1

The Cloud Storage Technology

(What is Cloud Storage?) Being one of the buzz words in a modern and highly

connected society, cloud storage is a great technological invention. It’s undoubtedly

changing our life in an incredible fashion. By definition, cloud storage is a service model

in which data is maintained, managed and backed up remotely and made available to

users over a network[ CITATION Chr11 \l 1033 ]. As data is backed up remotely

(sometimes hundreds of miles away) on a cloud service provider’s server farm, it is

fascinating how data travels over a network at the command of your fingertips – it is

literally like fetching something from the cloud, a truly amazing experience.

(How does Cloud Storage work?) Cloud storage is based on network connectivity,

typically the Internet. It provides customizable data storage space that suits your specific

needs. You can upload anything you want and share with others to your heart’s desire,

such as digital photos, digital videos, documents, files and so on. The storage is typically

hosted remotely on a server farm, hence the “cloud” metaphor. In some instances, cloud

storage is the technology backbone that quietly works in the background, not easy for

users to see the inner workings of the technology. In reality, we are benefitting from the

cloud storage technology almost every day in our daily life. For example we use

Snapchat and Whatsapp to connect with other people, use Facebook and Instagram to

share fun with friends, watch videos on Twitter and YouTube, and search for contents on

Google and Bing – all of these activities are made possible and our experiences are

enhanced by the cloud storage technology.

(What is the history about the Cloud Storage technology?) Cloud storage was

invented by Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider in the 1960s[ CITATION Lar12 \l 1033 ].
 2

Since then the personal computer industry has rapidly evolved, and the cloud storage

technology has been employed in every corner of our society. It’s a game changer for the

IT industry as it has empowered data storage and content management with scalability,

flexibility and economy of scale. With the rapid development of the multimedia

technology and the network technology, the need for data storage continues to expand. It

was projected that by the end of 2013 about 625 million Internet users would use the

cloud storage services[ CITATION Lar12 \l 1033 ]. Based on one of the cloud storage

providers, there will be about 2,045 million personal cloud storage users by 2019, and a

third of all data created on Planet Earth will pass through the cloud [ CITATION Bac16 \l

1033 ]. Simply put, the cloud revolution is happening and we are right in the midst of it.

(How has the Cloud Storage technology changed our daily life?) It’s amazing to

see how technology can change our life dramatically in the 21st century. One of the most

apparent impacts that Cloud Storage has had on our daily life is that it’s changing end-

user habits – end users are unconsciously affected by the rapidly growing technology.

“We all know about the direct benefits of Cloud storage”, as said in Chris Riley’s article,

“What I’ve been noticing is there is a residual benefit, almost psychological benefit,

helping to educate end-users on content actualization” [ CITATION Chr11 \l 1033 ].

From my personal experience, I really enjoy using cloud storage services like

Dropbox and Google Drive for work and for play. I can’t imagine what my life would be

like without these excellent cloud service providers. I used to carry USB storage drives

around if I would need to print a document on a printer away from home. But sometimes

if it was an emergency, I would have to hurry home first, copy the file from my home

computer to a USB thumb drive, and then go to a local print shop to print it out. I know,
 3

this was so much hassle, and you probably shared my feelings there. With cloud storage,

however, all my work is backed up in the cloud storage and I can access it wherever and

whenever I want. The convenience factor is tremendous especially when I have to juggle

between work and study on a daily basis. Cloud storage also gives me peace of mind

knowing that my documents, files and photos are with me wherever I go, and I can

readily share my files on the fly with anybody who has an internet connection.

When it comes to business operations, cloud storage also offers a great deal of

convenience and flexibility. My husband works at an engineering consultancy, and he

always likes to boast that he can work from anywhere if he chooses to. His company has

a cloud server which allows its employees to work remotely without compromising

quality and efficiency. I would love for him to work from home every day so he could

take care of our three-year-old son, but the point I’m trying to make here is that cloud

storage has enabled businesses to operate in a profoundly different way – employees are

more flexible and free to move around than ever before. They can work from home, from

the coffee shop around the corner, or even from the beach if they so choose.

Notwithstanding all the excitements cloud storage has brought to our daily life, it remains

to be seen that how end users will adapt to upcoming changes in the Cloud Storage

technology as we move towards the end of this decade.

(Who are the biggest players in this industry?) The cloud storage industry

continues to consolidate while it is growing at a phenomenal rate. Synergy Research, in a

recent report, estimates that total quarterly cloud revenue is approaching $7

billion[ CITATION Jos16 \l 1033 ]. The five latest cloud providers dominate 55 percent

of market, with more than half of that share is consumed by the 800-pound gorilla that is
 4

Amazon Web Services [ CITATION Jos16 \l 1033 ]. Salesforce, Google, IBM and

Microsoft are the other four prominent players in this market.

(Where do we go from here for the Cloud Storage industry?) The cloud storage

industry is poised to continue its expansion at a fast pace through the end of this decade.

[Link] estimated that businesses will spend $191 billion on cloud services by

2020, up from $72 billion in 2014[ CITATION Bac16 \l 1033 ]. The need for personal

computer and smart device users to back up their data also keeps rising as more and more

devices are linked and interconnected. Meanwhile, as the cloud storage technology

continues to mature, I expect that consolidation in the industry will continue and mega

mergers in the cloud storage business may emerge in the near future. Gaining economies

of scale will be key for the big players in this market to retain their competitive

advantage. Cloud security features will be another vital element going forward – with all

the data breaches and attacks constantly headlining major newspapers, consumers are

increasingly wary of the security of their data stored in the cloud. Furthermore,

technological breakthroughs in material science may advance the next generation of

storage medium to a much higher level, which will make cloud storage more cost-

efficient for many end-users. Before long we will live in a world where “cloud” is

ubiquitous and indispensable.

Works Cited

[Link]. The Future of Cloud Storage. 28 July 2016.

<[Link]
 5

Chris Riley, ECMp, IOAp. How Could Storage Is changing Your Habits. 30 October

2011. <[Link]

changing-your-habits>.

Lardinois, Frederic. Report: Cloud Storage Services Now Have Over 375M Users, Could

Reach 500M By Year-End. 15 Octobrt 2012.

<[Link]

375m-users-could-reach-500m-by-year-end/>.

Tsidulko, Joseph. Keeping Up With The Cloud: Top 5 Market-Share Leaders. 11

February 2016. 17 November 2016. <[Link]

shows/cloud/300079669/keeping-up-with-the-cloud-top-5-market-share-

[Link]>.