Work Gets Easier When You’re Living on a Cloud

Posted June 11th, 2009 by andrew

Have you heard the term “cloud computing” and wondered what all the hype is about? Many similar-but-slightly different definitions exist but in a technical sense, it’s a style of computing where services and platforms are delivered to users over the Internet; organizations can stop worrying about installing or managing software locally.

But besides some of the obvious administration advantages, what can this new paradigm mean for non-profits?

To answer this question, TechSoup Canada brought in Marco Campana (Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants) and Christopher Wulff (Social Planning Toronto) to give the scoop.

When many hear the term “the cloud,” they think of it as a technological strategy. But according to Wulff, the technology is only half of the equation. “It’s only the tools of the culture shift.”

Cloud as a Culture

The Social Media and Cloud Computing culture is open and transparent; however, this isn’t how a lot of organizations work. Shifting to this mode is a cultural shift. The question is do organizations change first or does this technology change an organization?

For instance, an organization that runs a workshop can transmit the knowledge beyond the participants by broadcasting it on the Internet.

What can it offer?

It’s quite simple: “getting the right information to the right people, at the right time.” Part of that means simply means saying “no more silos.” No matter what you’re doing, other people have access to it. Part of that means access to everything, all the time, no matter where you are.

But it also means that you can leverage knowledge access, networks, abilities to reduce garbage overload. The important thing is harnessing trusted resources to know where information comes from.

But what can go wrong?

This cultural shift comes new challenges. For one, there’s an expectation that staff are always available. This might be acceptable for the Millenials but Generation-X prefers having a work-life balance. This generational difference can cause rifts within an organization.

In a unionized environment, this always-on mentality is often at odds with contracts that were negotiated in a different era. This tension will only increase when the cloud mindset reaches sectors like health and education.

The Cloud as technology

Practically, how can the technology of cloud computing help non-profits?

1. Reduced Costs: Less has to be spent on hardware acquisition and recurring software licenses.
2. More secure: Most organizations have extremely poor physical security so moving the data out of the building is an improvement.
3. Community Support: When lots of people use the same systems,
4. Portability: Your data is exportable (but make sure this is indeed the case). “Proprietary” is not a good word these days.