The phrase “cloud computing” continues to raise some confusion despite the fact that most people likely use cloud technology quite frequently. Here’s the 101 scoop on cloud computing along with some interesting examples of how Uberflip is using the cloud. Let us know in the comments which cloud-based tools your business uses!

What is the Cloud?

Cloud computing simply refers to using the internet to store data or run applications. Back in the old days, software was run and stored on your own computer and servers consumed physical space and money. With cloud computing, these tangible servers are replaced by virtual servers that can be accessed over the internet. For the most part, cloud computing eliminates the need to launch and store software on your computer; instead, your computer is the medium that accesses servers and your data can be easily stored on the internet. Cloud computing ultimately reduces costs since capabilities can be added to servers without requiring heavy investments in new infrastructure, training employees, or licensing new software.

Cloud services

Here at Uberflip, we strongly believe that cloud computing is the way of the future and we’re using a variety of cloud-based tools for our business needs.

Google Drive
Google Drive is the newest version of Google Docs – Google’s cloud-based document program. Google Drive allows users to create and share documents while making real-time changes. This means that any changes to documents are saved on the Internet and several users can make edits to a document at the same time. These features make Google Drive the document platform of choice at the office. Aside from the time-saving factor of allowing multiple users to make simultaneous edits, Google Drive also serves as a reliable storage system. Since all documents are saved in the Cloud, they can be accessed from any device — from mobile phones to tablets and Smart TVs.

Dropbox
Dropbox is a sharing and storage tool that allows us to store and transfer files through the cloud. Instead of being capped by email attachment sizes, Uberflip can send large files to coworkers and use dropbox to store and share files of different sizes and purposes. Talk about sharing, simplified!

Mail Chimp
MailChimp manages email marketing efforts across platforms, through the cloud. You can design email newsletters, share them on social media, and track your results instantly on any device. We use MailChimp for our email campaigns and we love the analytics they provide for tracking our campaigns. This is another example of how the cloud is revitalizing traditional online practices, such as email campaigns.

HootSuite Media, Inc.
HootSuite is a social media management system that allows businesses and organizations to execute campaigns across multiple social networks from one web-based dashboard. HootSuite allows users to launch marketing campaigns, identify and grow audiences, and distribute targeted messages through their dashboard. Hootsuite’s features include scheduling and assignment tools that reach audiences with geo-targeting functionality. Also, the platform can generate custom reports through its social analytics measurement tools. We use HootSuite to manage our social media campaigns and to analyze our social media metrics and engagement.

GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting allows you to host an online meeting with up to 25 people. Using their web conference tool, you can share any application on your computer in real time. Uberflip also uses GoToWebinar as it allows us to set up a webinar in minutes, without IT support. We’ve experienced that both GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar are easy to use and reliable for our conference and webinar needs.

Quickbooks
Quickbooks organizes your company’s finances in one place, creates tax records, and saves time on invoicing and tracking sales and expenses. We use Quickbooks for our bookkeeping needs and to manage our finances. Uberflip is highly anticipating Quickbooks’ release of their cloud-based software which is available in the U.S. but not yet in Canada. Since cloud capabilities are such an important part of our daily business, we hope that Quickbooks quickly brings the cloud up North!