Cloud Computing

Flyspy is traveling light.

The airfare search engine launched in the spring, and its capital purchases so far could practically fit into founder Robert Metcalf’s carry-on luggage. A few personal computers, a printer for its Dinkytown office, and that’s about it.

What’s missing? The closet full of servers, routers, firewalls, and other networking gear that was once a requirement for any Internet-based business. All that hardware might have cost Flyspy up to $200,000—an expense large enough to ground or delay many Web start-ups.

But Metcalf looked to the clouds instead.

Cloud computing is an emerging business model in which users rent virtual servers, software, and hard drives from online vendors. The data and software is stored in massive, remote data centers, or “clouds,” owned by the likes of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. You may never know the physical location of the files, but with Internet access, a password, and a few clicks, they’re as accessible from any computer in the world as if they were saved on your desktop.

Sound intimidating? Well, odds are you’re already using cloud computing and don’t realize it. The Washington, D.C.–based Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project survey last year found that 69 percent of online Americans store data or use applications in the cloud. The most common function is Web-based e-mail—programs like Gmail or Hotmail that don’t require users to install any software. Other activities include online storage of personal photos, documents, videos, and backup files.

It provides a convenience for people who regularly work from more than one computer and want to access the same information from each one. But cloud computing is also proving to be a potentially disruptive concept in the world of business. It’s lowering entrance barriers for start-ups like Flyspy. Meanwhile, it’s making big corporations like Best Buy more nimble, allowing them to test and develop ideas faster than ever before. Even the White House is exploring cloud computing as part of a mission to make the federal government more innovative, efficient, and effective with its technology use.

Starting Up

While security and reliability concerns need to be considered, cloud computing’s early adopters say in many instances the benefits far outweigh the risks. It’s only a matter of time, they believe, before nearly all companies are moving some or all their data and programs into the cloud. “There isn’t a company out there that won’t be looking at it just for the pure cost reasons,” says Graeme Thickins, a local technology writer and start-up consultant.