Technology article

Cloud Computing The rapid developments in internet and computer technologies have resulted in several new products and concepts some of which are still little explored. One such concept or technology is cloud computing. A weak economy, developments in distributed computing and virtualization, and better access to high-speed broadband internet have played a significant role in the growing interest in cloud computing according to Techtarget (par 2).
Cloud computing may simply be defined as computing that is based on the internet. It involves sharing software, information and resources that are availed to computers from other sources on demand much like it happens with public utilities. In other words, cloud computing technology gives businesses and consumers the capacity to use computer applications without having to install software and also allows them to access personal files from anywhere using a computer that is connected to the internet.
Cloud computing derives a number of its characteristics from other computer-based systems. Some of these include client-server, grid computing, autonomic computing, mainframe, peer-to-peer and utility computing. Interestingly, the term “ cloud computing” got its inspiration from the use of the cloud symbol to represent, in diagrams and flowcharts, the internet.
Three unique characteristics distinguish cloud service from traditional hosting. First, the services are provided on demand (by the hour or the minute). Secondly, the service is elastic which means that at any given time the consumer can use the service as little or as much as they desire. A cloud may be public such as Amazon Web Services or private. A private cloud by nature is a data centre or a proprietary network that provides service to only a few people. However, whether public or private, the cloud is aimed at providing easy and scalable access to information technology and computing resources.
Benefits of Cloud Computing to Businesses and Individuals
Traditional business applications such as those provided by Oracle, Microsoft and SAP have turned out to be costly and complex in some cases. Furthermore, these applications need power, office space, bandwidth, storage, servers, networks, and cooling. In order to configure such application, the organization may have always to rely on qualified personnel to install, configure and manage them – not so with cloud computing.
It may well be said that cloud computing generally involves the delivery of hosted services over the World Wide Web. Such services may be divided into three broad categories: SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) (Techtarget, par1).
Cloud computing can help companies reduce significantly their information technology costs by avoiding capital expenditures on software, hardware and some services. The technology also helps companies avoid some complexities that are related to the application of ICT while simultaneously improving service delivery and increasing the optimization of workload. The technology may give users a superior experience that goes hand in hand with internet-driven economics. Other advantages of the technology to businesses are that it offers an almost immediate access to several applications, low barriers to entry, and shared costs and infrastructure.
Works Cited
Techtarget (n. d) Cloud computing. Viewed 4th April, 2010 http://searchcloudcomputing. techtarget. com/sDefinition/0,, sid201_gci1287881, 00. html