8 Mys About Cloud Computing for Video Profeionals

1. The Cloud is just a fad Definitely not.

With the rise of mobile computing through smartphones and tablets, and ever-improving internet connections, people are no longer tied to one desktop computer at their home or office. Developers recognised people now needed to be able use their software or access their information from any device.

As a result, more and more services and software are cloud-based. Email is most likely the first cloud-based service you've used with the likes of Hotmail and Gmail. Now the cloud is used to provide all manner of tools and services from simple things such as calendars and task management (Milk, Evernote, Google Calendar), through to more complex file storage and collaboration tools (Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud), and full on productivity packages such as the Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps. And that's not to mention the specialist marketing, finance and HR tools increasingly being used by businesses. And of course, video production tools.

The cloud is not a fad. The cloud is here to stay.

2. The Cloud isn't secure These days, security is always a major concern - your files and data are important and users need to know their cloud services are secure. Most reputable cloud service providers will employ the same online security measures as banks use to handle your money. But its always worth checking if you want peace of mind.

For critical data, make sure services are using secure connections (look out for the padlock icon or https in your browser's address bar) and check their website to see if they explain what other steps they take. To see how we compare, check out our security page.

3. The Cloud is unreliable Cloud-services are usually hosted on multiple servers in multiple locations which share the load. It means outages are very, very rare because if there is a problem with one server, users are seamlessly routed to another. Aframe has maintained 100% uptime since launch thanks to this set up.

Only the largest organisations can afford this kind of set up in-house as its a hugely expensive overhead to set up andmanage. For most businesses, the cloud can bring much more reliability than you may be used to as well as a whole host of other benefits.

4. Performance is worse in the Cloud Cloud-based services usually run on systems set up specifically to provide that service. They're fast, can be easily maintained and the cloud setup means servers can be upgraded quickly and easily to keep up with increasing demand. As long as your internet connection is reliable, you'll probably not evennotice the difference from working offline.

5. Its better value to invest in equipment and software than Cloud services Buying equipment and software means making an ongoing financial commitment to maintenance, upgrades and replacements. And that's money you don't get much return on hardware and software aren't assets that retain value. It can also leave you stuck with something you find you no longer need. Subscribing to cloud services means you don't need to worry about any of this. Hardware is not your problem and you can usually scale your use according to what you need.

6. Cloud computing isn't for enterprise Cloud computing is being increasingly used by enterprise-scale businesses as their IT needs become more and more complicated. For one thing, it gives them more flexibility services can be upgraded or downgraded according to requirements. It also means services can be swapped much more quickly if they are no longer suitable. And there's increasing savings to be made by letting specialist teams look after specialist services, rather than investing in-house specialist teams.

7. I need a really fast internet connection to use the Cloud No. Cloud services are designed to deal with the lowest common denominator and as long as you have a standard broadband connection, they will work. Of course if you need to move big files around, the faster your connection the better, but tools like Aframe's Uploader will make the best of what's available.

8. I need an IT team to start working in the cloud One of the main advantages of cloud-services is that all you need to use them is an internet connection. There's very little need for IT expertise that's what the service provider is there for.

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LINK:	http://aframe.com/blog/2013/03/28/8-myths-about-cloud-computing-for-vi...
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