The Future of Cloud Computing: Top 5 Cloud Computing Trends to Get On Board Wtih

If you don’t keep up with the latest in technology, hearing about “the cloud” might seem frustrating. It can feel like a, well, nebulous term.

But “the cloud’ isn’t technobabble you can ignore. The future of cloud computing has the power to change much more than the way you store information at work.

As far the name goes, blame it on engineers and computer scientists in the 1990s. They needed a better name for the network than “the network.”The cloud” seemed like a decent way to refer to the storage devices that existed off-site.

It may seem like a bizarre name now, but these guys required something that was easy to draw in diagrams. The term has since taken on a life of its own, and now it refers to data that’s not stored on your specific device, but is instead accessible from just about any Internet-capable device.

Now that you know about the origins of the name, let’s take a look at five cloud-computing trends worth following.

Better Security

Tech behemoths like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon all offer some form of cloud storage. How secure is it?

The good news is that big-name cloud storage systems use encryption to keep your information safe. The better news is that the smartest minds in tech are hard at work figuring out a way to make everybody’s data even more secure.

Two-factor authentication is one possible solution. Right now, if you need to do something like log into your email, you often just have to enter a password and hit “submit.”

Two-factor authentication happens when you do something like log onto your online banking account using a public library computer. You’ll get a message saying that you’re using an “unfamiliar device” and need to verify your identity.

A minute or two later, you should get a text message on your phone with a code for you to enter. Once you enter that code, the system knows that you’re actually who you say you are, and it allows you access.

Expect two-factor authentication to keep evolving. It ensures that the bad guys need more than a mere password to access your cloud data. It can’t replace good old anti-virus software, but it can complement it.

Data Management

We’re awash in all kinds of data. Some of the data is in the form of videos taken by dog owners trying to record their golden retriever “singing” along to Lady Gaga, but that’s not the only kind. The more we use the Internet, the more data we’re creating, and that data has to be stored somewhere.

You can already store videos and photos of your dog on the cloud to save space, but expect even more space-saving cloud strategies in the years to come.

The data won’t be set aside like files in a cabinet at your old doctor’s office, either. It will be analyzed even while it’s being stored. All that data can be used to make an already personal online experience feel even more individualized.

The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things sounds mysterious, but it’s not that hard to figure out. It’s a way of using technology to connect things to the Internet that, well, aren’t traditionally connected to the Internet.

You would expect a laptop, smartphone, and tablet to have Internet access, but what about your home’s security system? What about the appliances in your kitchen? Hooking those up to the Internet makes them part of the Internet of Things.

Not surprisingly, the cloud plays a major role in connecting these devices. We’re not quite to Jetsons territory yet, but the Internet of Things will expand along with the capabilities of the cloud.

Until very recently, we didn’t think cars would have Internet connectivity. We haven’t quite figured out self-driving cars yet, but if and when we finally do, the cloud will be a big reason why.

Cheaper Storage Options

Most of us have an instinctive understanding of supply and demand, even if we don’t refer to it as supply and demand when, for instance, Starbucks runs out of pumpkin spice lattes in the first week of September.

In many cases, though, cloud storage is even cheaper than the cost of your morning coffee. There’s a ton of both supply and demand, and that means companies are competing with each other to offer users the best deals on cloud storage.

Part of that is because these companies want access to that collection of personal data mentioned earlier. They’re not doing it out of the goodness of their heart.

The market might settle down, and cloud storage might become more expensive, but that doesn’t look likely anytime soon.

In the future, you might be able to reduce your costs further by sharing cloud storage with friends and family members. That’s right; your data might have roommates.

The Hybrid Cloud

You’ve heard of hybrid cars, so why not a hybrid cloud? There are people out there who are understandably worried about storing everything on a single cloud. If the server crashes or something goes terribly wrong, then what?

As an alternative, companies distribute their information among different clouds, plus keep some information on the premises. Think of it as a cloud formation of sorts.

Redundancy isn’t the only reason to consider they hybrid cloud approach. A total migration to the cloud takes a lot of time and a lot of money, and those are two things businesses never seem to have enough of.

More on the Future of Cloud Computing

There are children being born now who will never know what it’s like to live in a world without cloud computing. Cloud marketing will be just another form of advertising to those who were born in the last decade or so.

Don’t let that intimidate you. The future of cloud computing doesn’t belong only to whatever they name the generation that comes after Generation Z.

Whether you’re a millennial or a Baby Boomer, you can watch the future unfold by keeping track of the latest tech news. Explore our tech section to stay up to date on all matters tech.