Cloud computing has revolutionized the way that computing services are delivered; applications, storage and processing are all delivered over the internet using a provider model where the user pays only for the services they use. Rather than owning computing infrastructure themselves, companies have found that renting it makes financial sense since there is no capital investment and they are not tasked with the complexity of maintaining the system.
Cloud computing applications come in many forms with most popular business software available for rent as well as providers enabling hosting of custom software and development environments. The real advantage of cloud computing for business applications, however, is that, like the hardware they run on, they are offered as a service – the user simply pays for the software they use without having to install, implement, upgrade or maintain them.
This means that companies can outsource their entire IT function and be guaranteed specific levels of service, storage, computing power and availability. The delivery of IT infrastructure is referred to as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) where the cloud provider offers fundamental IT resources such as processors, networking elements and storage. Cloud computing applications are delivered through an application platform, referred to as Platform as a Service (PaaS), which provide the resources necessary to run, develop and manage software applications.
Cloud computing uptake has been rapid because cloud computing providers offer the latest in hardware and software and the expertise to make it run efficiently and securely while only charging a fraction of what it would cost to implement the IT infrastructure that would otherwise be required. The increasing penetration of the internet both for business and domestic use means that the delivery of applications in this way is readily accepted by users and allows them to access their systems wherever there is an internet connection.
While most popular business applications have been ported to cloud environments, the cloud also offers the potential for new applications that only a large computing services provider can offer. This includes remote storage and backup of data where the massive redundancy of cloud environments provides for secure storage and ensures data is never lost. Applications that require large pools of data, such as machine learning, and the computing power to process them also find a natural home in cloud environments which offer increased processing and storage on demand. The Internet of Things is also likely to give rise to new applications that will require the central storage and networking capabilities of cloud environments.