Get With the Cloud

By: Sherief Ahmed

Cloud computing. What is it? The world is now moving towards a system of cloud computing which basically means having your data saved on a server that you can access from anywhere. This brings higher levels of adoption and challenge, and there has been a quiet public rejection to this idea.

The idea is to keep files or information off of your personal hardware, be it computers or phones. You may access your files or even your entire computer from another by simply having Internet access. This of course changes the feeling of holding on to your information, but it is not new to us; we’ve dealt with it before. We have moved from keeping file drawers to keeping files in folders on our computers. The same uneasy feeling is much more now. A lot of people are having problems not knowing where the information is really being stored and who may have access to it.

In general people are using email and social websites on a daily basis, in which they share personal information. This happens regularly without people realizing that this is cloud computing and an insecure one at that. Your information is accessible by many people and not just your friends. Information about you is being used all the time for advertisement purposes. When it comes to business environments, it’s a problem trying to adopt a cloud computing environment.

Many businesses in Muslim countries do not use this technology to its maximum potential. A lot of the infrastructure in Muslim countries is ancient and that obviously has a huge effect on the implementation of technology and unfortunately most are developing countries. We need the people that have the ability to change infrastructure and use technology in their businesses to step up and accept future needs. There are such vast differences even from company to company which hinders the whole infrastructure.

The Internet culture is changing not only in the Muslim world but around the world. How will the Internet savvy and the Internet novices adjust, we have yet to see.