My brother once asked me if my documents “were in the cloud.”

I stared at him blankly.

What is this cloud, and what does it have to do with me? I asked…

Actually, it has a lot to do with all of us, even if you don’t know it.

It’s a hugely profitable part of the technology sector and it’s helped make companies like Amazon and Microsoft what they are today.

It’s an important part of any portfolio.

So what is cloud computing?

It’s actually simpler than you think.

Ever saved something in Google Drive on your home computer and accessed it on a work computer hours later? That document was saved in the cloud.

According to pcmag.com, “In the simplest terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer's hard drive. The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet.”

So essentially, cloud computing allows you to access everything stored in it from any computer available. You can see why this has been so hugely profitable… your information is accessible no matter where you are as long as you have the Internet. This is big especially for global companies that have bases all over the world. Instead of having to mail docs or programs, everything is available from New York City or Tokyo.

Cloud computing is hugely profitable and according to pcmag.com, “cloud computing is big business: The market generated $100 billion a year in 2012, which could be $127 billion by 2017 and $500 billion by 2020.”

Think about that. Cloud computing could be worth $500 billion in just three years… Don’t you want a piece of that?

Cloud computing is one of the reasons that Larry Ellison is the fifth richest man in the world.

Ellison originally created Oracle, which is a computer database system and has expanded, according to Wikipedia into, “The company primarily specializes in developing and marketing database software and technology, cloud engineered system sand enterprise software products—particularly its own brands of database management systems. In 2015 Oracle was the second-largest software maker by revenue, after Microsoft.”

Oracle has now moved into the hugely important, and hugely profitable field of cloud computing. It's even willing to fight Amazon for the top spot. According to Fortune.com, “Ellison... said... that he considers Amazon to be Oracle’s number one competitor when it comes to the business of selling computing capacity on demand, also known as cloud computing.” Amazon is huge in cloud computing, but with Amazon in Ellison’s sights, it’s possible that Amazon won’t be the top dog for much longer.

Cloud computing is getting more and more competitive; you need to make sure you don’t miss out.  That’s why we’ve found three tech companies that you can invest in that are all hugely important in the cloud computing world.   

Oracle Corporation: (NYSE: ORCL)

Oracle is a huge company with a market cap of $157.12 billion. Obviously, this is where Ellison’s success came from. Oracle isn’t stuck in the past even though it was founded in 1977, but is actively engaging with current technology updates, specifically cloud infrastructure. It holds its own with huge competitors like Amazon, and has been increasing in value over the past five years. Oracle is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ GS: MSFT)

There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t know Microsoft. MSFT was founded just two years earlier than Oracle, in 1975, and has grown into a company with a market cap of a staggering $474.83 billion. MSFT does pretty much everything in the technology field, from hardware and software for computers, to various servers and products such as Office, Skype, and Outlook.com. The good news is that the average investor is able to put money into Microsoft, as its shares at the time of writing were $64.72.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ GS: AMZN)

Amazon is the top competitor when it comes to cloud technology. It's long been considered the best in the business for cloud computing, and there’s a solid reason for it. With a huge market cap of $397.14 billion and shares at $847.91 at the time of writing, it not only has a foot in the tech sector, but in many others, from publishing to retail to food delivery. I mean come on, who even buys anything from brick and mortar stores anymore? That’s why Amazon is a solid stock option, especially as share prices have jumped over $600 in the past five years. AMZN was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.