Teach Yourself The Cloud
Learn how to get to grips with cloud computing in business
Struggling to get your head around the Cloud? Here are five easy ways you can improve your cloud knowledge and perhaps even introduce cloud systems into your business.
Any new technology can appear daunting, and cloud computing is no exception. There’s a lot to be learned about the Cloud, but understanding its basic principles is certainly doable, even if you’re not the most IT literate! Best of all, once you’ve figured out how the Cloud works, you’ll open up numerous possibilities that could ultimately lead you to a more efficient and profitable business.
You’ll be pleased to know there are a wealth of resources available to help you along the way. Read on to learn how you too can become a cloud pro in just five easy steps!
Read up online
Several websites offer guides to the Cloud which will tell you all about the basics, as well as offering you a glossary of the sometimes-confusing cloud terminology. Guides such as these will tell you all you need to know to in the early stages, while this glossary will help with some of the tricky definitions.
Experiment with free cloudware
Now you understand the Cloud a little better, Readwrite suggests a good way of first experimenting with cloudware is to set up a Google Docs account. Using this platform, you can share and edit office applications in a live environment. This gives you a good, hands on introduction to how cloudware works on a practical level. What’s more, you don’t even need to download anything. The service is available online and all your data is there whenever you need it.
Make the most of free trials
Once you’ve played around with Google Docs for a while, it may be worth trying out different cloud products that you think could be useful for your business. You can download cloud-based tools that can assist with all parts of your business, including email platforms, office suites, project management software, accounting tools and pretty much anything else you can think of. Websites allow you to download free trials of their products without making a commitment straightaway; this allows you to see whether a new cloud-based system will indeed suit you and your business. Ultimately, free trials can even help you save money and crucial time adapting to the product in the future.
Sign up for an online course
By now you should be fairly clued-up when it comes to working in the Cloud. But if you’d like to understand the intricacies even better, luckily for you, several websites offer courses on the cloud. Microsoft offer varying levels of private cloud training, as do Alison, as part of Amazon Web Services. At the end of the latter course you even get a qualification and will certainly be far more knowledgeable of how you can best utilise cloud systems within your business.
Learn about more niche elements of cloud computing
The great thing about cloud computing is that you can adopt as many or as few cloud systems as you want. But should you want to introduce more complicated software into your setup, you will need to undergo more in-depth training if you want to make the most of more specialised products.
There’s little reason not to expand your knowledge and discover how you could be using the latest cloud technology in your organization. You’ll soon find out that, when it comes to the Cloud, a little bit of knowledge goes a long way!
By Gary Gould
