An interesting article in the Sunday Times highlighted the key themes we explored at the TFPL Cloud Computing conference back in March. There are strong advocates for the Cloud but also significant resistance to the concept of ‘private data in public spaces’.
It’s clear that the Cloud is here to stay and there are real benefits to using it, but also risks - not least of which is that, once you have signed up to using the Cloud all your data (including photographs, videos, music, financial data) is held by a third party and if you want to retain access you need to continue subscribing. One of the speakers at our event emphasised the need to ensure that you have an agreement in place that allows you to switch providers (or withdraw from the Cloud altogether) without losing access to your information.
That’s obviously a critical issue for an organisation but can be equally important for an individual - would you want to risk losing access to personal treasures?
On the other hand, once in the Cloud your information will (should?) be backed up, mirrored and secured by a provider who does this for their living. How many of us are guilty of not backing up laptops and PCs which contain our personal digital archives on a regular basis?
Read the full article for a detailed discussion of the pros and cons and the potential impact of the Cloud on the IT, media and publishing industries.
Melanie Goody
Director of Consultancy


