Cloud computing: A complete guide

Explore cloud computing and discover what it can bring to your enterprise

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing, often referred to as simply “the cloud,” is the delivery of on-demand computing resources — everything from applications to data centers — over the internet on a pay-for-use basis.

  • Elastic resources: Scale up or down quickly and easily to meet changing demand.
  • Metered services: Pay only for what you use.
  • Self-service: Find all the IT resources you need, with self-service access.

Cloud computing types

Platform as a service (PaaS)

Platform as a service provides a cloud-based environment with everything required to support the complete lifecycle of building and delivering web-based (cloud) applications — all without the cost and complexity of buying and managing the underlying hardware, software, provisioning and hosting.

Benefits of PaaS:

  • Develop application and get to market faster
  • Deploy new web applications to the cloud in minutes
  • Reduce complexity with middleware as a service

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a service provides companies with computing resources — including servers, networking, storage and data-center space — on a pay-per-use basis.

Benefits of IaaS:

  • No need to invest in your own hardware
  • Infrastructure scales on demand to support dynamic workloads
  • Flexible, innovative services available on demand

Software as a service (SaaS)

Cloud-based applications — or software as a service — run on distant computers “in the cloud” that are owned and operated by others and that connect to users’ computers via the internet and (usually) a web browser.

Benefits of SaaS:

  • You can sign up and rapidly start using innovative business apps
  • Apps and data are accessible from any connected computer
  • No data is lost if your computer breaks, because the data is in the cloud
  • The service is able to dynamically scale to usage needs.

Security issues in cloud computing

Your cloud infrastructure is only as secure as you make it. Responsibility for securing the cloud lies not only with security teams, but also with DevOps and operations teams that are charged with ensuring appropriate security controls are used. Businesses are eager to bring more regulated workloads to the cloud, including any application that manages or contains personal identifying information, financial information or healthcare information.

To avoid cloud computing risks, a cloud managed services provider should incorporate built-in security layers at every level — from the data center to the operating system — delivering a fully configured solution with industry-leading physical security and regular vulnerability scans performed by highly skilled specialists.

Cloud computing for the enterprise

Enterprises eager to undergo digital transformations and modernize their applications are quick to see the value of adopting a cloud computing platform. They are increasingly finding business agility or cost savings by renting software. Each cloud computing service and deployment model type provides you with different levels of control, flexibility and management. Therefore, it’s important to understand the differences between them.

Common convention points to public cloud as the delivery model of choice; but, when considering the right architecture of cloud computing for your applications and workloads, you must begin by addressing the unique needs of your business.

This can include many factors, such as government regulations, security, performance, data residency, service levels, time to market, architecture complexity, skills and preventing vendor lock-in. Add in the need to incorporate the emerging technologies, and you can see why IT leaders are challenging the notion that cloud computing migration is easy.

At first glance, the types of cloud computing seem simple: public, private or a hybrid mix of both. In reality, the choices are many. Public cloud can include shared, dedicated and bare metal delivery models. Fully and partially managed clouds are also options. And, in some cases, especially for existing applications where architectures are too complex to move or the cost-benefit ratio is not optimal, cloud may not be the right choice.

The right model depends on your workload. You should understand the pluses and minuses of each cloud deployment model and take a methodical approach to determining which workloads to move to which type of cloud for the maximum benefit.

Cloud computing pricing

Like any other business-critical decision, selecting a cloud service requires due diligence and research beyond published per-unit rates. It requires an in-depth understanding of workload performance characteristics and needs and the ability to match those needs to the actual offerings of multiple cloud vendors.

Cloud service providers have no shared standard “units” for cloud capacity or common pricing structures, nor are there common specifications for the underlying hardware that runs the cloud applications. As a result, an assumption of total workload cost based on a provider’s basic “per unit” rate can easily be off by orders of magnitude.

The future of cloud

Within the next three years, 75 percent of existing non-cloud apps will move to the cloud. Today’s computing landscape shows companies not only adopting cloud but using more than one cloud environment. Even then, the cloud journey for many has only just begun, moving beyond low-end infrastructure as a service to establish higher business value.

Do you think your enterprise is ready for the cloud?

Close Menu