Cloud computing has improved to the point that virtualizing the office computing needs should be an option. Depending on the size of an organization, as well as how they use computing applications in the business process, there are a multitude of options that should be considered.

Before you consider the options available and how they could benefit your organization, we feel the need first to define exactly what cloud computing actually is. Cloud computing is nothing more than placing your organization’s applications and information in a datacenter and accessing those applications and data over the Internet.

By understanding the concept of cloud computing, you should now be able to grasp the idea of what a virtual office infrastructure is. Instead of the office server that stores and runs your applications being located on premises, it would be hosted in a datacenter. The same basic setup you have in your office would simply be set-up more efficiently and securely in a datacenter and instead of accessing the applications through your local area network(LAN), you would access your applications over the internet. The major change would be, instead of getting to work and logging onto the PC at your desk, you would be logging into the virtual desktops of your organization which would all be connected to the cloud-based server, thus forming a virtual office.

Seems like a fairly simple concept so why all the buzz about cloud computing? As with most new concepts, there are also two opposing opinions on the subject of cloud computing benefits.

One decision maker sees the ability to enable an organization to access to the company computing infrastructure from anywhere at anytime from any device that is connected to the internet. This would give their outside sales team the ability to better communicate with the office staff as well as provide their customers real-time information on their products and services. Cloud computing would also allow that same company the ability of letting some of their staff to work from home as an option or by choice. Additionally, with cloud computing, you have built-in disaster recovery. If some sort of catastrophic event such as a fire or flood were to occur at the main office, the company could still operate with its office staff accessing their work from home or a temporary remote office enabling them to communicate with their customers and still carry on the business operations.

Additionally, from a financial viewpoint, your overall computing expenses will be reduced as you no longer will need to finance a continually aging and outdated computing platform as well as eliminating the costs such as power, cooling and office space to run a computing environment.

The opposing side sees cloud computing as not yet proven as a concept or maybe they don’t like the idea of not controlling and managing the company hardware. They may not believe in the concept of allowing employees access to the computing infrastructure from outside the office which they may feel would not be as secure. It could be that the IT manager of the company is worried that his job could be in jeopardy if the company moves to cloud computing, and instead embracing the opportunity to improve their company’s computing system, he is doing everything in his power to convince the decision makers not to consider cloud computing as an option.

The truth of the matter is, office virtualization and cloud computing are here, rapidly growing, and being embraced by both large and small organizations all over the world. Similar to how it is now commonplace that everyone has their own cell phone, every business will eventually be participating in some sort of cloud computing offering. You can choose to maintain your status quo or start taking advantage of the accessibility, scalability, security, and cost savings of virtualizing your office with cloud computing — or you can sit back and wait a bit longer to see if this is just a fad that will pass — like, for instance, like the telephone booth.