Cloud Computing at its simplest form

Cloud computing is delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, where by shared resources,software and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network.

Cloud computing consists of hardware and software resources made available on the Internet as managed third-party services. These services typically provide access to advanced software applications and high-end networks of server computers.

Cloud computing provides computation, software, data access and storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services. The concept of cloud computing can be parallel drawn with electricity grid, wherein end-users consume power without needing to understand the component devices or infrastructure required to provide the service.

Cloud computing refers to software services and platforms that are offered through the internet... An easy to understand example is e-mail; some people access e-mail from a program on their computer while others use e-mail services online such as Gmail or Yahoo! Mail.

The different types of cloud computing services are

Software-as-a-service(SaaS)

   Services offered by cloud computing are actually software, but the software is never installed on a computer; this is what’s known as software-as-a-service.

Platform-as-a-service(PaaS)

   Provides a computing platform and facilitates the applications to run smoothly without the cost and complexity of installing and managing hardware and software and provisioning hosting capabilities.

Infrastructure-as-a-service(IaaS)

   Is a form of hosting? The IaaS provider will generally provide the hardware and administrative services needed to store the applications.

Network-as-a-service(NaaS)

    Delivers network services virtually over the internet on a pay-per-use or monthly subscription basis.

 The different types of cloud computing are

Private cloud

It is a cloud computing platform that is implemented well within the corporate network traffic, under the control of the IT department.

Public cloud

It is the most recognizable model of cloud computing to many consumers, in which a service provider makes resources, such as applications and storage, available to the general public over the internet.

Hybrid cloud

It is an integrated cloud service utilizing both private and public clouds to perform distinct functions within the same organization.

Community cloud

Here, infrastructure is shared between several corporate networks with common concerns like security, jurisdiction and so on, whether managed internally or by a third-party and hosted internally or externally.

Cloud computing importance

Cloud computing is an efficient way to store and maintain databases.

It’s an easy way to organize information in different departments while still allowing for company-wide collaboration.

Cloud services are updated by the provider, so everyone is always working on the latest platform.

Since it is accessible from anywhere it is generally less expensive than other solutions.

Top cloud computing service providers are:

Amazon

Amazon Web Service (AWS) provide Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offerings in the cloud for organizations requiring computing power, storage, and other services.

The customers can create virtual machines (VMs) that is, server instances called Amazon Machine Image (AMI) on which the customer can load any software of his choice.

Google

Google App Engine is Google’s platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offers building and hosting web applications on the Google Infrastructure. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offers business email and collaboration. It’s similar to the traditional office suits, including Gmail, Calendar, Gtalk, Docs and sites.

Microsoft Azure Service Platform

Azure Service Platform is Microsoft’s PaaS offering an operating system called Windows Azure that serves as a runtime for the applications and provides a set of services such as:

.NET Services, SQL Services, Live Services

Proofpoint

Proofpoint provides SaaS and IaaS services in the cloud related to securing the enterprise email infrastructure, with solutions. Proofpoint’s solutions are priced on a per-user, per-year basis, depending on the product features.

Targeted Users

All MNCs irrespective of their product and services will be having an IT department, at least with a database of its own. These departments will be linked with cloud services so that they can focus more on their primary objective. The data will be stored on the cloud and they need not worry during system crash scenarios.

Among the first companies to adopt cloud computing are small and medium business. The lack of infrastructure will be the main problem for small scale companies, and IaaS overcomes this drawback.

Main reasons to consider cloud computing are:

Cost

IT equipment and support contracts are not cheap. Traditionally the better software systems were expensive to buy and required their own server in their own place and that come with maintaining your own software and servers. However, now with cloud computing we can get access to software on a pay per user per month basis, without owning any licenses or any servers.

Productivity

Having access to data and applications and even your PC and servers from anywhere at any time really changes the business landscape.

We need not worry about the location of the service provider, or how they are providing. We just need to enjoy the service.

Drawbacks of Cloud computing services are

Reliability: Service provider makes no guarantee as to the availability all the time.

Security: They will not make any guarantee as to whom they will disclose your data.

Persistence: Ensuring persistence of data is complicated.

Network : the virtual network that allows cloud services to communicate has some quite   limitations

Cloud computing makes business dependent on the reliability of your internet connection.

Future of cloud computing

According to many analysts, the market for cloud computing solutions is booming. Forrester Research expects the market for global cloud computing to reach $241 billion in 2020, compared to $40.7 in 2010. cloud computing opens a great deal of opportunity for savvy telecom companies so it is important to understand if you could be competing with or developing partnerships with this sector.