It’s no longer deniable. We may as well simply accept it. The prophecies were true. 2012 was indeed the year of the cloud, a raucous success all round in fact, and as a result, in this bright and early 2013 dawning sunshine, we are sat witnessing the ever continuing fallout of this unabashed cloud championing. Everybody’s upping sticks and making for the cloud, no matter whether you’re in big business or are a humble SME, or even a consumer (as the recent CES happily proved), from Nvidia’s cloud gaming, to Toshiba’s cloud TVs, to Google’s perpetually updating Chromebooks and their affiliated cloud services: everybody has their head in the cloud, and this isn’t going away in 2013!
Certainly not, it seems, if The European Commission have anything to do with it. The last true fortress of those opposed to the idea of the cloud stands amongst a fear that the cloud simply isn’t secure. Of course, with sensitive business documents, personal details and many more private files that must be kept safe and secure at all costs being dealt with, there’s always a large emphasis on digital protection and prevention. Whilst security has always been a top priority across the board when it comes to cloud implementation, The EC have released a statement outlining plans to help the cause of a secure, cloud based future.
The statement itself defines the potential of cloud computing in Europe, and details how we are to go about ‘unleashing’ that potential. This new cloud computing strategy will ‘facilitate the use of the cloud across the EU both in the state and private sector.’
Essentially, what we’re looking at is an update of the legislation that governs such technologies, so as to keep in line with the capabilities of the cloud; allowing for a more thorough and expressive set of guidelines that keep the industry safe, and encourage innovation.
With interoperability; the coming together of dynamic systems and organizations to work in unison, data portability and reversibility at the top of the strategy’s aims, as well as an update to the certification standards throughout the EU, and a standardized platform that would increase public sector buying power and allow for progression; a ‘Pan-European Cloud Partnership’, this rather intrepid step forward is a good sign of things to come, and the continuing evolution of the cloud in 2013!
Indeed, beyond the implementation of the strategy itself, it is reported that the ideal is for it to remain fluid and malleable with the unending, omnipresent advances in general technology. The issue with many pieces of legislation that cover technology related usage, is the tendency for the usability of the tech to outgrow the regulations, and we are left with incongruence across the board. With this new strategy however, there will be no such misalignment, due to the flexibility of the statements within.
What this will, in essence mean, is that security will no longer be the hideaway of those shying from making the move upwards. In fact, with the strategy in place, the cloud will be more secure even than the physical alternatives, as in most cases it is already, not to mention more convenient and able to deliver an all-new competitive edge. With the EC set to define a strategy that will double up security, will there be any reason not to take to the skies?
Whilst 2012 was undoubtedly the year of the cloud, does that mean that 2013 is simply to sit back and wait for the slowly turning tides of the times to shuffle everybody into its latest pockets of technology? Certainly not; and with its voraciously increasing popularity, business policies such as BYOD and a never-ending need for refinement, it might well be that 2013 is just as big for the cloud as the previous annum. We may only wait and see!
About the Author: This article was written by Rob Vicars on behalf of Giacom; providers of fully integrated Cloud Hosting and Hosted Exchange solutions at the forefront of this cutting edge technology. To take your business to the next level and sail by your competitors, look no further than Giacom.
Photo credit: Joe Wilcox via photopin cc
