Cloud Computing

There has been so much hubbub over the ubiquitous “Cloud”, cloud computing or simply “the cloud”, as it is called, over the last couple of years. It’s absolute definition has been “Clouded” in confusion. Although it has been defined as the next generation of outsourcing, the next revolution in information or simply the next big thing, it is hard for most people to make sense of it. What then is cloud computing and how does it affect your business? How important is it to businesses that are future forward? What are the risks and what are the benefits?

What is Cloud Computing?

We are all used to working off of our computers, where the hardware and software all sits on your computer or company’s network. Well, with cloud computing the hardware and software is provided as a service by another company and accessed only over the internet. Because the service provider is not exactly visible, it’s as if he is obscured by a cloud. So the gist of cloud computing encompasses all internet based computing which over the years has seen an increase in internet based services. For all intents and purposes this brief rubdown should suffice although there is much more to the cloud than what has already been stated.

Service models

There are three types of service models available on the “cloud’, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

The word infrastructure itself just about says it all, because this is the foundation, the fundamental building blocks of cloud services. With IaaS a third party provides virtualized computing services over the internet. The third party in this case manages your vitualisation, servers, networking and storage, while you on the other hand manage your applications, data, operating system and the “bridging” software, known as the middleware. With this type of model, you save on both your hardware and human capital. Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) also allows for scalability as and when the need arises, allowing you extra data processing space. Examples of companies using this type of services are Amazon, Bluelock, IBM, VMware among many others. Most internet services providers in Botswana offer this kind of services in the most basic form, that of hosting.

Platform-as-a-service (PaaS)

Since your software needs a platform on which to be developed and deployed on the cloud PaaS functions as a platform for the deployment and development of the software. Unlike the IaaS structure where the client has to deal with application data and operating systems, the PaaS service provider takes care of all that and because this sits on an IaaS platform it also means that your servers, networking and storage will already be covered. PaaS is mainly used by developers who use it to create applications using software that is already built in to the PaaS. Applications using PaaS inherit cloud characteristic such as scalability, high-availability, multi-tenancy, SaaS enablement, and more.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS)

In the Software-as-a-service set up, you are basically using a complete application that is running on someone else’s systems. This is probably the best known and largest cloud market to date and one that is still growing. it uses online applications that are managed by a third party vendor. Most of these applications run from web browsers without the need for any downloads at all. Because these are web based they eliminate the need for application installations on individual computers. Examples of these are your email, Google Apps, Salesforce, Concur, Cisco to name just a few. These three cloud service, while flexible and expandable are not without any prods and cons, these will be discussed in the next article, with special focus on the
risk aspect of Cloud