In its simplest form, cloud computing refers to resources and programs that are available on the web from almost any web-connected device. For example, Stockpile, the free online inventory system from Canvus Apps, is a hosted service for inventory management. By maintaining the software that houses your inventory, we've created a cloud service that will allow you to input, view and manage stock counts from anywhere with internet access!
The software is on the web, which means you don’t have to buy the software and install it on your computer to use it. You also don't have to buy multiple licenses for your laptop, your tablet, or any other computer devices you wish to use it on. When a new version is released, you don't have to suffer the pain of installing the update, or worse, uninstalling the version you have now and then installing the new version. Because the software is installed at the service provider, you usually won't have to troubleshoot bugs in the application or have to worry about installing any updates.
Flexibility is another feature of cloud computing. You no longer have to worry about upgrading or maintaining your office computers to get the latest feature set of an application. The service provider is responsible for scaling their computer resources, to meet your needs. By using cloud based applications, a small business can also lower their overall IT costs. Support staff can be minimized, to allow you to focus on your business. The cloud delivers resources, such as software, data storage, and data access, as a service instead of a product. The silver lining is that the cloud lowers your costs while still maintaining flexibility and your ability to scale your operations in a cost effective manner.
