Some Answers of Class Material and Cloud Collaboration

In the last class, we used the reading material “Social Cloud Computing: A Vision for Socially Motivated Resource Sharing” to practice the individual work and the collaboration work through Google Doc. First we read the article and answer the questions individually. Here is my answer:

Question1. What is the definition of Social Cloud?

Answer: A Social Cloud is a resource and service sharing framework utilizing relationships established between members of a social network.

Question2. What are the possible applications of a Social Cloud?

Answer:

•  A Social Computation Cloud
•   A Social Storage Cloud
•   A Social Collaborative Cloud
•   A Social Cloud for Public Science
•   An Enterprise Social Cloud

Then, we logged in Google Doc and share the article and our answers. We each used different color to present our perspective in real-time. One posted a question there, and others can answer it below it. The two activities well presents the difference about epistemic cognition, through the individual work, we thought the questions ourselves and through the following group work, we interacted with each other about different perspectives so that we further understood the questions well.

We also learned the concept of the cloud collaboration, which triggers more and more attentions in the social network.

Cloud collaboration defines a set of web-based technologies that allow business users to leverage the power of the cloud to collaborate, share files and work on projects in a secure, scalable and flexible online environment. Cloud collaboration makes content accessible at any time, irrespective of location, providing a significant competitive advantage for any organization that adopts it.

ClCollabration

        As it is shown in the left, cloud technologies have undoubtedly become the most effective way of sharing files, but this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the functionality and benefits of cloud collaboration. A comprehensive enterprise tool will allow users to share files, but also to collaborate, provide feedback, exchange comments and ideas, and work together to get things done in the most efficient way. Features such as files management, whiteboards and discussion boards are key elements of a true cloud collaboration tool and collectively make a powerful resource for any organization.

        Perhaps the most exciting cloud collaboration offering from a product perspective is Google Apps, which includes Mail, Docs, Groups, Sites, and Video. While certainly lagging in some of the functionality delivered by Microsoft, Google continues to add new features at a blistering pace. The company has its own enterprise customer roster and has been actively promoting Google Apps through its Gone Google campaign.

While traditionalists claim that Google’s offerings lack the sophisticated capabilities of Exchange or Office, many see them as light years ahead on the collaboration side. Anyone who has jointly edited a Google Doc should be able to attest to that. And as the world seems to move away from the benefits of fancy font formatting to the speed and efficiency of easy sharing, Google might be in the best position to capitalize on the cloud collaboration race. But perhaps the dark horse is Google’s mobile strategy. Android and the NexusOne phone already appear to be more innovative than Windows Mobile competition, and the integration with Google Apps could dramatically accelerate business adoption.