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Cloud Vendor--Awareness Technologies
Learn about Cloud Computing
 The
“cloud” in cloud computing can be defined as the set
of hardware, networks, storage, services and interfaces that combine
to deliver aspects of computing as a service. Cloud services include
the delivery of software, infrastructure and storage over the internet
(either as separate components or as a complete platform) based
on user demand.
 practice
guides and webinars
There are three different levels or delivery methods:
1. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) -- This is what almost
everyone has already been using in the form of Gmail, Hotmail,
Yahoo, Google Apps, various search engines, Wikipedia and Autotask,
etc. Basically, a company hosts the application on the internet
that many users sign up for and use without concern for where,
how or by whom it is provided. It is a complete end-user application,
created and available to be used by the masses.
2. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) -- This is where an application
platform is offered to developers in the cloud. These developers
then write the application and upload it in the cloud (internet),
where the application then runs. Companies such as Google and
Salesforce.com provide the management tools (platform) for developers
to write the code (applications). In other words, the service
that is actually sold from PaaS providers is the engine that drives
the requests to an application and makes that application work.
3. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) -- This is where
developers and system administrators get the CPU (computing power/servers),
storage, network connectivity and other resources to run their
applications. It promises to remove the pain from dealing with
and managing raw infrastructure. Basically, it’s renting
server space and infrastructure to run the application. Companies
such as Amazon Web Services and Rackspace are examples.
Benefits of Cloud Computing
No doubt, cloud computing is a hot topic. Here’s why:
- Proven web-services integration. By its very nature,
cloud computing technology is much easier and quicker to integrate
with your other enterprise applications (both traditional software
and cloud computing infrastructure-based), whether third-party
or homegrown.
- World-class service delivery. Cloud computing infrastructures
offer much greater scalability, complete disaster recovery and
impressive uptime numbers.
- No hardware or software to install: a 100% cloud computing
infrastructure. The beauty of cloud computing technology is
its simplicity — and the fact that it requires significantly
fewer capital expenditures to get up and running.
- Faster and lower-risk deployment. You can get up and
running in a fraction of the time with a cloud computing infrastructure.
No more waiting months or years and spending millions of dollars
before anyone gets to log into your new solution. Your cloud computing
technology applications are live in a matter of weeks or months,
even with extensive customization or integration.
- Support for deep customizations. Some IT professionals
mistakenly think that cloud computing technology is difficult
or impossible to customize extensively, and therefore is not a
good choice for complex enterprises. The cloud computing infrastructure
not only allows deep customization and application configuration,
it preserves all those customizations even during upgrades. And
even better, cloud computing technology is ideal for application
development to support your organization’s evolving needs.
- Empowered business users. Cloud computing technology
allows on-the-fly, point-and-click customization and report generation
for business users, so IT doesn’t spend half its time making
minor changes and running reports.
- Automatic upgrades that don’t impact IT resources.
Cloud computing infrastructures put an end to a huge IT dilemma:
If we upgrade to the latest-and-greatest version of the application,
we’ll be forced to spend time and resources (that we don’t
have) to rebuild our customizations and integrations. Cloud computing
technology doesn’t force you to decide between upgrading
and preserving all your hard work, because those customizations
and integrations are automatically preserved during an upgrade.
- Pre-built, pre-integrated apps for cloud computing technology.
There are a number of applications built for the various cloud
computing infrastructures.
Resources
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