Cloud computing: what exactly is it?
March 24, 2013
Grazed from BRW. Author: Marianna Papadakis.
It’s easy to be bamboozled by the chatter about the benefits of cloud solutions for business and what’s available. Deciding on the right mix of cloud versus having your own dedicated infrastructure is even more daunting.
So what exactly is on offer? At one end of the scale you have software-as-a-service, which allows businesses to use a provider’s cloud-based applications, such as web-based email systems. At the other end there is infrastructure-as-a-service, where companies outsource their entire operations, including servers and networks to a provider on a pay-per-usage basis…
In between there are platform-as-a-service models that enable companies to create their own software solutions using a provider’s programming and other tools. Information technology research company Gartner forecasts the global public cloud services market to grow to $US131 billion in 2013 up 18.5 per cent from $US111 billion in 2012. The Australian market is forecast to grow 23 per cent in 2013 to $US3.2 billion, up from $US2.6 billion in 2012…
Read more from the source @ http://www.brw.com.au/p/tech-gadgets/cloud_computing_what_exactly_is_AZ0UuULkNv1BN6QVFr3DMP