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Up in a cloud?

Nature Biotechnology volume 28, pages 13–15 (2010)Cite this article

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Cloud computing offers solutions for companies wrestling with large-scale data sets, but security issues will likely continue to restrict its use to precompetitive or nonconfidential data. Clare Sansom reports.

The cloud computing model, which provides users access to data analysis services over the internet at remote locations, offers cash-strapped biotechs and less agile big pharma companies clear advantages in terms of cost, efficiency and flexibility. The problem is, however, that despite attempts to develop software houses into 'middle-layer' companies helping specialist industries access the cloud and buffer their data, most corporations view this model as too risky to host data integral to their business. For the foreseeable future, cloud computing is likely to find most use for early stage gene and sequence data increasingly viewed as precompetitive research.

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    Clare Sansom

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Sansom, C. Up in a cloud?. Nat Biotechnol 28, 13–15 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0110-13

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