" The Cloud " is often confused with the Internet, probably because the Internet is officially portrayed as a cloud in diagrams . A cloud is in fact an application or suite that runs on a server and is served to thin clients , traditionally through a browser but not exclusively. The Internet is a great facilitator to such a deployment. Pretty much all processing and data storage is kept on the server and the user merely taps into it remotely. Obvious advantages of cloud solutions are centralised deployment and maintenance and also the ability to access applications from almost any device that can run a browser . There is also the major advantage of mobility, allowing users the freedom to work from anywhere with a connection. In recent years we have had major strides in mobile technology like netbooks and 3G as well as rapid price reduction for said hardware and services, pushing the mobility envelope even further. The desktop remains a tool for the professional but wit...