As many of you know I have a flare for technology. Lately, I have been learning a lot about cloud computing, especially Google Apps.  Cloud computing is a model in which IT applications are provided “as a service” through the Internet allowing you to be free of some hardware and technological dilemmas.  Some benefits of it are higher affordability, increased capacity and efficiency.

I am sure most of you have heard about Google as a search engine but Google also offers many other online resources. Soon business might take place 100% online, so being aware of these resources is very important for you and your business not to be left behind.

In Latin America we tend to be more conservative about what services we feel comfortable outsourcing, so it is not a surprise that storing our information in “the cloud” as opposed to in our own proprietary servers can make us feel a little nervous.  However, the business world is becoming increasingly “online”, so it is necessary that we take certain steps to make sure that our business will remain competitive.

Google Apps solves some of the major pains that almost all businesses face on a daily basis such as information overload, high IT costs, inefficient document sharing  and collaboration, and security of your business information.  Google makes it easy for you to keep your head in the cloud wherever your feet happen to planted, home, office or café.  Cloud computing works anytime, anywhere, all you need is an Internet connection.  It was not long ago that many Latin American countries would not have had access to services like this.

Fortunately, in the past five years there has been a great shift in Latin American countries from dialup to broadband, especially ADLS.  For example, according to the Internet World Stats, Chile has a state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure and regulatory system, and the highest computer and Internet penetration rates in Latin America.

That being said, Latin America is still behind in broadband. Limited bandwidth, regulatory laws, monopoly of service providers, education and economics are still a challenge for this region to be able to make the switch to cloud computing and engage in services such as Google Apps.

I encourage you to find out more about cloud computing and Google Apps and share the love with friends and family that you may have in Latin America.

You can open up a free Google Apps account at http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html

For now, you can have up to 50 users at no additional cost but this will change starting on May 10 so run and open up an account now!