CommonClouds is a software product that manages sharing of vital information among micro-finance institutions (MFIs) in different levels. For example, it allows an MFI to access records of a certain loan applicant to ensure he or she is not over-indebted. CommonClouds is a concrete manifestation of MFIs to collectively solve common problems by sharing data among themselves so that they may operate
efficiently and effectively. To put it in an apt analogy, CommonClouds is formed when water particles (data) “evaporate” from MFIs. Gathering enough mass of water particles, raindrops (useful information) will fall down on MFIs, in particular, and on the micro-finance “garden,” in general, nourishing the whole industry to its full flowering. Needless to say, the pace of vaporization is the key to the question of when these “shower of blessings” will fall upon the MFIs. There are three factors that form a cloud: sunshine, topography and front. The heat from the sunshine causes the vapors to rise. An appropriate topography (such as a mountain that causes air to rise when push by winds) forces the air to rise. Then the cold front creates dense air that wedges under less-dense air and lifts the warm air up. Together, they can create a cloud much more quickly. Let us say that the software CommonClouds is the “topography,” the MFIs causes the heat making them the "sunshine" and the MF funders are the cold front. When all three team up, vaporization is expedited and the cloud that will rain useful information on MFIs will exist at last.
