Cloud computing is based on the internet (Cloud) for developing computer technology (Computing). It involves delivering hosted services over the internet.

Gartner have said that “Cloud computing heralds an evolution of business that is no less influential than e-business”. It does add though that “cloud computing is very much an evolving concept that will take many years to fully mature”.

However, Robert McGarvey says that by 2012 only 21% of businesses will not be using Cloud Computing and 20% of businesses will own no IT assets.

Significance

Information Technology faces continuous requirement of extending the resources without increasing the cost. Cloud computing can assist IT in increasing the capacity and adding capabilities.

Cloud computing supports latest models for IT services that are developed over the internet. It involves the provision of dynamic, scalable and virtual resources as a service over the internet. Cloud Computing helps reduce IT infrastructure costs and enhances competitive advantage in an IT company. It can support additional users and can create flexible IT environment.

A recent study by Aberdeen Group revealed that companies adopting Cloud Computing have reduced IT costs by 18% and data center power consumption by 16%.

Applications

Companies such as Microsoft, Google, Salesforce.com, NetSuite, and Amazon among others have deployed Cloud Computing in their services. The three main services supported by Cloud Computing are:  

1. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): With Cloud Computing, infrastructure vendors can provide physical storage and processing capabilities to support services on the internet.
2. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): With Cloud Computing, companies can encapsulate a layer of service and provide it as a platform. The users can build higher-level services using the applications from platforms.
3. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): With Cloud Computing, companies can offer applications on the internet as a service and on demand. A single instance of the software runs on the cloud and can serve multiple users or organisations.

Advantages

Gartner stresses that Cloud computing is emerging at the convergence of three major trends service orientation, virtualization and standardization of computing through Internet. Here are some advantages of Cloud computing:

• Scalability
• Cost saving
• Business agility
• Disaster recovery
• Built-in backup
• Device independence
• Security
• Location independence
• Maintenance

Disadvantages

Cloud Computing has numerous advantages such as continuous data access, virtual storage, pay-by-use model, scalability and so on.

However, here are some of the challenges of Cloud Computing:

1. Security of the data stored on the internet
2. Reliability on external sources and third party hosts for data supply
3. Dependency on internet and connectivity
4. Difficulty in managing multiple platforms or multiple clouds which enterprises require
5. Slow connectivity for web-based applications

Cloud Computing is often confused with Grid Computing, Utility Computing and Autonomic Computing. The challenges and developments in the topic make it interesting and essential for research.

Products

IBM, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, HP, VMWare are some of the largest vendors of clouds. Here are some of the examples of cloud computing.

1. Web mail: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft
2. Online storage services: Humyo, ZumoDrive, Microsoft’s SkyDrive, S3 from Amazon
3. Online collaboration tools: Google Wave, Spicebird, Mikogo, Stixy, Vyew
4. Online suites: Google suite, Ajax13, ThinkFree and Microsoft’s Office Live.
5. Virtual computing platforms: Amazon’s EC2, Open source platforms such as AbiCloud, Elastichosts and NASA’s Nebula

ZDNet has analyzed common myths of cloud computing to bust the common misconceptions in that area. Cloud computing is here to stay and will bring in major developments in IT services.