Cloud computing overview

1. You Pay as you Use

2. • Cloud computing means storing and accessing
data and programs over the Internet instead
of your computer's hard drive. The cloud is
just a metaphor for the Internet.
• Cloud computing promises to cut operational
and capital costs.

4. • The beauty of cloud computing, as shown in
Figure is that another company hosts your
application (or suite of applications, for that
matter).
• This means that they handle the costs of
servers, they manage the software updates,
and—depending on how you craft your
contract—you pay less for the service

5. • As with everything in IT, there are pros and
cons. Cloud computing is not exempt. Let’s
take a quick look at a few areas of potential
trouble. The following illustration shows
potential points of failure.

6. • While an Internet outage or problems with
your Internet service provider (ISP) are rare,
you may not be able to access your
applications and do your work.
• There may simply be applications or data that
you want located on-site. If you have sensitive
or proprietary information, your IT security
group may simply mandate that you not store
it on someone else’s machines.