A simple example of cloud computing is Yahoo email or Gmail. You don’t need a software or a server to use them. All a consumer would need is just an internet connection and you can start sending emails. The server and email management software is all on the cloud (internet) and is totally managed by the cloud service provider Yahoo, Google etc. The consumer gets to use the software alone and enjoy the benefits. The analogy is, ‘If you only need milk, would you buy a cow?’ All the users or consumers need is to get the benefits of using the software or hardware of the computer like sending emails etc. Just to get this benefit (milk) why should a consumer buy a (cow) software /hardware?

Cloud computing is broken down into three segments: applications, platforms, and infrastructure. Each segment serves a different purpose and offers different products for businesses and individuals around the world. In June 2009, a study conducted by Version One found that 41% of senior IT professionals actually don’t know what cloud computing is and two-thirds of senior finance professionals are confused by the concept, highlighting the young nature of the technology. In Sept 2009, an Aberdeen Group study found that disciplined companies achieved on average an 18% reduction in their IT budget from cloud computing and a 16% reduction in data center power costs.

On Demand software services come in a few different varieties which vary in their pricing scheme and how the software is delivered to the end users. In the past, the end-user would generally purchase servers which are accessed by the end user over the internet. While this is the most common platform for On Demand software services, there are also some slightly different offerings which can be described as a hybrid of these two platforms. For instance, a programme through which the end user pays a license fee but then accesses the software over the internet from centralized servers is considered a hybrid service.

Types of cloud and players of cloud computing: A cloud can be private or public. A public cloud sells services to anyone on the Internet. (Currently, Amazon Web Services is the largest public cloud provider.) A private cloud is a proprietary network or a data center that supplies hosted services to a limited number of people. When a service provider uses public cloud resources to create their private cloud, the result is called a virtual private cloud. Private or public, the goal of cloud computing is to provide easy, scalable access to computing resources and IT services.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service like Amazon Web Services provides virtual server instances with unique IP addresses and blocks of storage on demand. Customers use the provider’s application programme interface (API) to start, stop, access and configure their virtual servers and storage. In the enterprise, cloud computing allows a company to pay for only as much capacity as is needed, and bring more online as soon as required. Because this pay-for-what-you-use model resembles the way electricity, fuel and water are consumed; it’s sometimes referred to as utility computing.

Platform-as-a-service in the cloud is defined as a set of software and product development tools hosted on the provider’s infrastructure. Developers create applications on the provider’s platform over the Internet. PaaS providers may use APIs, website portals or gateway software installed on the customer’s computer. Force.com, (an outgrowth of Salesforce.com) and GoogleApps are examples of PaaS. Developers need to know that currently, there are not standards for interoperability or data portability in the cloud. Some providers will not allow software created by their customers to be moved off the provider’s platform.

In the software-as-a-service cloud model, the vendor supplies the hardware infrastructure, the software product and interacts with the user through a front-end portal. SaaS is a very broad market. Services can be anything from Web-based email to inventory control and database processing. Because the service provider hosts both the application and the data, the end user is free to use the service from anywhere.

The companies below are already established in the On-Demand software or SaaS business. These companies charge their customers a subscription fee and in return host software on central servers that are accessed by the end user via the internet.

Many of the companies that started out providing On Demand application services have developed platform services as well. The platform segment of cloud computing refers to products that are used to deploy internet. NetSuite, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have also developed platforms that allow users to access applications from centralized servers.

The following companies are some that have developed platforms that allow end users to access applications from centralized servers using the internet. Next to each company is the name of their platform.

Security and the Benefits of Scale

Put simply, all kinds of security measures are cheaper when implemented on a larger scale. Therefore the same amount of investment in security buys better protection. This includes all kinds of defensive measures such as filtering, patch management, hardening of virtual machine instances and hypervisors, human resources and their management and vetting, hardware and software redundancy, strong authentication, efficient role-based access control and federated identity management solutions by default, which also improves the network effects of collaboration among various partners involved in defense. Other benefits of scale include:

The Hidden Risks of Cloud Computing

When you decide to move your data into the cloud, there are a few risks you should know about.

Lesser Privacy Protection under the Law: The information you’ve stored on a third-party’s web server, any kind of search can also happen without your knowledge

Weak Security Systems that are too easy to break Into: The government getting access to your data stored in the cloud is probably much less of a concern than someone illegally getting to it. Crappy web-based security systems—like weak password recovery workflows, phishing attacks, and keyloggers—present bigger security risks.

Data Lock-in and Third-party Control: When you’re living in the cloud, you’re beholden to a third party who can make decisions about your data and platform in ways never seen before in computing.

Server Unavailability and Account Lockout: Getting locked out of your WebApp account is another possible pitfall.    q