How Cloud Computing Will Change Your Business in the Future

As we know, the cloud is a platform that allows you to store and process data away from your personal device. The resulting information can then be presented to that or other devices. This is not a new concept. It’s the way computing originated. Programs originally ran on mainframes, mirroring sessions to terminals throughout an organization. But these were expensive options. In the very early days of personal computing, businesses could only afford to provide CFO’s and controllers with spreadsheet applications and $10,000 PCs.

Over time, technology improved, speed increased and costs fell. And just as these lowered costs helped usher the PC into the modern office, so too has the falling cost of cloud storage led to its widespread adoption. Since 2005, the cost per gigabyte of cloud storage has fallen from fifteen cents to less than a penny (see graph below). And the cloud has become a ubiquitous part of our lives, both personal and business.

Nobody could have predicted the personal computing boom and how it would affect the business world. So what more can we expect in the future from the cloud, and how will it change your business? The sky’s the limit, but here are three observations about where we might be headed:

The algorithm rules

More and more, jobs that were previously staffed by human beings have been rendered obsolete via automation. And rudimentary and rote business activities are being superseded by the cloud.

Consider Accounts Payable. As algorithms supplant approval processes, and electronic payments become widespread to the point of being universal, there will be reduced need for human oversight, let alone envelope stuffing. Many of these functions, previously conducted by staff, can be handled with a single algorithm.

The death of the cubicle

With a wholly mobile workforce, a physical presence is less and less required. Business cycles will still be normal, 24/7 affairs, but we’ll be selling from the beach, presenting from the living room and securing shipments in the den. These traditional office functions will not need an office presence.

Home office? No. Everywhere office? Yes — an office in the cloud.

Breaking down hierarchies

This is the most significant benefit of ubiquitous cloud computing: everyone will have access to everything from everywhere — and the elimination of information silos.

What’s next for your business

The new world of work has the power to flip hierarchies on their head, giving workers the power to decide when we work, where we work from and who we work with. And it can give businesses a new type of workforce — a more productive, specialized workforce. It’s due to the mobility provided by the cloud, and our ability to better share and act on critical business information.