Cloud Computing - We hear the term almost daily. But really, what is cloud computing? This seems to be a common question. In June of this year, TELUS and IDC Canada published a cloud computing study that surveyed 200 Canadian IT and corporate executives and directors from large Canadian companies (more than 500 employees) in a variety of industry sectors. . The study found that 63% of the Canadian companies surveyed did not have enough or only a basic level of knowledge to make decisions about using a cloud service or their internal IT department.
A recent article on eweek.com also indicates that there is a lot of confusion about cloud computing. The article refers to a recent study commissioned by Citrix Systems that included more than 1,000 adults in the US The study showed that the majority of respondents believed that the cloud was related to weather. 51% of those surveyed think that the weather could interfere with cloud computing. Despite the confusion, the study also found that 97% of participants currently use cloud services with examples such as online banking, shopping, social media, and file sharing. Additionally, 59% of respondents indicated that they believe that the "workplace of the future" will be in the cloud, which is somewhat at odds with the prevalence of cloud computing today.
This summary above reflects what we found among our own clients. Knowledge of cloud computing is relatively limited, and as a result, organizations can miss important opportunities to strengthen their business by reducing costs and risks. We hope this article provides you with an overview of cloud computing to help you assess its suitability for your business needs.
What is cloud computing?
First of all, it helps to understand where the term cloud computing comes from. This is most likely due to the use of a cloud image to represent a networked computing environment or the Internet.
A quick Google search will reveal a number of cloud computing definitions. I like a definition I took from Wikipedia that defines cloud computing as the provision of computing as a service whereby shared resources, software and information are delivered to computers and other devices as utility, similar to the network electricity, on a network that is mainly found on the Internet.
What are the different cloud computing models?
To clear up some of the confusion surrounding cloud computing, it helps to understand the different cloud service models, including three: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service. (IaaS)).
SaaS is the most popular version of the cloud service. With SaaS, the software and its associated data are centrally hosted and typically accessed over the Internet using a browser. What are some examples of SaaS? MailChimp, the application we use to distribute our newsletters, is one example. Google Apps is another example, as is Dropbox, and the list continues to grow.
PaaS provides the provision of an IT platform and the necessary solutions to facilitate application deployment without having to invest in the cost and complexity of hardware and software. Some examples of PaaS include Microsoft Azure and Google App Engine.
The IaaS service model allows customers to avoid purchasing servers, software, data center space, and network equipment. These resources are provided as a fully outsourced service. Examples of IaaS include Elastic Compute Cloud and Amazon's Rackspace.
In addition to the different cloud service models, it is helpful to understand the delivery models through which cloud computing is distributed. The main delivery models are public, private, community and hybrid.
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