CLOU D COMPUTING

Web-Based Applications That Change

the Way You Work and Collaborate Online

Michael Miller

f—II m ® 80° Eas t 9 6 t h Street, • r * » * Indianapolis, Indiana 46240

Table of Contents Introduction 1

How This Book Is Organized 2

Conventions Used in This Book 3 Web Page Addresses 3 Cloud Services 3 Special Elements 3

Л Let Me Know What You Think 4 Part I: Understanding Cloud Computing

1 Beyond the Desktop: An Introduction to Cloud Computing 7 Cloud Computing: What It Is—and What It Isn't 8

What Cloud Computing Isn't 8 What Cloud Computing Is 9

From Collaboration to the Cloud: A Short History of Cloud Computing 11 Client/Server Computing: Centralized Applications and Storage 11 Peer-to-Peer Computing: Sharing Resources 12 Distributed Computing: Providing More Computing Power 13 Collaborative Computing: Working as a Group 14 Cloud Computing: The Next Step in Collaboration 15

The Network Is the Computer: How Cloud Computing Works 15 Understanding Cloud Architecture 16 Understanding Cloud Storage 18 Understanding Cloud Services 18

Companies in the Cloud: Cloud Computing Today 19

Why Cloud Computing Matters 20

2 Are You Ready for Computing in the Cloud? 23

The Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing 24 Cloud Computing: Advantages 24 Cloud Computing: Disadvantages 28

Who Benefits from Cloud Computing? 30 Collaborators 30 Road Warriors 31 Cost-Conscious Users 32

Table of Contents v

Cost-Conscious IT Departments 32 Users with Increasing Needs 33

Who Shouldn't Be Using Cloud Computing? 33 The Internet-Impaired 33

Offline Workers 33 The Security Conscious 34 Anyone Married to Existing Applications 34

3 Developing Cloud Services 37

Why Develop Web-Based Applications? 38

The Pros and Cons of Cloud Service Development 38 Advantages of Cloud Development 39

Disadvantages of Cloud Development 39

Types of Cloud Service Development 40 Software as a Service 40 Platform as a Service 41

Web Services 41 On-Demand Computing 41

Discovering Cloud Services Development Services and Tools 42 Amazon 42 Google App Engine 43 IBM 44 Salesforce.com 45

Other Cloud Services Development Tools 45 Part II: Cloud Computing for Everyone

4 Cloud Computing for the Family 51

Centralizing Email Communications <%, 52

Collaborating on Schedules 53

Collaborating on Grocery Lists 54

Collaborating on To-Do Lists 54

Collaborating on Household Budgets 55

Collaborating on Contact Lists 56

Collaborating on School Projects 57

Sharing Family Photos , 58

vi Cloud Computing

5 Cloud Computing for the Community 61

Communicating Across the Community 62

Collaborating on Schedules 62

Sports Team Schedules , 62 School Schedules 64 Community Group Schedules 64 Event Schedules and Management 64

Collaborating on Group Projects and Events 65 Collaborating on To-Do Lists 65

•^ Collaborating on Task Management 66 Collaborating on Event Management 66 Collaborating on Event Marketing 67 Collaborating on Budgets 67

6 Cloud Computing for the Corporation 71

Managing Schedules 72

Managing Contact Lists 73

Managing Projects 74

Collaborating on Reports 75

Collaborating on Marketing Materials 76

Collaborating on Expense Reports 76

Collaborating on Budgets 77

Collaborating on Financial Statements 78

Collaborating on Presentations 78

Presenting on the Road 79

Accessing Documents on the Road 80 Part III: Using Cloud Services

7 Collaborating on Calendars, Schedules, and Task Management 85

Exploring Online Calendar Applications 86 Google Calendar 86 Yahoo! Calendar 88

Windows Live Calendar 89 Apple MobileMe Calendar 90 AOL Calendar 91

CalendarHub 91 Hunt Calendars , 92

Table of Contents vii

Famundo 93 eStudio Calendar 94 30Boxes 95 Trumba 95

Calendars Net 96 Jotlet 96

Exploring Online Scheduling Applications 97

Jiffle 97 Presdo 98

Diarised 99 Windows Live Events 99 Schedulebook 100 Acuity Scheduling 100

AppointmentQuest 101 hitAppoint 101

Exploring Online Planning and Task Management 101

iPrioritize 101 Bla-Blaüst 102 Hiveminder 102 Remember the Milk 102

Ta-daList 103 TuduList 103 TaskTHIS 103 Vitalist 103

TracksLife 103 Voo2Do 103 HiTask 104 Zoho Planner * v , 104

8 Collaborating on Event Management 107

Understanding Event Management Applications 108

Event Planning and Workflow Management 108 Event Marketing 108 Event Calendar 109

