloud?

The cloud though is not for everyone as many businesses are still of the view that they like to see their IT network in the office. This is fine as people have different views on running all of their business in the cloud. I though am expecting businesses to have a combination of having a local IT network and some services provided via the cloud. It just depends on what you want to achieve.