Advantages of Cloud Computing

So you've just about got your head around the basics of cloud computing, you've been told that it's an amazing advancement for your business and it's the way forward, but what now? Technology and marketing research specialists, Gartner, has said that by 2012 80% of America's 1000 biggest businesses will pay for a cloud computing service, but what does that mean for you? Why should you bother investing in the cloud? Here are some of the biggest benefits of cloud computing:

Scalability: The biggest buzz word surrounding cloud computing is scalability. The ability to increase or decrease your cloud capacity as the network usage fluctuates which means, in theory, you shouldn't suffer from any crashes or downtime as you can simply contact your cloud provider and increase capacity. The main advantage of this to both personal users and businesses is that you only pay for what you use and the process of altering capacity takes just minutes.

Remote Accessibility: The obvious major advantage of cloud computing is its accessibility. Whether you're a big business or a personal user you're able to access your data from any PC with an internet connection, as long as you remember your log-ins of course.

Quality of Service: As with choosing any web host, choosing your cloud host comes with a check list. Some of the main points on the list are often quality of service and up-time, something which is vital for a network running solely on internet connections. Cloud providers will often employ skilled practitioners to manage the networks and make sure that down time is as close to zero as possible. Along with this you should expect 24/7 support from your vendor and immediate action to be taken if your network goes down. Though it may be annoying for you to sit at the other end twiddling your thumbs if your network goes down, it should give you some piece of mind knowing that professionals are sorting it out.

IaaS Vs SaaS Vs PaaS: The Differences in Cloud Computing

Chance are if you were to ask 10 people at a cloud computing event the question "What is cloud computing?" you would get 10 different answers. This can be really frustrating to those trying to learn more. The reason for this confusion is that there are so many ways that the cloud can be utilized. It might be best to think of cloud computing in terms of SaaS - software as a service, PaaS - Platform as a Service and IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service.

Here are some basic level definitions on these terms and some examples of how they can be utilized. What they all have in common is that they are all scalable, on-demand, cost effective and secure. They are completely managed so that the end user can focus on their business rather than maintaining their software, applications or hardware.

Software as a Service: Also called: SaaS ("sass"), web based software, on-demand software or hosted software. Essentially, it is software made available to end users via the internet. It is accessible from anywhere a user has an internet connection, including mobile phones, and it is not downloaded to any computer. Software as a Service has the ability to be customizable to the user. It is a very low maintenance and cost effective because SaaS providers manage the servers where software is stored to ensure availability and performance. They also apply any needed software upgrades and administer the security of the product.

Examples of SaaS are all around us. In business applications, you may be familiar with CRM tools (such as Salesforce), banking services, project management tools, CAD/CAM, retail point of sale, meeting software (WebEx) etc. In personal use, all Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Facebook, Turbo Tax, Twitter, YouTube, etc. are all examples of Software as a Service. Some are free and paid for by ad space, while offers are paid for with monthly or annual subscriptions.

Platform as a Service: Also dubbed PaaS, is possibly the most nebulous of terms related to cloud. Even companies selling the service seem to have different definitions. But, PaaS is referring to application development platforms where the development tool itself is hosted in the cloud and accessed and deployed through the internet. And, just like SaaS, this service is maintained by the PaaS provider.

Examples of PaaS are: force[dot]com (it supports Salesforce, an SaaS), AppEngine (from Google), Bungee Connect, Long Jump, Wavemaker, and more. Usually developers are more familiar with these platforms as they are typically specialized to those in development.

Infrastructure as a Service: IaaS is considered the most flexible cloud model. Infrastructure as a service provides fully scalable computing resources such as RAM, CPU, and storage infrastructure. This enables companies to design IT systems that can scale based on demand. It is the responsibility of the IaaS provider to maintain uptime on all systems including power, broadband, and associated hardware. Therefore, most IaaS providers incorporate a high availability design model. High availability means that there are always infrastructure resources available if there is a hardware failure of any kind. High Availability enables IaaS users to not only grow their infrastructure as needed, but also provide extremely secure uptime. IaaS' can provide the necessary infrastructure to the PaaS and SaaS companies and can even manage it for them, too.

source:http://ezinearticles.com

IT as-a-Service Using Cloud Computing and How it is Changing Organizations Today

There are many challenges when building a reliable, flexible IT infrastructure that can manage unpredictable behaviors of today's internet-based business environment. But Cloud-based IT is changing the way organizations used to look at building and maintaining IT infrastructures.  The digitally dynamic business world can no longer be served effectively using a static IT architecture.  To be competitive, businesses need to re-think the IT as an on-demand sharing of resources using the Internet - a totally a web-based platform that provides IT services to employees anytime/anywhere in the world.The idea of cloud computing is nothing new. There's a good chance you've already used some form of cloud computing. If you have an e-mail account with a Web-based e-mail service like Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or Gmail, then you've had some experience with cloud computing.  Imagine taking your IT closet, including all that it hosts, and put on the cloud while virtualizing the desktops.  That is what Cloud IT offers.

Think of cloud computing as the ability to provision computational resources on demand via a computer network. Take for example; when a user executes a task, such as launching Word processing application, or opening a contact management database, these tasks taking place without actually possessing the software using a local hardware (the user's PC). In fact, the end-user's computer may contain very little software or data, if any at all.  A display terminal connected to the Internet with a minimal operating system and a web browser.  The cloud is the underlying delivery mechanism, the user's desktop and all the required business applications can be served on the cloud by the cloud on-demand. 

In such an unstable economic environment, budgets are under scrutiny and companies are feeling increased pressure to reduce operating costs without sacrificing quality. At the same time, in order to remain successful and competitive, a business cannot forego investment in areas such as IT that has proven to be a major differentiator among competitors.

source:http://www.articlesbase.com