The next kingdom of online entrepreneurship will be built in the cloud

If content remains the king who will attract millions of users into the Internet, then the realm on which the more business-minded of this growing online population will be the cloud. The typical cell device owner usually equates cloud technology as a convenient tool for file storage or social media monitoring, but the platform is actually more vital than that.

As The New York Times pointed out, companies like Google and Facebook were birthed on the cloud, before discovering a way to make money through online advertising. Social media sites and e-commerce sites house their tons of data in the cloud. The same article also said that even large companies like Intel are reducing cost by doing transactions through the cloud and dispensing with the need to buy more costly infrastructure. Increasingly, more business start-ups are creating a solid foundation through that technology instead of just making it just one of their handy operational accessories.

Daze Info says that the revenue for the cloud computing market will increase to US$127 billion (A$169 billion) by 2018. Dropbox, with a value of US$15 billion (A$19.9 billion), is the leader in 300 companies that are providing cloud services. Amazon’s cloud-based Amazon Web Services doubled its earnings the past two years. Cloud software startups have been attracting the eyes of major investors in recent years.

According to the Business Insider , the biggest acquisitions were SuccessFactors, bought by SAP for US$3.4 billion (A$4.5 billion) in 2012; Yammer, purchased by Microsoft for US$1.2 billion (A$1.6 billion), also in 2012; and ExactTarget, bought by Salesforce for US$2.5 billion (A$3.3 billion) in 2012. Internet giant Google is also on the prowl to look for cloud-based startups that it can nurture and build into the powerhouses of the future; Beebop is its latest software startup acquisition.

Cloud tech is booming because their market of business owners is increasing and are beginning to see the value of the tech in their respective enterprises. Rapidscale attributes this spectacular and rising growth to the fact that more than 90 percent of business owners who tried cloud services said the technology actually helped to drive their business.

Virtual enterprises

“The business landscape will be more and more internet-based,” says Gil Amelio, president of rising new tech company 5BARz International (OTCQB: BARZ) . “Management, document analysis, meetings, data gathering and storage, and communication - almost everything will have a cloud component. Connectivity makes this possible. Because cloud tech has to be available and functioning 24 hours a day, seven days a week, internet connectivity must be similarly available. Businesses simply cannot afford ‘internet blackouts’ or the sudden absence of connectivity.”

The 5BARz network extender has proven to be an invaluable tool that guarantees constant connectivity to businesses, from the multinationals to the startups. This portable plug-and-play device can increase faltering cellular device signals within a 4,000-metre radius to a maximum five-bar level. Traveling professionals have used it to power their devices while in international conferences, creative meetings in distant towns, and in transit riding on vehicles.

Startups in the United Arab Emirates are among the first to capitalise on constant connectivity and the cloud to practically run their operations while reaching out to customers all over the world. In the National article, one UAE startup, TeachMeNow, uses the cloud as a platform to connect freelance teachers from various countries with students who want to learn a vast range of subjects, from Arabic to chemistry. TeachMeNow gets a cut from every payment that each teacher gets from their student. Founder Thea Myhrvold says that the cloud saved them thousands of dollars that they would have used in costly hardware.

Microsoft sensed the UAE startups affinity for all things cloud and soon gave them and other new companies free access to their cloud through their BizSpark programme. According to Trade Arabia , this cost-free access to cloud technology has helped small businesses in the Middle East grow quickly and scale to a degree beyond what their finances would have allowed. Data stored in the cloud helps the leaders monitor market behaviour, access and share information, and help employees work as a virtual team. Microsoft’s BizSpark programme is currently helping 90,000 startups all over the world.

Many of them can be found in India, likewise availing of Microsoft’s advocacy to help new businesses find surer footing through cloud technology. Microsoft India Enterprise leader Peter Gartenberg tells Tech2 that cloud access has been helping Indian companies mitigate cost while laying the groundwork for more innovative products. Aside from startups, banks and financial institutions, hospitals, media companies, e-commerce companies, telecoms, and even government departments are migrating to the cloud. The Indian cloud market has been valued at more than US$700 million (A$927.8 million).

The cloud may yet turn out to be that castle in the sky that can unlock the dreams of many business owners, startup founders and seasoned veterans alike. Constant connectivity will be the wind that will make it fly.