Cloud computing

Everyone has stored a document on dropbox or google doc, streamed movies from Netflix or used social networking sites.

In a few years, “cloud computing” has moved from being a crazy idea that tech geeks talk about to a tangible reality that is now indispensable.

Cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing resources over the Internet. Instead of keeping data on your own hard drive or updating applications for your needs, you use a service over the Internet to store your information or use its applications.

Cloud computing can be used by companies following different business models:

·      Software as a Service (SaaS) is model where the consumer buys the ability to access and use an application or service that is hosted in the cloud. The best examples for this service model are salesforce.com and google apps.

·      Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a model where consumers buy access to the platforms, allowing them to use their own software and applications in the cloud. Examples include Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)

·      Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a model where consumers control and manage the systems in terms of the operating systems, applications, storage, and network connectivity, but rent the underlying infrastructure, as a service.  An example is Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2).

The main benefits of cloud computing include cost savings as companies can reduce their capital expenditures, lowering barriers to entry. Another major advantage is scalability and flexibility as companies can increase their deployment rapidly and adjust their resources to satisfy consumer demands. Also, cloud computing allow workers to access applications from anywhere increasing productivity. However cloud computing has also raised many concerns mainly with regards to security and data protection.

In the next few posts, we will discuss the impact that cloud computing has had on business models and take a closer look at the major players in the field.