The paradigm, Cloud computing, is a type of computing in which all information, applications, and resources are managed in a virtual atmosphere. The word “cloud” describes the structure and nature of cloud computing where applications hosted on the internet are accessed by users via any device, anywhere and anytime.

Google G-Suite is a good example of cloud computing as firms making use of G-Suite range of services no longer see the need for installed word processing program, in-house email services nor IT personnel required to manage them. The benefit of using Google G-Suite is increased security, productivity, data backup and lower IT costs. It also gives firms access to several services including site hosting, email, document editing, calendar and much more via a web browser.

Many hosting firms and even a few internet retailers are starting to provide cloud hosting services for customers who want to have personal applications in an atmosphere controlled by them. They provide simple setup of cloud hosting with a user interface where users just pay for the amount of processing, storage and bandwidth that they use. This pricing technique is an advantage to both cloud hosting firms and end users.

There are three main variations of cloud computing

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): IaaS is presently the most predominantly used variation of cloud computing. IaaS permits small, medium and even large enterprises to cut costs considerably by eliminating the need for costly network equipment and expensive bandwidth needed to support their workload. With IaaS, a firm only pays for what they use from the cloud infrastructure and as more IaaS cloud hosting firms emerge, costs can potentially drop due to a better cloud hosting competition.
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS is second to IaaS in terms of status and consumer adoption. A little 0firm selling cloud applications and cloud services does not have to develop, run or manage the apps on their infrastructure but can instead have them hosted elsewhere. These permits enterprise firms and even little developers the capability to enter the cloud application market without the need for large startup capital. PaaS has the potential to overtake IaaS in terms of consumer adoption and full use.
3. Software as a Service (SaaS) is the least used cloud hosting service. It is a win-win for both software firms and consumers. Customers save money as heavily priced program licenses are no longer necessary because consumers are just paying when the program is used. The need to buy program is bulk is removed, and every consumer’s program needs are custom suited based on usage. Consumers who could not afford the big cost of bulk program licenses will now be capable to purchase based directly on their program usage needs. SaaS has the potential to fully revolutionize the software industry and may even curb program piracy.

The customized nature of cloud computing is what makes it such a famous and freshly adopted online technology. It will revolutionize the way that networking and regular computing is run. It is a remarkable win-win situation for both cloud consumers and firms.

Cloud computing benefits

The benefits depend on the cloud service type being used, but basically, using cloud services means firms do not have to manage or purchase their own computing infrastructure.

No more buying servers, using an operating system or applications, or decommissioning and disposing of software or hardware when they are no longer in use, as it is all taken care of by the cloud computing vendor. For commodity applications, such as email, it makes sense to move to the cloud, rather than trust on in-house expertise. A firm that specializes in securing and running these services is likely to have an amazing expertise and more experienced staff than a little business could have enough money to hire, so cloud services may be capable to deliver a more efficient and safe service to end users.

Using cloud service means organizations can move quicker on projects, test ideas without lengthy procedure and high costs because firms just pay for the resources they use. This is known as the key advantage of the cloud computing. The capability to test new service without the effort and time linked with the traditional IT procurement processes should mean that is easier to deploy fresh applications quicker and the flexible nature of the cloud means it is easier to scale up or down depending on your requirements.

For a firm with an application that peaks in usage, for example, an application that is just used at a particular time of the year or week, it makes financial sense to have it hosted in the cloud, rather than have dedicated software and hardware laying idle for much of the time.

What makes cloud computing different?

1. It is managed: Most importantly, the service you use is provided by someone else and handled on your behalf. If you are using Google Documents, you do not have to hesitate about purchasing expensive licenses for a word-processing program, keeping them up-to-date or about backing up the files you create. Google does all that for you. One important principle of cloud computing is that you no longer need bother how the service you are purchasing is provided: with web-based services, you simply focus on whatever your work is and leave the issue of providing dependable computing to any other person.
2. It is on demand: Cloud services are accessible on-demand. So you generally buy cloud computing the same way you buy telephone services, electricity, or internet access from a utility firm. Sometimes cloud computing is paid or free. Just like electricity, you can purchase as much as little of cloud computing service as you need from one day to the next. That is remarkable if your needs change unpredictably, it means you do not have to purchase your own gigantic computer system, and risk have it sitting on your infrastructure doing nothing.
3. It is private or public: Presently, we all have personal computers which we have complete control over and full responsibility for them as well. Cloud computing changes all that. It comes in 2 basic flavors, private and public and are the cloud equivalent of the intranets and internet. Web-based email services like the ones Google G-Suit provides are the most famous examples of public clouds. Private cloud computing jobs in much the same way, but the resources are hosted on your infrastructure. Firms such as Amazon also let you use their public access cloud to make your own private secure cloud, called as a Virtual Private Cloud, using virtual private network links.

How do you build a winning business case for cloud computing?

To build a winning business case for a moving system to the cloud you initially need to know what your existing infrastructure exactly costs. There is a lot to factor in: The cost of servers, physical hardware, and details of specifications like cores, CPUs, RAM and storage cost. You will also need to compute the cost of applications – whether you plan to get rid of them, fully rebuilding them for the cloud or purchase a fully new SaaS package. Each choice will have different cost implications. The cloud business case also needs to contain people costs and more nebulous ideas like the advantage of being capable to provide new service quicker.

What is the future of cloud computing?

Cloud computing is still at a relatively early level of adoption, despite its long history. Many firms are still considering which applications to move and when. Anyway, usage is just expected to climb as organizations get more relaxed with the idea of their data being somewhere other than a server in the basement. Cloud computing price cuts may spread to other services like databases and storage, as cloud vendors want to win the large workloads that are going out of enterprise datacenters and into the cloud. That is likely to be the best news for clients as prices fall drastically.

Author: Ejike Daniel