If you will excuse the pun, the term ‘Cloud Computing’ is rather nebulous – a variety of different services and operating models can be regarded as ‘Cloud Computing’.

“Shared computing resources that can be dynamically scaled according to business requirements, faster than traditional computing environments.”

It’s easy to come-up with a one line description, but what does it mean and why is there so much hype about cloud computing? The term ‘cloud computing’ has been in use for some years now, but is now getting increased publicity as it enters the mainstream. There are many hyped-up technologies that promise to change the world, however, Cloud Computing is an exciting way to deliver solutions with reduced cost and increased agility. Generally, when people refer to ‘Cloud Computing’, they are referring to rented computing services from a service provider, accessed across the internet. Using this service means the client needs less IT infrastructure on their own premises and reduced costs because the underlying infrastructure is shared between many clients.

Generally, when people refer to ‘Cloud Computing’, they are referring to rented computing services from a service provider, accessed across the internet. Using this service means the client needs less IT infrastructure on their own premises and reduced costs because the underlying infrastructure is shared between many clients.

Cloud computing comprises of the following features:

Provision of computer processing and data storage capability.
Shared resources that are dynamically scalable and typically, virtualised.
Service is provided over a network, which can be the Internet of a private network.
Service is usually charged as an operating expense instead of a capital investment.

What are the benefits of using Cloud Computing ?

The up-front cost of introducing infrastructure is reduced, as the usual capital investment in hardware is replaced by a monthly ‘usage’ charge. The economic benefit of this should be verified to account for the services used and data volumes.
The cost of using the system (should be) less than the cost of hosting it yourself, when taking into account all the infrastructure costs such as hardware, software, backups, contingency provision and ongoing upgrades and maintenance.
Can prevent valuable real-estate being occupied by IT infrastructure equipment that requires additional security, cooling and UPS power and (sometimes) generator power.

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What should I be aware of before using Cloud Computing ?

Depending on the Cloud service used, the service may be less flexible than your company is used to. You must ensure that the service offering will work for your company.
Deploying a non-standard application may not be possible or may incur charges from the supplier.
Perform due-diligence on the supplier to ensure they are financially stable and have security and operational policies and procedures in place that are at least as comprehensive as those of your company.
Ensure you know where your data is. Many companies have a legal and regulatory obligation to know exactly where their data is.
Ensure you know who has access to your data at the service provider. You don’t want a disgruntled employee of the service provider taking a copy of your client database.
Ensure the data is encrypted on the service provider’s servers and on their backups.
Ensure the backed-up data is available for you to recover from as a result of an issue caused by your company. For example, many Cloud service providers perform regular backups, but will only restore if they suffer a problem. This won’t help you if you accidentally delete some of your data.
Ensure you understand the legal and regulatory requirements that you and your cloud service provider must comply with. For example the retention of month-end backups.
Ensure the infrastructure is configurable to meet your needs ‘out of the box’. For example, make sure you have the ability to restart servers and install software as you need to.
Understand how upgrades to the operating system software are applied and whether you have the opportunity to test your business systems on the new version before it is implemented for live use.
Delivery of the service is totally dependent on the performance and stability of the network. Make sure that both the company premises and the hosting provider have sufficient capacity and diverse routing to cope in the event of a failure.

What is the financial impact of using Cloud Computing ?

Financially, the significant difference of Cloud Computing to the traditional model of owning your own servers, is that it is typically charged on a pay-as-you-use operating expense instead of a capital investment. This may suit many companies, as they can very quickly get access to significant computing power and capacity for no capital outlay.

Tight control needs to be kept on the use of the services, as it is easy to expand and hence increase ongoing charges.

Cloud Computing service delivery models

Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

DaaS is an outsourced service offering in which a service provider hosts the infrastructure and storage to deliver manage your company’s desktop devices. For many people, DaaS is more difficult to understand than IaaS, PaaS or SaaS. This is probably because IaaS, PaaS or SaaS are all server focused and it is easy to envisage a remote third-party hosted servers service, however it is not so easy to envisage how the ‘PC on my desk’ can be virtualised and run remotely.

DaaS uses desktop virtualisation or VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) to deliver a standard desktop to the users in your company. The desktop (or laptop) device used to access the service can be a ‘thin client’ which means there is very little infrastructure required at the company premises.

Click here to read more about DaaS.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS is an outsourced service offering in which a service provider hosts the base infrastructure and storage. Using these base infrastructure services, you can install the servers and services you need to run for your business although many providers will also provide this as a service.

Typically, the infrastructure will be delivered using virtual infrastructure which allows the service provider to better utilise hardware and hence offer the service at a lower cost than the traditional ‘host your own servers’ method.

Click here to read more about IaaS.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS is an outsourced service offering in which a service provider hosts all the infrastructure services that you are likely to need, such as database management, application serving, development environment, workflow and security. Using these services, you can either develop your own business system or deploy a ready-built one.

Click here to read more about PaaS.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS is an outsourced service offering in which a service provider hosts one or more software applications that can licensed to and used by many different clients with their data securely partitioned.

Traditionally if you need to use software, it is installed on your desktop PC and/or on your company’s servers. With SaaS, the software is installed and run on the service provider’s infrastructure. This not only avoids the need for the infrastructure to run and support the system, it also takes on responsibility for upgrades, backups and data storage.

SaaS service providers can provide just one application through to complete application suites.

Click here to read more about SaaS.

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Cloud Computing types

Public cloud

This is what most people understand to be Cloud Computing. This is computing resources charged on a pay-as-you-use basis.

Financially, this is usually the most cost effective option because the infrastructure is already established and is publicly shared. Therefore there is no capital investment needed by your company to get started.

There are drawbacks however. It is important to make sure that the service meets your needs, because it will be less flexible. Companies may be uncomfortable placing their most sensitive data in a public cloud, even though it will be logically secured.

Private cloud

A private cloud is technically very similar to a public cloud, except the technical infrastructure is dedicated to your company.

Financially, this can still be cost effective, although less-so than a public cloud because the economies of scale can’t be achieved. A company can still enjoy the benefits of financial and agility benefits from virtualisation.

Companies are more likely to be comfortable with this option for their most sensitive data.

A private cloud doesn’t have to be operated by an outsourced provider – it can be based on in-house infrastructure.

Hybrid cloud

This is a combination of a private and public cloud. It allows a company to obtain the benefits of cloud computing, whilst protecting their most sensitive data.

This is a common scenario for companies who are unwilling to place all their data in a public cloud.

Managed cloud

This is similar to the private cloud, except the cloud is managed by a third party hosting provider.

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…. and finally ….

You may already be using a cloud computing service without realising it. Services such as Hotmail, Gmail, Google Docs, Flickr and even the website you are reading now are all forms of cloud services.

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Cloud Computing – why is everyone so excited ?