Google Chromebooks, Cloud Computing and what this means for the little guy

With the hotly anticipated release of Google's Chromebooks only a month away, Metro Research looks at the abilities of cloud computing and how this could affect your business.

Google'e Chrome OS/web browser based netbook is promising to change the way we work and play. It is based on the increasingly popular Chrome web browser which also happens to let you run all sorts of mobile applications over the internet. The concept behind the Chromebook is that running the web browser as an OS speeds up boot-time, and it utilises the ever-growing sky of cloud computing services. It utilises cloud computing to its fullest potential, allowing the Chromebooks to only have a 16GB hard-drive, but have 2GB of RAM- all this with a 12" screen and a keyboard?!

This promises for one speedy piece of tech.

But with the advent of the Chromebook not far away, why would using a pared down netbook be good for business?

Cloud computing services have been around for a number of years now but the amount of services available is constantly increasing. This provides small and large businesses with vast opportunities for working on-the-go or even from the comfort of anywhere you choose- instantly giving your business flexibility, especially if you don't have a dedicated office space. Two of the biggest areas in cloud computing are online storage and document editors, many of which are free for the basic packages.

A recent poll from V3 (www.V3.co.uk) suggests that the two most important advantages of cloud computing for small and medium businesses include:

• Access to enterprise technology without a large internal IT resource and;
• Cost savings

In our own recent Living Business Survey, we found nearly 30% of small businesses needed collaborative working solutions- which are based on cloud computing- suggesting that small businesses understand the need for online solutions.

Cloud computing can provide efficient, cost effective means for running your business. If you are not an IT specialist, then having an online service means you don't need you own tech support in the unfortunate event that things go wrong, saving time and money. It also provides a safety net for your own business, because you can login from anywhere, so if your laptop was stolen or damaged, and you don't have the money or needs for a server then you can just login from another computer and access all your files and online software services again without doing anything- and without disrupting your business. So having a small netbook with unlimited access to a number of services means that you don't need a dedicated office space, or a laptop or desktop with a monumental hard-drive capacity or even a server.

There are so many advantages of cloud computing and there are so many services available out there, so for smaller businesses, it should be a case of "when" are you moving to the cloud, not "if".