Most Americans Don't Understand 'The Cloud,' But They Should

While “the cloud” may be the talk of the tech world, to many Americans it’s just a place where they store their pictures, videos, and maybe some documents. As far as how it really works, most people don’t have a clue about that according to some experts.

“I think the vast majority of Americans speak about the cloud, but far fewer truly understand what it is, possibly as little as 10%,” Dan Phillips, CEO and co-founder of CloudHealth Technologies tells FOXBusiness.com.

CloudHealth is a Boston-based company that provides cloud services technologies to optimize cost, usage, performance, and security for enterprises.

“Most people do not understand that the cloud needs to be monitored and managed for usage just like electricity and the better you optimize your usage, the lower your bill,” adds Phillips.

In 2012, a survey of more than 1,000 adults was conducted by Wakefield Research showing that nearly one third say they see the cloud as a thing of the future, yet 97% are actually using it and one in five of those Americans (22%) admit that they’ve pretended to know what the cloud is or how it works.

David Linthicum, senior vice president at Cloud Technology Partners, another Boston-based company that provides cloud consulting services says he doesn’t expect anyone’s perception of the cloud to change any time soon either.

“Most Americans allow the mobile apps and web sites to manage their clouds on their behalf, and have very little understanding of what’s happening in the background. I suspect that won’t change anytime soon,” Linthicum tells FOXBusiness.com.

Both Linthicum and Phillips say that Americans should start familiarizing themselves with various cloud computing functions because it could benefit them in the future, especially when it comes to job opportunities.

“The cloud can be the single biggest competitive advantage to any corporation over the next five years. Workers who understand the cloud are in great demand,” says Phillips.

Linthicum urges people to think of it like learning the PC or the Internet when it first came out.

“Cloud computing is the next wave. You might as well get smart about it," he adds.

This is part of FOXBusiness.com's Industry Forecast series that dives deep into cloud innovations across global businesses.