Barry Briggs (Credit: MHT)

If you're like us, you were just wrapping your head around the notion of distributed online computing and storage as a "cloud." Turns out it's also a "tidal wave," according to Barry Briggs, the chief technology officer for Microsoft's internal information-technology department.

Briggs reached into Microsoft's bag of classic metaphors during an interesting conversation about cloud computing with our sister publication, Mass High Tech, following an MIT Enterprise Forum event yesterday. Of course, his point was that cloud computing is an unstoppable force. Here's a key excerpt from the MHT interview, with Briggs' perspective on overcoming inherent security concerns.

MHT: What might slow down the growth of the cloud?

Briggs: I think is a tidal wave — I think it is that significant. There are questions about security and there are also answers to those questions. We spent a huge amount of time investing in security technology for our cloud applications and other vendors are as well ­— the companies that are actually using our cloud services. I think that the objections will be overruled and they will be invalidated as the technology evolves. I really don’t see that there is going to really be an impediment to the adoption of the cloud, I think it is going to be inevitable.

Cloud computing has long posed a dilemma for Microsoft, which still makes most of its money on traditional PC and server operating systems and applications. However, its inevitability must be sinking in, because the company in recent months has made a point of publicly embracing cloud computing, with CEO Steve Ballmer declaring that Microsoft is "all in" when it comes to the cloud.

In one high-profile example, the company's Office 2010 release later this week will be accompanied by Office Web Applications, free web-based versions of Word, Excel and other traditional Microsoft programs -- competing with Google Docs and other programs already offered in the cloud, or the tidal wave, or whatever you want to call it.

You can read the full MHT interview here.