Cloud Computing Components, Models & Your Business

The term Cloud Computing may be new, but the technologies that encompass the concept are not.

Cloud computing, or utility computing, is the emerging on-demand model for computing where the use of IT is consumed and billed similar to a utility. This model ultimately enables end customers to focus on creating true business value rather than the underlying technology itself.

Cloud computing encompasses three main concepts: pay-as-you-go, on-demand and on the Net. Cloud computing is made up of a host of well-established components that collectively define the way organizations transform their infrastructure and the way their environment delivers applications to end users.

Our cloud computing model enables convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources such as servers, storage, operating systems, network, applications, program codes and services that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.

Simply put, cloud computing lets users cost-effectively access measured computing resources on demand, with rapid elasticity, whether these resources are physical or virtual, on-premises or remote, dedicated or shared, and no matter how they are accessed, i.e., via LAN, WAN or the Internet.

Our cloud offerings allow you to focus on your business by completely eliminating the challenges of purchasing, managing and maintaining servers, applications, staffing and expensive data center operational elements such as HVAC, power, rack space, etc.

Cloud Computing Value Proposition

• Simplifying the utility computing environment in a self-service mode
• Lowering IT expenditures by way of pay-per-user and predicable subscription costs
• Elimination of most IT capital expenditures by outsourcing data center resources
• Accelerated deployment of resources such as capacity, server or software
• Flexibility in scaling resources up or down to meet exact requirements
• Optimized use of all resources; whether physical, virtual, or cloud based
• Transforming the environment by leveraging cloud technology internally
• Extending the environment by leveraging cloud technology externally

Deployment Models

• Private cloud – Internally developed cloud for own purposes that optimizes your existing infrastructure to gain cloud-style benefits while maintaining autonomy and control
• Public cloud – Externally accessed cloud over the Internet that leverages robust and secured infrastructure to outsource your computing environment
• Hybrid cloud – Combination of internal and external clouds that extend your resources on demand to create a fully optimized hybrid computing infrastructure

Categories of Cloud Computing

• Software as a Service (SaaS) - SaaS refers to applications in the cloud. SaaS vendors supply the hardware infrastructure and the software product and interact with the user through a front-end web portal.
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) – PaaS refers to delivering development environments as a service in the cloud. PaaS facilitates the underlying layers for providing all of the components required to support the complete life cycle of building and delivering web applications and services.
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – IaaS refers to delivery of the computer infrastructure in the cloud. IaaS delivers highly elastic and scalable virtualized servers, storage and network in a self-service, self-provisioned style while abstracting the massive underlying infrastructure from the end user.

Needs We Solve

Enterprise IT is undergoing a fundamental transformation with more organizations moving their own IT infrastructure and platforms to the cloud than ever before.

Cloud computing is now a new model for consuming and delivering IT and has moved into the mainstream of enterprise computing as businesses large and small are realizing quantifiable cost savings, superior time-to-value and rapid innovation.

We help our clients understand and consider the many factors in deciding to migrate services to the cloud. Collectively, we define a phased roadmap to understand cloud computing and what it takes to leverage the technology, how it fits into their current IT service provider strategies, examine best practices for security, training, and the expected results.

Let us manage your business processes so you can focus on your business. Our full portfolio of hosted application solutions will help you improve customer loyalty, drive revenue growth, maximize operational and organizational efficiency, integrate your business processes and applications, and save you money.