cloudy warning

The proliferation of interesting and useful online applications has put lowcost or free tools at our fingertips that enable us to brainstorm, collaborate, organize, publish, or just play with information, images and ideas. Nobody can say that "the cloud" has not opened up new possibilities for interacting with others around the planet. The marketplace is wide open and, naturally, while some online applications succeed in gaining a customer base and in fashioning a viable business model that will ensure their longevity for some time to come, others fail and fold.

The beauty of online applications is threefold:

• Online apps are, generally speaking, much lower in cost than desktop applications
• Once your information is posted online, you can access it from any computer
• Online information, ideas, plans and images can easily be shared with others, and perhaps can be edited or at least commented on by other people.

But where is your data? Where are your photos or to-do's or outline or documents stored? "On some server out there somewhere."

Who's in charge of keeping that server in good shape, of backing up the files stored on it, of working to keep the server online so your data is accessible when you need it? "Someone out there somewhere."

But what happens when a company that provides an online application suddenly goes belly-up? The server to which you have uploaded your documents and photos, or on which you've created that beautiful mindmap that you wish to share with your colleagues, or entered to-do's and events into some online calendar in order to stay organized, has suddenly evaporated.

And even if your vendor's company stays strong, you could temporarily lose internet access to their server for a multitude of reasons ... then what? What impact might it have on your work or even personal life if you can't get to your documents, or your calendar, or your research?

Every day I stumble across web pages that look like this:

As of May 3 the server was down. If you don't have a copy of your own photos, you can pay the company to make you a DVD. (Who will be in charge of the quality of that DVD? "Someone out there somewhere.") And they will charge you a mere $15 "as a convenience to you." And you only have until the end of the month to get your photos. In other words, if an advisory email had been sent, and if it did not get filtered unnoticed into your spam folder, you can pay this company to send you a DVD of your own photos and hope that they fulfill as promised. And you only have a 28-day window to become aware of the situation and act on it. Otherwise, your photos are GONE. 

The Moral of the Story:

1. Always keep a copy of files you upload to your accounts "in the cloud."
2. For apps that allow you to create content within your web browser (outlines, mindmaps, to-do lists, shared documents, and so on), choose vendors that respect the fact that this is your data, and that provide a simple way for you to export or otherwise obtain a backup of your own content.
3. When you select a cloud app vendor, take some time to assess how long they've been around, whether they appear to be a well-staffed company with a strong business model and good customer service, or a one- or two-person startup that may evaporate with little or no warning. Look for an "About" link and see if they even tell you who the people are behind this app. Look up those people on LinkedIn or similar business networking site. Click on the "Support" or "Help" link and see if the company seems engaged with and responsive to their customers.

 It's your data. Take responsibility for it, and try to choose vendors who take responsibility too. Just because the files and content in an online application do not live on your local computer whose hard drive may (will?) blow up some day, does not mean you are protected from losing access to your stuff.