September 19 2011
Our new contributor, Amy Chorew of The TechByte, makes her debut with this overview of cloud computing.
The diverse jobs that a real estate agent performs have remained basically the same over time. What has changed is how information is delivered and exchanged.
We don't just rely on phone calls or email communications to access information anymore. We use text, emails and visit websites to interact, retrieve data and communicate. Our day to day business has changed as well. We need access to our files wherever we are – in the office, at home, or on the road. The ability to access files becomes easy using a site to store your files, and it may become the most important pieces of software that you will need. Local applications on your computer will become passé, computers will become just gateways to the cloud – where the real work is done.
So what is cloud computing? According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, cloud computing is defined as:
"Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid."
What Are the Benefits of Cloud Computing?
1. Once you are storing your files on a cloud server, your information is always with you. Download the software onto all of your devices, including your Smartphone, tablet, laptop. That way, wherever you are, you can find information and share with your clients or staff.
2. The software is inexpensive. The ability to convert an entire office to cloud storage becomes easily affordable.
3. No downtime is required for updates – the software operates via a web browser, so any updates are done on the web and automatically updated on all devices.
4. Cloud computing allows for greater efficiency. Cloud software works across platforms; files are transferred seamlessly from PCs, to MACs, to iPads and other tablets to smartphones.
5. It is terrific for collaboration. Since you are managing documents from a single place, it is easy to share or edit single files or complete folders with other people. When anyone who works on a file, it is updated immediately over the internet to those who have access to it. No more confusion about who has the most updated version in their email.
6. Many of the Cloud software products allow you to keep a copy of your files locally on your hard drive as well as on their server on the web. If you need to be off line for a while you can still work on a document and when you access the internet again, the file will be updated wherever and with whomever it is shared.
7. You can manage projects around your content. Once you share files with people, you can assign tasks and track file versions.
8. With the cloud, you're able to send and track large files easily. Never email a file again. For those times you need to send a file that is just too big to go through email, you have the ability to send just a link to a file via email. If the other party can open a web browser, they can receive your file.
How Can Real Estate Professionals Use Cloud Computing?
Here are just some examples of how cloud computing is being used in the real estate industry.
For managing your day to day, here are some options:
To incorporate Email, Calendars and Contacts you will need a cloud solution like:
These products allow you to connect and sync your email, calendars and contacts across all your devices and platforms. If you use Outlook, you can use Google Apps as well.
This is the first part of a two-part series. Stay tuned for the next installment.