Aim of this article: To provide advice on the impact, advantages, disadvantages, strategic and policy issues which arise from the emergence of Cloud Computing.

During the past few years major changes have evolved in the way users want to access their data files. Users want the convenience of accessing their files over the internet from a variety of locations and using multiple devices, e.g. accessing data from work, home and mobile and also using different devices e.g. iPads, mobile phones, etc. “The Cloud” has emerged as a method to meet this need for multiple ways to access data.

As with any innovation, there are advantages and disadvantages of “The Cloud”. Plus there are different types of cloud services which vary with regard to the benefits and disadvantages provided by each service.

Some major security breaches have occurred in the USA with consequences affecting Australian Internet users.

Six million user passwords have been leaked on the internet and can now be accessed by criminals. These passwords appear to originate from LInkedIn, therefore if you use LinkedIn you should change your password on that website. If you use the same password on LinkedIn and also on other websites then you should change your passwords on all of these websites. It is also possible that this breach may affect persons who do not use LinkedIn. There have also been 1.5 million passwords stolen from dating site www.eharmony.com and some other sites. Therefore, this would be a good time to remind you to put aside some time and tighten your password security across the websites/systems that you use.

Did you know that you can add a link to your online reports to facilitate drilling down to supporting / explanatory data?

I attended an exceptional leadership breakfast this morning on the topic of Customer Service. The presentation was so simple yet so many people get it totally wrong. Congratulations to Richard Dore from Proteus Leadership Centers for an outstanding presentation. Looking forward to their next event.