Cloud computing set to change lives

But you are unable to do so because the cost of buying a software application is extremely absurd. What do you do?

The solution seems to be the much-talked about ‘Cloud computing’, which many term as the revolution of the 21st century.

Speaking to Deccan Herald on the sidelines of 24th CSI Karnataka Students Convention held at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), Director, Cloud Computing and Distributed Systems Lab, Melbourne University, Dr Rajkumar Buyya said that businesses are shifting from the classical model of making huge investments required for buying computers and software applications. Instead, they are looking for services through which they can pay as long as they use. Computing is becoming a utility just like gas, electricity, water, says Dr Buyya.

Dr Buyya observed that every 18 months a new version of software and hardware keep emerging. Small companies can’t afford this change as it will cost them lakhs of rupees and end up using manual book-keeping.

The emergence of third party providers is on the rise and we can go to anyone on a subscription basis. By 2020, he says that development of devices and communication networks will be mature and everybody will be able to get access rapidly to both - hardware and software.

Citing an example of the impact on the common man, Dr Buyya says, “Imagine a person wearing a watch with an embedded sensor. He is out on vacation in a remote town and suffers a heart attack. The sensor will collect all physical observations in the body. At the same time it will consist of his medical history. A doctor examining him in a distant town will be able to provide better treatment as his details are available on the cloud.”

Furthermore, he says that even people in villages can afford it. Recommendations can be provided for different crops in different regions without people actually visiting the place, he says.

In Bangalore, he said that MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology is using software to
set-up Cloud computing.

While, only 10 per cent of businesses in India adopt IT as of now, Dr Buyya says that the cloud can bring about a major turnover.