Facilities Scheduling 109 Advance Registration 109 Payment Processing 110

Travel Management 110 Housing Management 110

v i i i Cloud Comput ing

Onsite Registration 110

Contact Management 110

Budget Management 111

Post-Event Reporting and Analysis 111

Exploring Event Management Applications I l l

123 Signup I l l

Acteva 112

Conference.com 113

Cvent : 115

Event Wax 116

eventsbot 116

RegOniine , 117

Setdot 118

Tendenci 118

9 Col laborat ing on Contact Management 121

Understanding Contact Management and CRM 122

All About Contact Management 122

All About CRM 123

Exploring Contact Management and CRM Applications 124

Salesforce.com 124

bConnections 126

BigContacts 127

eStudio Contact Manager 127

Highrise , 128

Apple MobileMe Contacts 128

MyEvents 130

Plaxo . 130

People Matrix 131

PipelineDeals 131

SalesBoom 132

SalesJunction.com 132

SalesNexus 132

ZohoCRM 133

10 Collaborating on Project Management 137

Understanding Project Management 138

Exploring Project Management Applications 139

@task 139

AceProject 140

Table of Contents ix

Basecamp 141

Copper Project 142

eStudio TaskTracker 142

onProject 142

Project Drive 143

Vertabase 143

Wrike 143

Zoho Projects 143

11 Col laborat ing on Word Processing 147

How Web-Based Word Processing Works 148

Benefits of Web-Based Word Processors 148

Should You Use a Web-Based Word Processor? 149

Exploring Web-Based Word Processors 150

Google Docs 151

Adobe Buzzword 154

ajaxWrite 155

Docly 156

Glide Write 156

iNetWord 157

KBdocs 158

Peepel WebWriter 159

ThinkFree Write 159

WriteBoard 160

Zoho Writer 161

12 Collaborating on Spreadsheets 165

How Web-Based Spreadsheets Work 166

Benefits of Web-Based Spreadsheets .-» 166

Should You Use a Web-Based Spreadsheet? 166

Exploring Web-Based Spreadsheets 168

Google Spreadsheets 168

EditGrid 172

eXpresso 173

Glide Crunch 173

Num Sum 174

Peepel WebSheet 175

Sheetster 176

ThinkFree Calc 176

Zoho Sheet 178

x Cloud Computing

13 Collaborating on Databases 181

Understanding Database Management 182 How Databases Work 182 How Online Databases Work 182

Exploring Web-Based Databases 183 Blist 183 Cebase 185

Dabble DB 185 Lazybase 186 MyWebDB 187

QukkBase 188 TeamDesk 189 Trackvia 189 Zoho Creator 190 Zoho DB & Reports 191

14 Collaborating on Presentations 195

Preparing Presentations Online 196

Evaluating Web-Based Presentation Applications 196

BrinkPad , 197 Empressr 197 Google Presentations 198 Preezo 200 Presentation Engine 200 PreZentit 202 SlideRocket 202 ThinkFree Show 203 Thumbstacks 204 Zoho Show 205

15 Storing and Sharing Files and Other Online Content 207

Understanding Cloud Storage 208

What Is Cloud Storage? 208 Why Use Cloud Storage? 208 Risks of Storing Data in the Clouds 209

Evaluating Online File-Storage and-Sharing Services 210 Amazon S3 210 Egnyte 210 ElephantDrive 211

Table of Contents

Microsoft Office Live Workspace 211 Mosso 212

myDataBus 212 Nirvanix 212 steekR 213

Windows Live SkyDrive 213

Exploring Online Bookmarking Services 214

Blinküst 215 ClipClip 215

Clipmarks 216

del.icio.us 216 Feedmarker 217 SharedCopy 217 Tagseasy 217 Yahoo! MyWeb 218

Sharing Digital Photographs 221

Exploring Online Photo-Editing Applications 222 Adobe Photoshop Express 222 FotoFlexer 224 Picnik 224

Picture2Life 225 Pikifx 226 Preloadr 226 Phixr 227

Pixenate 228 Snipshot 228

Exploring Photo-Sharing Communities % 229 Apple MobileMe Gallery 230 dotPhoto 230 DPHOTO 230 Flickr 231 Fotki 232 MyPhotoAlbum 232

Photobucket 232 Picasa Web Albums 233

Pixagogo 233 PictureTrail 233 SmugMug 233

xii Cloud Computing

WebShots 233

Zenfolio 234

Zoto 234

17 Controlling It All with Web-Based Desktops 235

Understanding Web-Based Desktops 236

Evaluating Web-Based Desktops 236

ajaxWindows 237 Deskjump .. 237 Desktoptwo 238

*** eyeOS 238 g.ho.st ...239 Glide 240 Nivio 240 StartForce 241 YouOS 242

Part IV: Outside the Cloud: Other Ways to Collaborate Online 245

18 Collaborating via Web-Based Communication Tools 247

Evaluating Web Mail Services 248 Gmail 248 Yahoo! Mail 250 Windows Live Hotmail 251

Apple MobileMe Mail 251

OtherWeb Mail Services 252

Evaluating Instant Messaging Services 253 AOL Instant Messenger 254 Google Talk 255 ICQ 256

Windows Live Messenger 256 Yahoo! Messenger 257

Evaluating Web Conferencing Tools 257

Adobe Acrobat Connect 259 Convenos Meeting Center 260 Genesys Meeting Center 260

Glance 260 IBM Lotus Sametime 261 Microsoft Office Live Meeting 261 Persony Web Conferencing 261

Table of Contents xiii

Pixion PictureTalk 261 WebEx 262 Yugma 262 Zoho Meeting 263

19 Collaborating via Social Networks and Groupware 265 Creating Groups on Social Networks 265

Facebook 267 MySpace 268 Other Web Groups 269

Evaluating Online Groupware 269 AirSet 270 ContactOffice 270 Google Sites 271 Huddle 272 Nexo 272 OpenTeams 273 ProjectSpaces , 274 teamspace 274

20 Collaborating via Blogs and Wikis 277 Evaluating Blogs for Collaboration 277

Blogger , 278 TypePad 281 WordPress 281

Evaluating Wikis for Collaboration 281 PBwiki 282 Versionate ^ 282 wiki host.org У, 282 Wikispaces 283 Zoho Wiki 283

Index 285