What Is The Cloud?

Publication date: Jul 02, 2018

Last Published: Apr 08, 2021

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The formal definition of Cloud computing is: a technology model that allows global user access over the Internet to shared pools of resources, that can be rapidly provisioned with minimal effort, is fully configurable, and provides higher service levels such as uptime and availability, compared to on-premise hosting.

In short, Cloud computing is essentially an on-demand delivery of resources by a cloud services provider, usually provided on a pay-as-you-go pricing model. The key element in Cloud computing is the sharing of resources to reach the economies of scale required to deliver cost saving to the customer.

Over the past decade “the Cloud” has become a household term, everyone from your kids to your grandma seems to know about it. This is because there are two distinct types of cloud. One serves individual consumers and the other serves businesses. On the consumer side, the idea behind the Cloud is pretty straight-forward. Consumer level platforms delivered via the cloud include social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or free hosted email such as Gmail. All of these fantastic apps have made daily life simpler and more entertaining. We don’t have to worry about installing any kind of software application or backing up our data, it all just works magically!

On the business side, the Cloud becomes a little more complicated. Traditionally, a business organization would have to build its own IT infrastructure, develop its applications, maintain the systems, and plan for growth and system performance. All of this required a lot of upfront capital investment as well as a skilled team of engineers. Cloud services delivered by third-party providers allow organizations to focus their resources on their core business, to minimize upfront costs, and to get their applications and systems up and running significantly faster. Once a new system is online, cloud services offer improved service levels, manageability, and reduced maintenance. For future expansion, cloud services allow IT teams to rapidly adjust resources to meet growth or performance requirements.

Written by: Payam Pourkhomami, President & CEO, OSIbeyond

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