…

Cloud Computing Landscape

KnowledgeBytes Edition 1

Cloud computing helps businesses manage their IT more effectively

Understanding Cloud Computing (CC)

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software,

and information are provided to computers and other devices over a network (data can be accessed over browser)

The term "moving to cloud" refers to an organization moving away from a traditional capital expenditure model (buy the

dedicated hardware and depreciate it over a period of time) to the operating expense model

Cloud computing has reached the maturity stage on Gartner's Hype cycle, that leads it into a productive phase

Driver: Internet users is estimated at 2.5 billion today, and could swell to more than five billion by 2025

Salesforce.com, Amazon, Google, Microsoft are some of the firms which provide cloud technology based services

More application availability on

the cloud

Gartner expects cloud

technology adoption to hit $250

billion by 2017

SaaS(Software as a Service)

expected to grow at CAGR

(2012-17) of 20.2% ($45.6 bn in

2017)

Hybrid clouds will be popular

amongst enterprises

More development jobs for

building new cloud based

software

Easy to scale up storage space

and number of applications

Businesses can be agile by

efficiently and quickly responding

to changes in market

Reduced cost of IT setup and

maintenance

Ability to refresh an aging

infrastructure without incurring

CAPEX costs

Shortened development life cycle

Optimized server utilisation

Future of CCBenefits of CC

Addressing the security and

privacy concerns of businesses

thinking of adopting it

Compliance to legal conditions

regarding physical presence of

data in different countries

Often not cheaper than buying

on-premises software and

systems when looking over a

five-year horizon

Businesses can save money on

hardware but they have to

spend more for the bandwidth

Challenges of CC

SaaS and IaaS are the most popular delivery models of cloud computing

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Software as a Service (SaaS)

Delivery of the IT infrastructure (Servers, networking

technology, storage and data center space) as a

service.Customer can rent the computing resources

rather than buying and installing them

Cloud providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility

computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources

allocated and consumed

E.g. Windows Azure, Rack space, Google Compute

Engine

Cloud providers install and operate application software

in the cloud and cloud users access the software from

cloud clients such as Microsoft Office 365

Eliminates the need to install and run the application on

the cloud user's own computers, they don’t manage

the cloud infrastructure and platform where the

application runs

The pricing model for SaaS applications is typically a

monthly or yearly flat fee per user

Product as a Service (PaaS) Types of Cloud

This form of cloud computing delivers development

environments as a service

You build your own applications that run on the

provider's infrastructure and are delivered to your users

via the Internet from the provider's servers

Services are constrained by the vendor's design and

capabilities, so you don't get complete freedom

E.g. Microsoft Azure, Google App Engine, Force.com

Private Cloud - infrastructure operated solely for a

single organization, whether managed internally or by a

third-party, and hosted either internally or externally

Public Cloud - services are rendered over a network

that is open for public use & security consideration may

be substantially different in comparison to private cloud

Hybrid Cloud – Combination of public, private and

other clouds

Links for further information: YoutubeVideoCloudComputing , Forbes_CloudComputingParadox , Forbes_BasicsOfCloudComputing , ChallengesOfCloudComputing