Crushing data silos with ownCloud

The advantages of storing data in the cloud are many: ubiquitous access to data from multiple devices, social interaction and sharing with others on the web and no extra software to install. However, in exchange for this privilege, YOUR data is often stored on — and even OWNED by — one of several organizations — none of which easily allow interaction or sharing of data among them. Besides these convenience issues, there are also problems with privacy and security as well as the potential for one hardware failure to make the data of thousands of users impossible to access. Taken together, the cloud is not perfect. ownCloud is the first and most ubiquitous FOSS solution to run on the server or computer of the user or on an internal company server — giving the user the benefits of cloud computing and control of the data. ownCloud integrates with desktop applications so that the users have cloud features combined with the security and the good cost structure of in house file servers. This talk will give attendees an overview of this market, a quick tutorial on getting ownCloud running in their organizations as well as an audience-driven discussion on current and future plans for the project.