Rob Bell's Notes from a Yorkshire Internet Megalomaniac

What is Cloud Computing?

The Growth of Cloud Computing

What is Cloud Computing? It is a revolution that will change your business for the better, letting you work faster, cheaper and better…. and from anywhere, just about.

Cloud Computing is one term for Internet-based software and hardware platforms – basically, instead of installing programs on your own computer, you access them over the Internet – Gmail is cloud computing, in fact most of what Google offers is cloud computing – you access it via a web interface. Are you familiar with Hootsuite, the social networking client? That’s Cloud Computing – also known as a Web Application (Web App). Many of you probably already use Freshbooks (get it free from this link) – one of my favourite apps, that lets you track time and estimate & invoice easily.

It’s cool because it allows for a number of wonderful things – you can access your business information and applications from any internet connected device, so you’re no longer tied to one computer at your desk – PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad etc… You’ve got real-time business information always at your fingertips – which allows you to make decisions based on up-to-date, accurate company data.

Because it’s not tied to one computer, you’re in no danger of losing everything if that computer breaks – your data is stored securely in data centres with backup systems. Plus, you’ve always got your documents to hand, as long as there’s a device with an internet connection nearby.

Because you’re accessing the app over the web, the company that writes the app can quickly correct bugs and introduce new features – so you never have to buy new versions like you do with traditional software. New features to let you do things faster and better are added all the time. Web Apps companies are also very good at supporting their users, in my experience.

Web apps companies also tend to be much friendlier to each other than traditional software companies, even building their systems so your applications can talk to each other, your contact lists are linked to your customer management system, which links to your project system, which also links to your invoicing system which is linked to your accounting system – so you can automate many of your time-consuming tasks, and get a lot more done.

If you have a company, perhaps staff are located in several different locations. Web Apps are great for teams like this, because they easily allow you to collaborate with team members and share documents – you can even work on them in real-time together, despite being miles apart. You can set up and work on projects together, see what’s in the sales funnel, track customer interactions, arrange conferences, training, customer presentations, seminars… in fact any sort of meeting, online. Cloud computing is letting people work together better, faster, cheaper and more profitably.

My company, Ex Ignibus, specialises in web apps (cloud computing) for small businesses – we install Google Apps Premier Edition (GAPE) as the interface, linked with applications for accounting, invoicing, email marketing, customer relationship management, project management, word processing, spreadsheets – and lots more – for single person businesses up to large, geographically-separate, teams. Web Apps are inexpensive, and can be afforded by any business – it currently costs around $50 per user per year to buy GAPE, and many of the additional Web Apps offered are free as long as they’re integrated with the GAPE solution. Others cost between $10-$25 per month, usually increasing as your requirements increase – so you, as a small business owner, can get a pretty awesome business system for less than $50 per user per month – in comparison to regularly spending hundreds of pounds or dollars buying new software licenses for installable computer-based software. Many Web Apps are also free for micro-businesses (single employee or small team).

So, as you can see, cloud computing offers a new way of working which breaks free of traditional single-computer information and restrictive private networks, offering a secure, simple way for small businesses and teams to enjoy the kind of software that only large corporations could afford previously. The only software tied to my computer these days is Expression Web, Visual Basic and Photoshop – development tools I build sites with that demand higher processing power than most business apps and usually involve large filesizes. To try Web Apps out requires little or no investment, and could have massive positive effects on your business, so why don’t you give ‘em  a try? If you need a bit of help, drop me a line via the contact form at Ex Ignibus.

Take care and have fun out there,

Rob Bell

If you’re a regular visitor to the blog, you’ll notice occasional changes – some more obvious than others. Today, the changes are very obvious! I’ve given the site a major overhaul. Britain’s trying to sort out its’ next government – in the strangest election result that’s every happened in my lifetime – and I’ve been up following the news through the night the past few nights. So while I’ve been up, I’ve updated the site theme – to a more modern, almost minimalist theme that’s inspired by the iPhone’s ‘Notes’ app .

You can now enjoy Notes from A Yorkshire Internet Megalomaniac’s closer integration with Facebook and Twitter, clearer access to my social media links, a cutting-edge comment platform, and a few other little tweaks.

