NEIT+2013+OpenSpace+2L

Key Issues:
 * Internet connection is your lifeline - create redundancy if you are going to replace traditional software with cloud apps
 * UI/UX _will_ change, services _will_ disappear - make sure that you are teaching concepts in problem solving, not menus
 * Teach your teachers/leaders mental agility - do _not_ get locked in to function and form, get locked into the idea of solving a problem with the available tools

Cloud platforms require tech leaders to proactively examine available solutions _constantly_ - part of your role as a technology leader is taking out time every week or every month to look at alternative solutions or innovations.

Resources to Watch
 * Slashdot
 * The Register
 * Ars Technica
 * Lifehacker
 * Reddit

Looking at Google VS. Live 365 - both good (free) solutions - both have "hidden" support/backup costs. Looking at Vault and Backupify as options to "protect" cloud data is a must-do. For users/admin who are worried about their data "being out of control" or off premises hire a penetration tester. Your data is NOT secure on your network unless you have draconian network/user security protocols. Cloud apps, to get investors, HAVE to adhere to security (physical and network) standards. Your data is also one of many pieces of data in a network of clients - you are more secure by being the needle in the haystack.

Keeping your own training documentation is counter-productive when UI/UX is constantly changing - work instead on developing user nomenclature and technology vocabulary so they know where to look in "help". Looking through help for "mail meld thingie" is a lot less useful than "troubleshooting mail merge".

Tying in with opening speaker - change is the new constant. "Embedded" software is expensive to create and time/resource consuming to deploy. Cloud apps auto-update constantly. In the older model, you had 3-5 years to deal with changins in upcoming software - now you usually have less than 12 months (Google tends to give [|12 months heads up] on new innovations).

Apps marketspaces and quick development cycle are leading to solution replacement at an astonishing rate. From 1995-2007, you probably used MS Word (or Wordperfect, maybe Lotus) to word process. Now, you can change word processing apps quarterly, and never use the same solution, if you want to.

Using your voice as a client, and engaging the user community is how you leverage the development of cloud platform services. The projects are coded for the users (and sometimes for profit). Become a voice and active member in the solutions you use - it helps you teach others, and it makes it more likely that you will be able to engage in an intelligent conversations with developers.