Introduction
Over
the past two decades, the technology landscape has drastically evolved through
cloud computing. Regarded as the most influential IT solution of the 21st
century, cloud computing business solution provides endless benefits for SMBs.
This computing system not only saves time and cost but also boosts
productivity, encourages collaboration, and induces innovation. Based on the
Internet, the Cloud allows people to access and run applications or programs over the
cloud instead of downloading them on a physical computer. Cloud hosting enables organizations to outsource computing equipment, resources, and on-demand
applications while developing and managing them on their own platform. According
to the definition provided by the National Institute of Standard and Technology
(NIST), “Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network
access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks,
servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned
and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction”.
Background
Cloud
computing initiates its journey in the 1950s with the concept of mainframe
computing where users could access a central computer through dumb terminals.
The huge cost of a mainframe computer bars the organizations to purchase and
maintain it for each of their employees. Its massive storage brought the
cost-effective and practical idea of shared access for the first time. Later,
the idea of ‘utility computing’ suggested by scientist John McCarthy in 1961
and the 'intergalactic computer network' introduced by J.C.R. Licklider in 1969
paved the way for the evolution of cloud computing.
However,
it would exist as a mere idea if the virtualization and significant bandwidth access
of the Internet would not have taken place in the nineties. The arrival of
Salesforce.com in 1999 is considered the first milestone in the history of cloud
computing. This simple website pioneered the idea of delivering applications
over the Internet for both specialist and mainstream IT companies. The Amazon
Web Services in 2002 and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) in 2006
started renting virtual computers to the small businesses and individuals who
can run and deploy their own computer applications on Amazon’s cloud computing
platform. Web 2.0, an improved version of the World Wide Web, reaches its
culmination in 2009 when Google and other services enter the field with their
browser-based enterprise applications.
Cloud Computing Fundamentals
The
IS/IT migration of cloud-based system models allow organizations to
outsource their IT requirements from cloud service providers, thus lowering
their investments and increasing productivity. Delivering a versatile solution to
numerous business organizations, cloud service providers are capable to
maintain fair margins while offering moderate pricing to their customers.
Benefits
of Cloud Computing
· Operational Agility: Nearly 32% of cloud customers adopted this bona fide business strategy for its operational agility. By quickly adapting equipment and services to meet customer demands, cloud computing works wonders against the time-consuming, costly, and traditional application modernizations we encountered decades ago.
· Disaster Recovery: Designed to ensure business continuity and consistent performance, cloud DR, a backup and restore process, can safely and accurately transfer the OS, applications, patches, and data from one to another data center without the complexity of loading every component of the server. In addition to reducing cost, it offers a faster recovery time in comparison to the non-virtualized disaster recovery approach.
Source:
TechTarget
· Customized Operation: Cloud computing allows its customers to unilaterally plan and change computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage as needed. Organizations can develop new functionalities in weeks rather than months or years and carry over the customization smoothly without any human interaction with service providers.
· Flexibility and Elasticity: Cloud computing facilitates the delivery of scalable information technology resources over the Internet instead of operating and hosting them locally. Its flexible pay-per-use feature allows the end-users to scale quickly meeting the fast-paced business demands, whereas its virtualized and shared infrastructure allows for the fast and convenient allocation of resources in a monitored workplace.
· Broad Network Access: Available for access on a number of devices, such as laptops, Macs, mobiles, workstations, and more, the private cloud of a particular organization offers broad network access for its employees from a wide range of locations. Access to secure data over this network is more feasible in a hybrid cloud setting instead of a purely private cloud model.
· Cost Efficiency: Cloud computing reduces the high cost of computing resources and hardware. It is a more practical solution for SMBs and SoHo, as they can share their server infrastructure with other organizations to save on maintenance costs and energy. This subscription-based model not only serves the security needs of business organizations but also minimizes their data center overloads.
· Resource Pooling: This multi-tenant model provides physical and virtual computing resources to a number of customers at the same time. These provisional and scalable services of storage, processing, memory, and network bandwidth are offered to the customers as per their needs in a consistent and transparent manner.
·
Virtual
Workplace: Cloud
computing allows its consumers to work from anywhere on earth using any devices
provided they are connected through the Internet. As a result, business
organizations can allow their employees to work from home without affecting
their productivity. A recent study reveals that 42% of workers are willing to
accept a 6% pay cut for the privilege of telecommuting.
