A few years ago, upon entering a hospital emergency room, you would likely be asked about your symptoms by a triage nurse holding a clipboard.  Today, it's just as common for the nurse to wield an iPad and add notes from your conversation that can later be accessed by several members of the hospital staff. This upgrade in healthcare technology saves the emergency room physician from undertaking a second detailed work-up on your condition. 

The words the cloud first popped up in technology and computer developer circles in 1994.  In brief, the cloud describes a third-party system that houses digital and data-based information on remote servers.

Since 1994, cloud computing has become more streamlined, affordable and widespread.  It has allowed companies large and small to save money on the storage of internal digital data -- including of accounting information, content archives and other sensitive categories of data.