Cloud Computing
What Is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services, including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence, over the internet from a provider’s shared infrastructure, on a pay-as-you-use pricing model. Rather than owning and operating physical hardware and data center space, organizations access computing resources on demand, scaling up or down based on actual need.
Cloud computing has fundamentally changed the economics and speed of technology adoption. Capital expenditure on physical infrastructure is replaced with operational expenditure scaled to actual consumption, and new capabilities that would require months of procurement and deployment can be provisioned in minutes.
The Three Cloud Service Models
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): provides raw computing, storage, and networking that customers configure and manage independently. AWS EC2, Azure Virtual Machines, and Google Compute Engine are examples.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): provides a managed environment for developing and deploying applications without managing the underlying infrastructure. Azure App Service, Google App Engine, and AWS Elastic Beanstalk are examples.
Software as a Service (SaaS): delivers fully managed applications over the internet. Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Google Workspace are examples. The provider manages everything; the customer simply uses the software.
Cloud Deployment Models
Public cloud: infrastructure shared across multiple customers, managed by providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP.
Private cloud: dedicated infrastructure operated exclusively for one organization, either on-premises or hosted by a provider.
Hybrid cloud: a combination of public and private cloud environments connected to operate as an integrated system.
Multi-cloud: Use services from two or more public cloud providers simultaneously to avoid vendor lock-in and optimize specific capabilities.
Why Organizations Adopt Cloud Computing
Cloud adoption is driven by elasticity (scaling resources to match demand), agility (deploying new capabilities in hours rather than months), cost efficiency (eliminating idle capacity costs), geographic reach (accessing a global network of data centers for low-latency delivery), and resilience (leveraging redundant infrastructure that individual organizations could not economically build themselves).
Key Takeaways
- Cloud computing delivers computing services over the internet on a pay-as-you-use model, eliminating the need for owned physical infrastructure.
- The three service models are IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, each placing different management responsibilities on the customer.
- Deployment models include public, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud, each suited to different risk, compliance, and performance requirements.
- Key benefits include elasticity, deployment speed, cost efficiency, global reach, and built-in resilience.
- Cloud computing is the foundational platform for the majority of modern digital transformation initiatives.