An Explanation Of “Clouds” And What It Could Mean For Your Business

The term “cloud” seems to be thrown about quite a bit, and can be a bit confusing to those that were not looking for a weather report. The simplest, and most pertinent, explanation of “cloud” in terms of technology is merely that there is an outside component to the internal network. For example, if your email server is located and being maintained, or hosted, at an outside location, then that server is in the “cloud.”

The nomenclature actually began with a non-descript Visio graphical representation of the Internet. With no clear visual choice for the representation of “The Internet” a cloud was chosen, hence forth we refer to the “cloud” to refer to services and technologies we connect to on the internet. Spam filtering is one of those services that can be done in the “cloud”. The advantage here is that the technology is maintained by those that are dedicated to just that. With other spam solutions, it is usually a local application that must be managed and maintained by the user for individual use. With “cloud” spam filtering, the filters can be maintained and applied to a whole organization, uniformly. Additionally, filters can be put in place for outgoing email, to prevent the risk of any email activity that would result on being put on the dreaded email blacklist, making all other email impossible to send as before.

End of story, a “cloud” is only intimidating if it is grey and hanging over your day. Otherwise, it can be a great way to add services and technologies to your computing environment without large investments in time, hardware, software, or even technical skill. Spam filtering, being one of those services that are available in the “cloud” among the many others, can be a valuable addition to companies that find a universal spam solution would work best for them, or want to reduce the risk of the being blacklisted.

What, if any, cloud applications or services have you considered for your business? Did you go with it or decide against it? Was it the right decision for you?