Cloud/Mobile

Cloud Computing

Updated: August 24, 2012

Cloud computing is a term that businesses still have trouble defining, not least because the vendors and manufacturers of cloud computing solutions can’t agree among themselves what it means. At its very simplest, cloud computing means using computing resources and services (both hardware and software) that are located somewhere else from your main business. You don’t have to know where or care but you can still access them. A slightly more sophisticated view acknowledges that you don’t always even have to know what those resources are. They are virtualized and all you have to know is what they can do for your company and how to interact with them.

But to properly understand the cloud computing services vendors are offering to you, to make sure that they are in fact going to meet your needs, you do need to understand them a little more than this. You need to understand the concepts of virtualization and scalability and resource allocation as well as the underlying service and pricing models that go along with what you are being offered.

You probably also need to understand how the solution handles data and storage in order to meet any regulatory requirements your business may face.

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