Cloud computing is exactly what it sounds like: the usage of services like web servers, database servers and other applications so it’s transparent to the user and developer. The configuration and management is taken care of by a large company (in this case, a Microsoft and Amazon), and they provide all the software and services that are needed to run web applications without any of the maintenance.
For the end user, what’s at the other end of the internet connection really doesn’t mean much. Users want the applications that work and are easy to use. Scallability, system architecture and configurations don’t mean much when all you want to do is buy a book.
Cloud computing is the hot new topic that’s going to revolutionize how we look and implement applications. Because of this, the responsibilities of User Experence Architects and Information Architects is going to drastically change, and cloud computing services is like Windows Azure are going to enable this revolution.
Cloud Avenue has a great article that explains the thinking how SharePoint really could be next “operating system” for Microsoft. It makes sense, because SharePoint integrates with everything (ask me how I love the Groove / SharePoint integration), and once they get some of the issueworked out with the Office integration, there’s almost no reason to store your documents locally when you are sharing a Word file with someone four time zones away.
SharePoint’s emphasis on governance positions as a product positions it well in corporate (read: revenue generating) environments.
But will it be the next desktop OS? No.
Will it be the next cloud OS? I think so.
Patrick Neeman is Director of User Experience at Jobvite, a social recruiting platform and runs both the UX Drinking Game and Startup Drinking Game | More | Contact
If you're a UX Designer in San Francisco, ping me at Twitter. I want to add you to a list I have there.
