Although we have published a few articles on cloud computing, people still seem intimidated by the concept. The post offers a primer on the topic.

Over the last several months, much has been said about “the cloud”, i.e. cloud computing. It is an area that has generated quite a bit excitement and some industry experts claim that it will revolutionise computing and how we use the Internet. For the average person, all of this hype suggests that cloud computing is a somewhat esoteric phenomenon, which is highly complicated and specialised. Many do not realise that they have been using cloud services for a number of years, and the intimidation that is now emerging is really not warranted. This post hopes to demystify cloud computing and to show that it is already being used by the average consumer.

What is cloud computing?

As discussed in an earlier post, Is it really in the Clouds?, the term “cloud computing” was derived from voice telephony jargon, when networks moved from being circuit-switched to packet-switched, and the image of a “cloud” was frequently used in diagrams to represent the Internet component of a network.  Simply put, cloud computing speaks to the ability to access computer resources over the Internet, i.e. via the cloud.

Besides a compatible web browser, users are not normally required to install any additional software or hardware on their computing devices to access cloud services. However, reliable Internet access is essential to minimise loss of information while cloud applications or resources are being used.

Types of cloud services

Cloud services typically fall into the following three categories, which are outlined in Table 1:

  • Software as a Service (SaaS) – where software applications are accessed and used over the Internet.
  • Platform as a Service (PaaS) – computing platforms usually used by programme developers to create and test computing applications.
  • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), also known as Hardware as a Service (HasS) – allows a range of computing resources, such as storage, website hosting, and virtual servers, to be accessed and used over the Internet.

Table 1: Key categories of cloud services (Source: ICT Pulse)

From the examples provided in the above table, the average person should already be familiar with some cloud services, and might even be using some of them quite regularly, to the point where they are taken for granted. Since some of these services are free, or at the very least economically priced, we are often quite eager to use them. However, it is still important for you (the individual user) to read the fine print and to think about whether the service truly suits your needs.

Key considerations 

Although cloud services can offer consumers convenient access to a variety of resources, and to varying degrees can be highly cost effective, as a starting point, the following issues should be carefully considered.

1.  Privacy and security.  It is important to determine how secure and what privacy rules your data might be subject to. For free services in particular, some providers include clauses that allow them to access and use a customer’s data, especially for marketing purposes, or to retain that data even after the customer is no longer using their services. Additionally, depending on the country in which the data is being stored, there might be highly intrusive laws that allow government agencies to intercept messages and other forms of data.  Although you might not necessarily have anything to hide, you may still feel violated if you become aware of such matters after the fact.

2.  Reliability of cloud provider.  Due to the relatively low cost and availability of computing and Internet resources, there are numerous businesses offering cloud services. However, there have been examples of cloud businesses closing down, sometimes without giving  their customers any notice. Hence customers find that the service has been terminated, but they have little or no opportunity to retrieve or remove their data. It is therefore critical to research cloud providers to determine, among other things, their reputation and the quality of the services they offer.

3.  Lock-in. Depending on the service, cloud providers regularly store data in a proprietary format. If data must entered directly into the programme, in particular, a customer may find him/herself locked-in to a specific provider. The format might not be used by other providers or off the shelf software application, or there might be no way easy way to retrieve the data off the provider’s server, in order for it to be imported into another application.

The above points address some of the key matters that should be considered by the individual consumer. However, for further information on cloud computing, please refer to some of our earlier posts:

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