Cloud computing

In 1990s cloud computing finally started ramping up as computers became more advanced and the internet was more widespread than ever. Towards the end of 1990s the Cloud was becoming increasingly more popular with businesses. For instance, a company called Salesforce took full advantage of cloud computing by advertising and selling software that businesses could download over the internet and install quickly, saving them time and money.  

In the early 2000s Amazon became the first large company to utilize the Cloud Computing Infrastructure Model to provide internet-based services. And in just four years, in 2006, Amazon rolled out it’s Amazon Web Services, which was represented by several websites, including Amazon Mechanical Turk, that provided a variety of web-based services to other businesses. These services ranged from basic computing power and storage to human intelligence and virtual computers that businesses could rent and use for their needs. 

That same year Google acquired Writely, which later became Google Docs, and Google Spreadsheets, and rolled out both cloud-based services as a useful alternative to Microsoft Excel and Word. A big advantage of these services was that files could be saved in formats compatible with Microsoft programs, allowing users to transition easily between the two. 

2007 became an important year for academic research, as Google, IBM and many flagship research universities decides to join together in a partnership. A large server farm was created, allowing researchers in partner universities to use it for conducting experiments. This solution proved to be much faster and more cost-efficient than before. 

In 2008 NASA launched OpenNebula, which gave businesses an opportunity to set up both hybrid and private clouds. 

2011 became a very significant year for cloud computing with Apple launching its iCloud service and IBM launching its IBM SmartCloud platform. In addition, in 2011 Microsoft began advertising its cloud-based services to the general public on TV, helping the progress of cloud-based technology become even more rapid and all-consuming than before.