Why opt for the cloud?

Ricardo Blanco of Google Latin America and consultant Juan Carlos Luján share their views on this trend.

Interviewed:

Ricardo Blanco, manager of Communication of Google Products in Latin America

What do you think are the main advantages of 'cloud computing'?

Collaborating and sharing with family and friends becomes a simple task. That's why the cloud is so popular. At the end of the day it's not about apps or devices, it's about people. At Google we seek to help people connect more easily and can do more. We see collaboration as a starting point, not as a complement to your web experience, collaboration is at the heart of Google Drive, Google Calendar, etc.

For example, in Google Drive the collaboration is so integrated that when I write in a document I can see the cursors, editions and comments of all those who are in the document, in real time. To take it even further, and although it sounds futuristic, if I am on a Google+ Hangout I can add the Google Drive application and immediately see, speak and write and collaborate on the same document without changing the tab with the participants (and not participants of the hangout)! Also one can edit from anywhere, from my tablet, computer or smartphone (Android or iOS). A huge change to when, years ago, we had to master HTML to share information online.

Finally, security. I can not lose my information in the cloud as I used to lose it in flash drives (which may or may not be encrypted). In my case, in addition, I have the verification in two steps of my Google account, which makes it even more secure. This also allows me to access or share my files from any device on which I am located.

At what time and for what reasons a user should begin to consider hiring the payment cloud service?

It is clear that when I want to save and have all my files available whenever I want, they will occupy more than the 15 GB that Google offers free to any user. Paying about US $ 2 per 100 GB per month sounds very striking, that gives you the scalability of contracting 1 terabyte for about US $ 10, even more. And you do not have to be running to the store to buy an external drive or flash drive. Google Drive documents do not use the free space quota, that being said, I understand that many of us use other file formats. For example, I personally love saving my photographs in RAW, that is, images that take up a lot of storage space.

It is also interesting for those who use very heavy files, for example video. Several years ago I used many external discs (I worked in a video production company). There were so many of them, that reviewing the contents of each one took several hours by simply assembling and dismantling each disk. Although I understand that there could be a spreadsheet specifying what each one had, today technology removes the tedious in between. In Google Drive I have the disk, with flexible storage, which includes a search engine ready to find my files or files shared with me easily. If there are several files, what better than having a space that is enlarged or shrunk and at affordable prices.
Finally, that is summarized as scalability. If we look for security, availability, collaboration and we like to keep everything, pay for a storage service that gives us the option to scale when it is necessary to grow, it is always good.

Interviewed:

Juan Carlos Luján, professor of New Media and New Trends professor at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences (UPC).

Why is work in the cloud important?

It is a great option for users, companies and governments interested in having decentralized, transparent, secure and mobile information. In Peru many companies have opted for this model and even some of the public sector, such as the National Fund for the Financing of the State's Business Activity (Fonafe) have a 'cloud computing' solution to mitigate operational risks and reduce service costs. I also know cases of companies and people who have appealed to this trend to remotely access their data and process them. Even countries like USA, Australia, England and Moldova have managed to migrate to the cloud to improve efficiency in their internal operations processes.

Is it necessary that we all be in the cloud?

It will depend on the type of activity to which it is dedicated. For an entrepreneur it can mean cost savings in storage services, administration and protection of information, as well as hiring of human resources. It also allows access to information in real time from any place where you have access to the internet. There are more complex data center solutions like those that IBM Peru and Level 3 also offer to companies. For a natural person it may be enough to have a combination of free services such as OneDrive, Dropbox, Box or iCloud. Together they allow to have approximately 70 GB of available data space. If you require access to more space, you must do so through these applications. They facilitate mobile and above all remote work for accessing documents.