If firms sign up for cloud-hosted services then hundreds of square feet of office space could be freed up for other purposes according to New York-based BBH Solutions.
Cloud computing is a term used to refer to the provision of services from a computer network, rather than from a local computer. Using this method users don’t actually need the software involved to use a service. This means that the actual computer one uses needs only a minimum of software, ie a web browser and an operating system.
Bruce Hoernecke, CEO of BBH said: “A typical one-hundred-person office could easily have a data center footprint of 500 square feet or more. With a cloud services arrangement, we could reduce the amount of space needed for IT infrastructure to one data rack with a router, switch, and cable patch panel.”
“Companies that enter the cloud also realise substantial savings on initial hardware investments, because they can leverage their provider’s existing infrastructure.”
Currently, internet giant Google is battling with Microsoft to dominate the quickly expanding world of cloud computing.
Both companies are competing with each other for the business of companies who want to make savings by doing away with the necessity of maintaining costly software.
Recently Google unveiled Chromebooks, special minimalist computers designed specifically to use the company’s services.
Dave Girouard, Google’s president of enterprise told USA Today: “Chromebooks is actually a huge leap forward for cloud computing.
“We’re excited about putting more pieces of the puzzle together. Our aim is to be No.1 in cloud computing.”
But Microsoft has announced that it is almost finished with its Office 365, a suite of cloud-hosted services.