In simple terms, cloud computing services means delivering computing services on-demand through applications to processing power and storage, typically using the internet and based on pay as you use. There are several vendors offering cloud-based services and there is no dearth of cloud computing services Australia. Major vendors include Google, Microsoft, AWS, and other SaaS players. Throughout the rest of 2020 and in the years to come, cloud-based services are bound to be harnessed by more and more businesses across the globe.
How does cloud computing work?
A cloud-based services provider brings the ability to gain access to a wide range of applications, storage, and more and the users pay a rental for the extent of services used. In turn, this helps the user avoid significant investment in creating his own data centers or computing infrastructure. In the absence of an extensive IT department and personnel manning the department, businesses stand to gain significantly since most services provided by a dedicated IT department can now be accessed through cloud computing services with just one or two individuals handling the task for the entire business. More importantly, cloud-based services are scalable in tandem with the growth of the business and pay only for the services used.
Examples of cloud computing
A significantly wide range of services can be covered by cloud-based services starting with the very basics of networking, storage, processing power to artificial intelligence, processing natural language including other standard applications for offices. In other words, any service that does not require physical proximity to computer hardware can be delivered by cloud computing services.
Examples of cloud computing services include consumer services such as Gmail, back-up of photos on your smartphones for individual users, and small businesses to running an array of applications and large volumes of data for larger businesses. Most of us are familiar with services like Netflix, but what we may not be aware of is that they use cloud computing to run the video streaming and other business-related systems and several other businesses they operate.
Cloud computing is rapidly gaining acceptance as a default option for several applications. Many software vendors are also offering a range of applications in the form of services via the internet as opposed to standalone products in the process of transitioning to a subscription model. But, a flip side to cloud computing is that it can also bring new risks and new costs for the users.
Why is this named as cloud computing?
Fundamentally, cloud computing is location independent and most details like operating systems or hardware are not relevant to the end-user. This location independence brought the metaphor ‘cloud’ to define the service. Although this sounds over-simplified, location is indeed a key issue for many users who adopt cloud computing services.
How old is cloud computing?
The term ‘cloud computing’ came into existence around the early parts of the current century through CaS or computing as a service has been in use for many decades behind that. In earlier years, when mainframe computers were more popular, service providers only rented time on the computer as opposed to users setting up their own facility and installing related hardware. Those who are familiar with mainframe computers would also know that these systems occupied a significant amount of space apart from being much less efficient compared to modern-day computing systems.
With the advent of personal computers, the time-sharing concept on mainframe computers took a back seat and the amount of data handled by businesses started rising exponentially. However, once cloud computing entered the scene, the concept of computing power on hire has regained its lost ground, albeit, at an entirely different level with significantly more features and speed. This transition also saw big names like Amazon, Google etc. entering the fray.
Importance of cloud for modern-day businesses
Global spending on cloud computing now constitutes about a third of total IT spending. Consequently, in-house IT experiencing a slide and computing workload moves to the cloud at a rapid pace. This transition includes public cloud computing services as well as private clouds independently built by users. Research also points to major IT spending by enterprises moving to the cloud on an ongoing basis. Thus, enterprises have come to rely more and more on external infrastructure, security, management, and applications. Cloud services are slated to reach about $260 billion by the end of 2020 and keep growing further from that level. More importantly, subscription-based cloud computing services are growing at a rapid pace since vendors and users alike find the method more financially beneficial compared to license-based services.
Why cloud computing?
There is no singular metric to measure the benefits of cloud services since the type of services varies significantly from user to user. But, the most visible benefit is that users need not invest in owning and maintaining large computing infrastructure in-house. In other words, investing in high-end servers, updating operating systems and applications, or disposing redundant hardware/software, etc. will become a thing of the past, and a load of this activity transfers to the cloud service provider. Further, vendors engaged in offering cloud computing services are also expected to better experience and expertise compared to what small businesses can afford. In turn, small businesses particularly can expect significantly better quality services from cloud service providers.
Cloud services allow enterprises to get on to the fast track on their projects to test concepts without the need for huge upfront costs or long procurement cycles, paying only for resources they consume over short spells of time. This brings about business agility which is often hailed by advocates of cloud services. The infrastructure available with cloud service providers is seamlessly scalable and enterprises have the ability to access computing power-on-demand. The usage by certain enterprises may have big peaks at intervals and creating infrastructure to meet such inconsistent load does not make financial sense when cloud services can cater to such fluctuation in load without any fuss.
Is cloud computing cost-effective?
In terms of cost, cloud computing may not always be cheaper compared to other options just as renting may not be cheaper over a longer period of time. Therefore, for applications that have predictable and regular needs, in-house services might be more economical. Another concern may be hosting sensitive data on the cloud that may have access to competitors. Users should also understand that the cloud is still young and difficulties may be experienced in certain areas like migrating existing apps or data to the cloud.
