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ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » Another technological revolution is quietly brewing on Teesside.
Cloud computing is the next big thing to hit these shores and it's allowing savvy techie gurus to make big bucks from helping firms slash their IT budgets.
Analysts say the global market is on course to hit $59bn this year - a recession-busting 21% rise on last year - and a stonking $150bn by 2013.
Critics could be forgiven for thinking that the cloud is just another razzmatazz PR offensive to get businesses to part with more cash.
But a closer inspection reveals that it's driving a paradigmatic shift in the way consumers share and absorb information.
It's also heralding the latest evolution of a tried and tested IT model.
The new service-oriented model is opening up a new world where thousands of people can access a single document from any location, at any time they choose.
It's far removed from the more rigid, traditional model which required users to purchase licences to own and run software on their PCs.
The former gives users much more flexibility and control over their IT usage and spend. But it has also sparked fresh concerns over the security of information that sits in a virtual space that's bigger than five continents put together.
IT chiefs have moved to allay concerns by highlighting the risk-reducing capacity of data 'clustering', where data is stored and backed-up over multiple sites - effectively meaning that a system malfunction in one centre does not cause the loss of shed-loads of data.
But the recent case of T-Mobile - where users of its Sidekick smartphone lost telephone numbers and photos when Microsoft's hosting site crashed - highlights the need for cutting-edge, back-end technology to cope with the expected surge in user demand.
As long as this can be achieved the rise of the cloud should continue as more businesses cotton onto the benefits it brings.
But the IT industry has suffered before from selling swanky new gadgets with technological defaults.
The last thing businesses need is the cloud raining on their parade.
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