3 W’s of Cloud Computing!

“Cloud is about how you do computing, not where you do computing.” –Paul Maritz, VMware CEO

Cloud Computing has revolutionized the ways and means of computing to the next level. And it has become something which is indispensable especially in the Business and IT world. So, let’s briefly try to understand What is Cloud Computing? Why Cloud Computing? and When to move to Cloud Computing?

What Is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the delivery of different services through the Internet. These resources include tools and applications like data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software. Rather than keeping files on a proprietary hard drive or local storage device, cloud-based storage makes it possible to save them to a remote database. As long as an electronic device has access to the web, it has access to the data and the software programs to run it.

Cloud computing takes all the heavy lifting involved in crunching and processing data away from the device you carry around or sit and work at. It also moves all of that work to huge computer clusters far away in cyberspace. The Internet becomes the cloud, and your data, work, and applications are available from any device with which you can connect to the Internet, anywhere in the world.

Cloud computing is a popular option for people and businesses for a number of reasons including cost savings, increased productivity, speed and efficiency, performance, and security.

Cloud computing services provide users with a series of functions including:

• Email
• Storage, backup, and data retrieval
• Creating and testing apps
• Analyzing data
• Audio and video streaming
• Delivering software on demand

Deployment Models

There are various types of clouds, each of which is different from the other.

Public clouds: Provide their services on servers and storage on the Internet. These are operated by third-party companies, who handle and control all the hardware, software, and the general infrastructure. Clients access services through accounts that can be accessed by just about anyone.

Private clouds: These are reserved for specific clientele, usually one business or organization. The firm’s data service center may host the cloud computing service. Many private cloud computing services are provided on a private network.

Hybrid clouds: These are, as the name implies, a combination of both public and private services. This type of model allows the user more flexibility and helps optimize the user’s infrastructure and security.

Types of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is not a single piece of technology. Rather, it’s a system primarily comprising three services: 

1. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) involves the licensure of a software application to customers. Licenses are typically provided through a pay-as-you-go model or on-demand. This type of system can be found in Microsoft Office’s 365.
2. Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) involves a method for delivering everything from operating systems to servers and storage through IP-based connectivity as part of an on-demand service. Clients can avoid the need to purchase software or servers, and instead procure these resources in an outsourced, on-demand service. Popular examples of the IaaS system include IBM Cloud and Microsoft Azure.
3. Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is considered the most complex of the three layers of cloud-based computing. PaaS shares some similarities with SaaS, the primary difference being that instead of delivering software online, it is actually a platform for creating software that is delivered via the Internet. This model includes platforms like Salesforce.com and Heroku.

Why Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the future of enterprise applications and solutions. With cloud-based services, we have the following advantages that’s why Cloud Computing cannot be ignored anymore.

Cost Savings: Businesses are constantly looking to find ways for IT investments to boost productivity, increase business efficiencies and enable innovation without the need for capital investment. With technological advances, the future is set to be highly competitive and agility is the need of the hour. With cloud computing, organizations can save money on storage, servers and management services, as these services can be moved to the cloud with minimum cost, making your operations more efficient.

Scalability: Having workloads in the cloud, you can quickly respond to peak demands and lower capacity when it’s necessary. All that is done automatically and doesn’t require a lot of time and effort. With on-premises hosting, you’d need to purchase additional equipment and install it to increase capacity. But once a load spike passes, you still have to pay for redundant resources it consumes.

Saves time: In a competitive market, ‘time’ is as important as money. Cloud computing has many advantages; perhaps the most beneficial advantage is the ease of use. With easy-to-use cloud services, organizations can save time and re-invest it in their core business.

Product Innovation: Cloud computing is still growing and we have not yet leveraged all the benefits of the cloud. Therefore, there is considerable room for improvement in this technology; and where there is room for improvement, innovation is never far behind.

Reliability: Even more appealing to IT managers is the fact that this underlying system of shared resources also significantly reduces downtimes in case of server malfunctions, both for websites and enterprise networks, and that it offers the ability to manage peak loads much more efficiently.

Flexibility: The future always holds expansion possibilities and with the flexibility that cloud services offer, one can always scale up or scale down cloud services based on business demands.

Performance enhancer: The future demands the need for timely up-gradation. With cloud services, these updates can be automated. In addition, cloud gives the option to modify data on the storage devices from anywhere on the globe as long as you have an internet connection thus enhancing your performance.

Increased Collaboration: Cloud computing makes collaboration a simple process. Team members can view and share information easily and securely across a cloud-based platform. Some cloud-based services even provide collaborative social spaces to connect employees across your organization, therefore increasing interest and engagement. Collaboration may be possible without a cloud-computing solution, but it will never be as easy, nor as effective.

Quality Control: In a cloud-based system, all documents are stored in one place and in a single format. With everyone accessing the same information, you can maintain consistency in data, avoid human error, and have a clear record of any revisions or updates. Conversely, managing information in silos can lead to employees accidentally saving different versions of documents, which leads to confusion and diluted data.

Omnipresent: With cloud computing, as long as you have an internet connection, you can access all information that is stored on the cloud, anywhere and 24/7.

When to move to The Cloud?

After knowing what is Cloud Computing and the associated advantages, reaping its benefits is possible only when one knows when to move to the cloud technology. Business and IT leaders all over the world are replacing legacy, on-premises technology with flexible, scalable, and cost-effective computing power in the cloud. From reducing IT costs to accelerating innovation, there are many compelling reasons to embark on a migration journey. However, making the transition is not easy without a well-developed plan and cloud expertise.

Here, we highlight the eight biggest reasons we see organizations migrate to a cloud platform, which is When they want to:

• Reducing IT costs
• Increasing business agility
• Improving Security
• Eliminating end-of-life concerns
• Consolidating data centers
• Enabling digital transformation
• Accelerating growth
• Leveraging new technologies