What is "the Cloud"?

Cloud computing technology, or "the cloud", can mean many different things. Generally, however, cloud computing refers to technology solutions that are hosted by a third party, accessed via the Internet and delivered as a service. Charges for cloud services are typically subscription-based and vary based on actual usage of the service.

Cloud services offer customers reliability, flexibility and scalability - providing cost-effective technology solutions that can be scaled (up or down) on demand as the business environment changes. The cloud represents the commoditization of IT and no group stands to benefit more from this than small and medium sized businesses.

The three principal types of cloud computing solutions include:

• Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) - IaaS is the most basic cloud technology offering. IaaS is virtualized computing hardware (CPU/computer processing, storage and networking ) that is provided to customers on a subscription basis and can be provisioned on demand and scaled up or down as needed. The provider maintains and supports all the virtualized hardware resources as part of the subscription. The subscriber is responsible for installing and supporting any operating systems, databases, utilities or application software they require to run their operation.
• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) - PaaS includes the all the IaaS functionaltiy and, in addition to the hardware-based resources, it also includes the application platform required to run the subscriber's software of choice. The platform provided commonly includes the operating system, database, deployment and development environments, integration tools and various utilities to allow subscribers to monitor performance and perform a variety of functions on the platform. Typically, the provider also maintains and supports everything provided as part of the application platform.  The subscriber is responsible only for installing and maintaining any end-user software they intend to run on the platform as well as any custom application development they do on the platform.
• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) - SaaS is the most comprehensive of the cloud computing solutions. In an SaaS environment, the provider delivers and supports applications that are accessed directly by the subscriber's end users. The provider maintains and supports all aspects of the application (software updates, security, performance monitoring, backup and recovery, etc.) and, in most cases, provides direct functional support to end users of the application.