Healthcare providers have a lot on their plate: Caring for patients is first and meeting compliance regulations comes at a close second. Hospitals and smaller practices truly benefit from technology experts coming on-site, installing all the right IT systems, and leaving clearly outlined instructions, amounting to a swift and inexpensive process.

Here on earth, clouds are relatively simple phenomena: visible masses of water vapor making their way across the sky. But in the world of IT, “the cloud” is a bit more complex, referring to technology that allows businesses to take a more hands-off approach to managing their IT resources.

Setting up an IT infrastructure for a small business can be an intimidating and costly venture. Fortunately, cloud computing has given companies affordable and flexible solutions to deal with rapidly advancing technological demands. However, for the small business owner, there are still many common misunderstandings about using cloud services.

"Cloud Computing" is definitely the buzzword "De Jour"...but there are very few of us who really understand what this is and how it works.  So here is a little "Cloud 101" to hopefully allow a little better understanding of this phenomenon.

"Cloud Computing"  means that instead of all the computer hardware and software you're using sitting on your desktop, or somewhere inside your company's network, it's provided for you as a service by another company and accessed over the Internet, usually in a completely seamless way.