· Data Security: Cloud security, control, and compliances are on the demand list of every possible consumer. All the cloud service providers employ efficient security teams and use the latest technologies to prevent data theft and malware attacks. Though a private cloud is considered more secure than public cloud services, organizations need to investigate and make sure that there are no loopholes in the security policies and technologies used by the service providers before subscribing to the services.
· Competitive Atmosphere: Cloud computing offers pay-as-you-go services with the accessibility to advanced technologies and solutions. This cost-saving process enables small and medium businesses to compete with the big and established organizations to build a fast-pacing and challenging business environment.
· Eco-Friendly: Cloud computing is a more environment-friendly choice, as in this shared service the server capacity is utilized completely with fewer machines and less energy. Moreover, in an established data center, the business organizations need to use a high-utility cooling system to maintain the temperature of the servers, resulting in more consumption of power. Cloud service providers work on a larger scale and own more effective layouts to keep the servers cool.
· Automatic Software Update: Cloud service providers maintain the business servers and roll out automatic software updates along with security updates. This enables the consumer not to waste their precious time and resources manually updating each component of the software.
Depending
on the stage of development, the NIST cloud computing definition presents three
cloud service models: software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service
(PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
Software
as a Service:
SaaS is a cloud model that uses multitenant architecture to provide on-demand
software, such as ERP, CRM, E-mail, and Collaboration Software on a subscription
basis. These applications are hosted and maintained by the service provider and
offer a number of advantages over on-premises deployments that involve minimal
administration and maintenance, access from any location, enhanced
communication, and collaboration.
Infrastructure
as a Service:
IaaS is a cloud model that facilitates the outsourcing of hardware infrastructures,
such as servers, storage, hardware, and networking components that are
accessible over the Internet and hosted by the cloud service provider. IaaS
comprises of Service Level Agreement (SLA), Utility Computing, Cloud Software,
Platform Virtualization, Networks and Connectivity, and Computer Hardware. This
pay-per-use system includes EC2 and S3.
Platform
as a Service:
PaaS is a cloud model that is designed for software developers and offers a development environment as a service. It provides infrastructure and a platform
on the cloud to deploy and run applications on the Internet. This pay-per-use
computing includes Microsoft Windows Azure and Google App Engine.
Below
is a comparison between the traditional model and the cloud computing model:
Though these three models continue to dominate cloud computing for a long period, other types of cloud services are also introduced by the vendors with the ‘as a service tag. Database as a service (DBaaS), disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS), mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), function as a service (FaaS), storage as a service (SaaS), security as a service (SECaaS), networking as a service (NaaS) are a few of them.
Different Kinds of Cloud Services for Business Owners
Public
Cloud: The public cloud service
constructed on an external platform is meant for open use by the public. This
well-recognized model of cloud computing allows users to access their own
cloud within a shared infrastructure. It involves pooled shared physical
resources and can be accessed over the Internet. A public cloud system provider
offers everything from security to resources and maintenance. This economic
model is an optimal choice for most organizations for its elasticity and
use of the latest technology.
Private
Cloud: This private cloud service is a cloud infrastructure built for
exclusive use with particular software and hardware. It can be owned and controlled
by an organization, a third party, or a combination of both of them. This safest
but costly cloud solution offers advanced flexibility, greater control, and
unshared access to the cloud to be the favorite option of big business houses.
Hybrid
Cloud: Composed
of two or more distinct cloud infrastructures, a hybrid cloud service is
convenient for organizations that want to gradually migrate from an
on-premises solution. It allows the consumer to connect to its internal system
while moving into the cloud to grow its business. This computing system is
ideal for organizations that seek to manage business-related data in-house
and store less sensitive data in the cloud.
Conclusion
Today’s
business organizations are indeed on a cloud to avail of all these technological
facilities with minimal effort on their part. Cloud computing and cloud hosting
is moving towards a more secure and superior destination to offer a sense of
comfort and convenience to their customers. Revolutionizing IT enterprises over
the past two decades, cloud computing is a global reality now. The market of
cloud computing is destined to grow as more business houses migrate to the
cloud gradually. IDC predicts a rise in public cloud spending to $122.5 billion
in 2017 and seven times faster than overall IT spending through 2020. Gartner
anticipates, “through 2020, cloud adoption strategies will influence more than
50 percent of IT outsourcing deals."
