Consumer Cloud Services Are The Foundation For Multidevice Strategies

Consumers are embracing cloud services now without realizing it. Amazon.com's Kindle, the Palm Pre, Spotify, virtually every Google product, and a raft of products from other brands are now using cloud thinking to build tangible consumer benefits. The rapid adoption of mobile devices — particularly smartphones and laptops — is increasing consumers' need for new ways of organizing content. The concept of cloud computing has transitioned from debates around arcane technology concepts like data centers and virtualization into real consumer products. As consumers embrace smartphones and laptops and in doing so live the 24x7 digital life, they need convenient ways to use all of their devices in tandem. As personal cloud services become ubiquitous, they will provide that "just works" convenience. All consumer product managers must understand, embrace, and turn the personal cloud to their advantage in their products.