Why Cloud Computing?

Art Huenecke, Information Technology,
Academy of General Dentistry

Well Cloud Computing, by definition refers to the on-demand delivery of IT resources and applications via the Internet with pay-as-you-go pricing.

Whether you are running applications that share photos to mobile users or supporting the critical operations of a business, the cloud can provide rapid access to flexible and low cost IT resources. With the use of cloud computing, you don’t need to make large upfront investments in hardware and spend a lot of time on managing that hardware. Quite the opposite, you provision exactly the right type and size of computing resources you need to power your individual system needs or operate your entire IT department. You can access as many resources as you need almost instantly and the best part only pay for what you use.

How does it Work?

Cloud Computing provides a simple way to access servers, storage, databases and a broad set of application services over the Internet. Cloud Computing providers own and maintain the network hardware required for these application services. You provision and use what you need via a web application.

Benefits Derived

1. Trade capital expense for variable expense – You do not have to invest in data centers and servers before you know how you’re going to use them. You only pay when you consume computing resources. Only pay for how much you consume.
2. Benefit from massive economies of scale – With cloud computing you can achieve a lower variable cost than you can get on your own. Because usage from hundreds of thousands of customers are aggregated in the cloud. Providers achieve higher economies of scale which translates into lower pay as you go prices.
3. Stop guessing how much capacity you need – Remove guessing on your infrastructure capacity needs. When you make a capacity decision prior to deploying an application you either end up sitting on expensive idle resources or dealing with not enough capacity. With Cloud Computing these problems most likely go away. You access as much or as little as you need. If you need more you and scale up and down as required usually with only a few minutes notice.
4. Increase speed and agility – With a cloud computing environment new IT resources are only a click away. You can reduce the time it takes to make those resources available to your developers from weeks to just minutes. The result is a dramatic increase in agility for the company. The cost and time it takes to experiment and develop is significantly lower.
5. No more spending money on running and maintaining a data center – Now focus on projects that differentiate your business. Not the infrastructure. Cloud computing lets you focus on your own customers. Instead of on the of racking, stacking and powering servers.
6. Global in minutes - Easily deploy your application in multiple regions around the world with just a few clicks. This means you can provide a lower latency and better experience for your customers simply and at minimal cost.

Types of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has three main types that are commonly referred to as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Selecting the right type of cloud computing for your needs can help you strike the right balance of control and the avoidance of undifferentiated heavy lifting.