All in the Cloud

There is no doubt about it, the Cloud is the current buzzword in the tech world with media swarming over and reviewing anything that claims to use Cloud capabilities. What’s more, there are numerous venture capitalists, angel investors, and big corporations looking to invest in any organisation that seems to be able to harness Cloud capabilities and use it. But what is the Cloud? Is there even a single definition of it?

Different Clouds

Just like there are real differences between the types of Clouds in the sky, there are also differences in Cloud implementations. Getting these differences across to potential customers can be tricky, and Cloud PR (even with the media taking a massive interest in this area) is actually quite tricky for tech PR agencies to get right. So what are these differences in definition that we must keep in mind?

Well the Cloud can be viewed as the internet delivering a service, in many ways a basic website can be seen as hosted in the Cloud and this is the first example of Cloud computing. The term Cloud is used because when technical drawings were delivered by computer designers, they often referenced the internet as a Cloud. Today, the term has stuck, and it’s recognised as a form of computing and storage capacity and services delivered over the internet. But there are two distinct types of Cloud.

The first is Infrastructure as a Service, commonly known as IaaS. This is where the Cloud delivers a set of servers, storage devices etc back to a company which access this infrastructure over the internet. In many ways you can view this as taking your servers from your office, and using servers provided by a Cloud provider – the biggest in this area being Amazon. You can then use these servers provided to install whatever software you want etc and access them over the internet.

The second variant of the Cloud is Platform as a Service, or more commonly known as PaaS. This is where an actual platform is delivered to the company, which allows them to not only use servers in the Cloud via a provider, but to also have software specifically designed and built to take advantage of many of the benefits of Cloud computing, an example of PaaS is Microsoft with their Windows Azure Cloud platform.

The difference between the two may not seem much, but in terms of what can be delivered (by a software vendor) the differences start to show.  PaaS provides not only an infrastructure for a company to use via the internet, but also a platform for Cloud computing services.

Clear Cloud PR and Communications

At the moment the Cloud is a buzz word, but it is now starting to gain actual transaction with big and small company’s right across the globe. As more and more organisations start to investigate the Cloud and its potential, Cloud vendors / software providers of Cloud based services, must communicate clearly the benefits of their approach, and the difference in their choice of Cloud.

Typically when investigating the Cloud, organisations are looking to know clearly the answers to some of the following areas:

1. Security
2. Accessibility
3. Scalability
4. User experience
5. Customisation
6. Integration
7. Location of data (geographic)
8. Security again

Cloud based solution providers need to clearly communicate the answers to these points not to just business decision makers, but also to in house IT, and consumers of the technology. Consumer technology  PR and B to B technology  PR will need to be tailored to these different stakeholders – Cloud PR is all about knowing your audience and communicating to them effectively and clearly in the language and terms they want to and need to hear. As Cloud gains more traction, the more substantial these articles and communications must be. In the coming years it will be imperative to communicate your unique selling point of your Cloud service over your competitors.