Now the blog’s looking nice and fresh, I will once again redouble my efforts to update more often – it’s a constant struggle juggling 3 companies, a social media presence, writing, training, networking, technical work etc… but you probably know that – what’s that you say? Yeah, poor me – I know – grumpy, northern, englishman… it’s due to lack of sleep since Thursday!

Oooh, I almost forgot – I got access to a site that’s not even launched til next week, where I got hold of a copy of Copyblogger‘s as yet unreleased guide to ‘Creating Compelling SEO Content That Ranks Well in Search Engines’. If you want to sneak a copy for yourself before everyone gets hold of it next week, visit this pre-release launch page – you don’t have to leave your email or anything, just download the guide. I’ve printed it out, it’s good stuff.

Take care and have fun doing what you do out there,

Rob

p.s. Let me know what you think of the site updates – leave me a comment below.

I pride myself on my knowledge of computers and the Internet – I’m the ‘go-to guy’ for my friends when it comes to PCs and technology in general. That is why I feel so sheepish while writing this. I overreached my technological abilities over the weekend, and my wallet has suffered as a result! I’ll tell you the whole story…..

Last week, I dropped my iPhone, face down, flat onto the hard, cold bathroom floor just as I was making my way sleepily to my bed, via toothbrush and toilet… Needless to say, the iPhone screen smashed – see exhibit one! I am somewhat disappointed, having previously thought it to be quite sturdy – but never having actually tested its’ strength!

Next day I was looking to see how much it would cost for the repair – finding out it’s £139.99 at the Apple Store via my local O2 shop. “£140 be damned” the tight Yorkshireman within me thought, “I bet I can fix it cheaper myself”. Some more research provided me with the information I needed – I could get a new ‘digitiser’ – which is what the iPhone glass screen is called – for £22 inc p&p from Amazon, with instructions. So I ordered it and patiently waited for the screen to arrive. When it did, I watched the instruction video a number of times to familiarise myself with the process before opening the case and getting stuck in to the process.

As it happens, at one point in the video it refers to a white clip with a black connector that has to be clicked up to release connector no 3 – however, since the video was made Apple have swapped the colours and the catch is black with a white connector. I tried to flick up the white connector which turned out to be a very delicate connector that I’d inadvertently destroyed in one foul flick! This made it really difficult to reinsert the lead into connector 3… and after considerable difficulty, when I put the phone together again and switched it on, something didn’t look right…. see exhibit two! And on top of that, the earpiece was no longer working – I could make calls but only hear them if I turned the speaker on or wore headphones…

What I hadn’t considered was that the LCD underneath was also damaged and needed replacing – plus my savaging of connector 3 meant the lead was no longer able to connect properly – so the earpiece no longer worked.

Defeated by my apparent clumsiness and ignorance, I resigned myself to finding a local iPhone  repair outlet, and took the iPhone there earlier today, where the LCD was replaced and the screen returned to normal. Unfortunately, my destruction of the connector meant that Andy (the skilled repairer who did an amazing job of fixing it while I waited) was unable to get the earpiece working as I need to get the connector replaced on the PCB (Circuit Board).

However, the phone is now in working condition once again, and looks as good as it did before I dropped it (except for a small crack in the new screen I made trying to pry it out before discovering the real purpose of suction cups!

Having paid for the repair, I’ve almost spent as much as taking it to the Apple Store would have cost. If I’d taken it straight to Andy, it would have been fixed at a lot less than the Apple store – and I wouldn’t have broken the earpiece connector!

So the moral of this tale is that you shouldn’t try to be an expert in everything (the old phrase being “Jack of All Trades, Master of None”) – my clumsiness and not-so-delicate fingers are not factors that make me an awesome technician, but quite the opposite.

My skills lay elsewhere, and it took a hit to my wallet to remind me of this. In future, I shall focus on things I am good at and rely on the expertise of others in areas where I have less ability. Learn from my mistake and you too can reduce the chance of disaster, in whatever you do. Thus endeth the iPhone-delivered lesson!

Rob Bell

p.s. The first thing I did when I got the repaired phone was to go to a phone shop and get a hard case with a front cover! Only a fool doesn’t learn from his mistakes…