With the Cloud, it's Not a Question of If, but When

For many technology market watchers, the cloud environment has long been held with an air of suspicion. Some are skeptical that consumers will trust their content in the cloud, while others are disdainful of possibly lax security measures. With virtual storage and computing costs still falling at a dramatic rate, however, the prospects for an increasingly cloud-based media environment are ripe. Everything from music, to movies, to work documents and presentations can be based in the cloud, easily accessible from any device. By indication of large corporations and consumer sentiment, it appears that big moves are already being undertaken. Apple AAPL and Google GOOG have both entered the market to some degree, and loyal customer bases continually follow new product releases. One of the largest draws of the cloud is its accessibility. Media content and documents can be viewed and edited from a home computer, smartphone, tablet, or work laptop, for example. Photos and Microsoft MSFT Excel documents can easily be grabbed from an online hard drive that is available to most internet-enabled devices. New developments are rolled out seemingly every day. Another positive is that security and software updates can be undertaken during down times in user activity, making improvement a weekly reality without nuisance. Undoubtedly, there is much that must be accomplished to improve user ease-of-use. A new set of standards and expectations must be outlined, and consumers must be convinced that their privacy is a priority. With that said, the opportunities for cloud development are limitless. Technology fans are always looking for ways to improve their lives, and ease-of-mind over irreplaceable content is a big selling point. Watch for big news in the market for cloud services for both consumers and enterprise users in the next two years. No doubt, much jockeying will be undertaken by technology behemoths to profit off an emerging market.