Productive at 36,000 feet

About a year ago, I posted to this blog about using cloud-based business applications while sitting on a beach on an Island in the Indian ocean off the coast of Thailand. That symbolized to me that cloud computing is getting close to reaching everywhere I’m likely to go on the surface of the earth.

A year later, as I write this, I’m flying on United Airlines flight 19 from JFK to San Francisco coming back from meeting with the AICPA in New York. I must have done something good – I find myself upgraded to business class, my laptop is plugged into the power outlet in the seat, and I’ve been constantly connected to the Internet since minutes after take-off. United has a new service called GoGo that provides a Wifi hotspot on the airplane - it's currently free but will eventually cost $13 per flight - what a bargain.

Instead of 6 hours of downtime, I am getting real productive work done. I’m completely caught up on email and down to less than one page in my inbox. I logged into Salesforce to check out our pipeline. I logged into Intacct to review my department dashboard and actuals, I submitted a draft expense report for myself for the trip, and I approved the expenses in my queue for my team. Fast, reliable, encrypted and secure from 36,000 feet, somewhere over the Midwest. And now I'm posting this blog entry live from the airplane as well.

We really are getting close to the vision of “always on / always connected” that cloud computing and Internet ubiquity promise. The combination of a ubiquitous Internet connection with cloud-based business applications that are always available turns six hours of downtime that I used to spend reading trashy paperbacks or watching bad movies into real productive hours. I'm totally caught up, I'm on top of my business, and I can spend more time with my family tomorrow instead of being that much more behind from my trip. Just great great stuff.