All is not quiet on the IT front

Is it the heat of the summer in the northern hemisphere or are IT gurus taking a break? For the past three to four months there hasn’t been any spectacular move in the industry and no particular innovation, at least none of the kind that excites us and keeps us on high alert, anxious to buy it or to try it. Does this mean that “all is quiet” in the realm of IT? Not exactly; there are actually two topics that are keeping consumers busy.

The first is learning how to live with the various aspects of the cloud and perhaps more importantly, understanding its idiosyncrasies. The second is waiting for the ultimate biometrics for personal identification, the one that would free us from passwords once and for all.

In its simplest implementation the cloud lets you store your data outside the computer, with the possibility to access it from any computer or mobile device in the world provided it has Internet access, which today encompasses quite a wide range of machines. In its most complex form the cloud allows you to have your entire network, including server computers, e-mail, software applications, data and most everything, except perhaps for your coffee mug, in cyberspace, outside your office or workplace.

Between the simplest and the most complex there are several ways to make good use of the cloud. Microsoft’s Office 365 for instance is a good way to get into the cloud and get a taste of its performance. With Office 365 there is no need to pay for the traditional Office licence fees. Instead, and for a more or less reasonable monthly fee the user can have the right to use, free storage space in the cloud and the possibility to get all this from up to five machines he would define. Add to add the ability to do group collaboration and to work simultaneously on the same document with other users and the benefits become obvious.

Trust actually isn’t the main hurdle anymore that would prevent people from using the cloud. Many find it difficult to understand how exactly it works, where files are saved and in which way they are synchronised between the various machines they may happen to use. Some still wonder who does the backup of the data, a strange question to ask since, precisely, automatic data backup is one of the first and main advantages of cloud services.

It is only a matter of time before working in the cloud (or online) takes precedence over working locally (or offline). There’s a parallel with the early days of digital photography. The first commercially available digital camera hit the market in 1990. Back then many professionals photographers found the quality to be far inferior to that of film cameras and thought it would take forever for digital to equal or to surpass film. By the year 2000 digital cameras were outselling film models and by 2010 no one, including demanding professionals, would even argue about the quality you could obtain with digital cameras, high-end models at least. The evolution of the cloud is following the same pattern.

Biometrics. Despite significant improvements and some significant forays in the field, biometrics still have not replaced passwords for personal identification. Fingerprint readers can be found in many devices, including consumer-level laptops. Iris recognition has won the trust of the banking sector (only a few banks though… so far) and at border security checkpoints, including in Jordan. Voice, hand and face recognition is less common and is found in rare applications or instance. However, none of these has become widely used and they all remain marginal.

And yet, a good combination of biometrics would constitute an almost perfect method for personal identification, one that would be much closer to perfection than the antiquated password at least. With the dramatic increase of online services, including the cloud of course, it is high time that biometrics replace passwords and PIN codes. This is particularly true when it comes to e-banking, a field where security and ease of use are essential.

Whereas the trend towards the cloud is clear, users are wondering what is delaying a wider acceptance of biometrics in personal identification. Many are losing patience; especially now that the technology is well tuned, inexpensive and that it was first introduced before the cloud and before digital cameras.