Cloud Technology: How the Cloud Evolved to Dominate IT

Throughout the evolution of the Internet, there have clear and significant milestones: the creation of hypertext markup language (HTML), for example, occurred in 1990.

But cloud technology is different. It’s almost impossible to track its precise origins. Experts broadly agree that the cloud had no fixed start date, and it evolved from a natural desire to create a system where data was available anywhere at any time. In fact, that aim was one of the founding principles of the ARPAnet, the military predecessor to our modern Internet: it was always the end goal.

The term ‘cloud computing’ was used as far back as 1997 (and possibly before), and it occasionally cropped up in the press as a concept. In the meantime, grid computing was evolving alongside it. Grids were arguably the predecessors to clouds, providing massive processing power via an interlinked network of hundreds or thousands of machines. Cloud technology was more about elasticity: the ability to react to demand and contract services when they were not required.

In recent years, the cloud has evolved from a disparate set of ideas to a complete, interconnected infrastructure. Companies began to develop applications delivered through a web browser: software as a service, or SaaS. And in parallel, our desire for always-on data connections would drive a move towards mobile. This, in turn, placed the cloud centre stage and fuelled massive growth in the industry.

Benefits For Business

Mobile users aren’t the only cloud users that benefitted from the accelerated development of cloud technology. Businesses also stood to gain a great deal. Supported by advances in virtualisation, adoption of cloud technology became commonplace.

The cloud offers the kind of storage capacity that would otherwise be beyond the reach of most small businesses. It allows employees and stakeholders to collaborate, share and converse in real time and at minimal cost. Resources are never wasted, nor are businesses left struggling for capacity. Businesses pay for what they need, and no more, and there’s less need for investment in hardware.

Redundancy is improved; business critical applications are stable. Data is stored securely. And in an era of financial pressure, small businesses benefit from the same level of service as enterprise clients.

Cloud Evolution: Dell’s Role

Cloud adoption rates continue to rise as more businesses realise the potential of the cloud. Cloud technology from Dell has been instrumental in the evolution of the industry from humble beginnings as a mere concept. Dell continues to deliver business solutions that are affordable, secure, flexible and reliable.

To start your journey into the cloud, speak to Dell today. Check out the site at dell.co.uk for secure and scalable cloud solutions on offer.