Over the last couple of years, cloud computing has revolutionized the way people communicate with each other and also how the IT departments of different companies work. It is definitely the next big thing in the IT segment and if you were to believe the experts, cloud computing is going to replace the personal computer by 2014. In order to understand why the experts think so, it is very important to understand the concept of cloud computing first. Cloud computing is all about integration of all personal data into one platform that not only allows the user to access any and all data in real-time, but also retrieve and share specific data with specific groups of people without having to worry about data security.

The biggest advantage with cloud computing is that most competing service providers offer pay-as-you-go plans and hands you do not need to pay a penny extra over your actual usage. Google, Amazon and Hewlett-Packard have already invested a lot of money in the development of cloud computing and the day is not far when we would be able to sift through personal clouds to access any and all information that make up our lives through some inexpensive handheld device.

If you take a look at the computing hardware available in the market today, you would see that everything from the iPhone to the android-based mobile phones are continuously striving to collate all your personal information and also integrating them with your personal preferences to make your life simpler. The iPad is another impressive piece of computing hardware that allows you to shrink your entire world into a plastic tablet. As of now, the technology savvy companies are seeing cloud computing as a business strategy to send profits through the roof, but very soon it is going to become a way of life.

Be it the Google platforms on the Apple platforms, there are already a number of cloud computing compatible devices available on the market, but what actually needs to be changed is the way cloud computing is being looked upon by the corporations - as on date, it is mostly the large enterprises that have started to realize the benefits of cloud computing and the deploy the same; it is get to spill over into mainstream, but going by the current trends, it seems that the day is not far than a single tablet or handheld device would be more than enough to manage our lives. According to the experts, such a day could be witnessed as soon as the year 2014 and hopefully we would be able to save goodbye forever to our personal computers.

If you are thinking that it’s going to be a costly proposition, you might be wrong because cloud computing is going to eliminate on your needs for expenditure on hardware and software and also give you peace of mind at the same time. Let’s hope the experts are right and let personal clouds take over personal computers!