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P. 78
IT Focus
What’s Happening By: Umeed Kothavala
on the Cloud
How cloud computing is transforming business – benefits, challenges, CEO, Extentia Information
and what’s ahead?
Technology
In recent years there’s been a lot of buzz What happened after the cloud Some interesting cloud related
about cloud computing – ‘the cloud’, came in? facts and numbers
and how it will significantly impact
businesses and end-consumers. Major • Specialist vendors took over hardware • The cloud computing economic pie was
points of discussion have been about and software management – think $131 billion overall in 2013, and analysts
how it’s a practical business solution that Salesforce.com say that’s ‘nowhere near saturation’
helps cut costs, the flexibility it offers,
and possible security or legal concerns. It • Pay only for what you need, get • The cloud has an amazing availability
now is being spoken of as being the ‘most automatic upgrades, scale up or down as rate of 99.9% – the average outage
disruptive technology ever’ – and that’s required – shared infrastructure makes on cloud services is 7.5 hours in a
saying something. this possible year, far more reliable than traditional
infrastructure
What is Cloud Computing? • You just open a browser, log in,
customize the app, and start using cloud • Fuelled primarily by cloud computing
Definitions include ‘many computers applications ,the Internet will connect 2.5 Billion
connected through a real-time People, and more than 15 Billion devices
communication network like the • Businesses run a range of applications by 2015
Internet’, or an ‘Internet hosted network on the cloud – customer relationship
of remote servers that store, manage, and management (CRM), sales tracking, HR, • For every 600 smartphones or 120 tablets
process data, instead of local machine or accounting, and more used, a new cloud server is added
computer’.
Now what was life like before the • Anytime, anywhere access work • Compared to 8% in 2011, Infrastructure-
advent of the cloud? environments and services – the mobile as-a-Service ( IaaS ) contributed to 38% of
workforce outsourcing growth in 2012
• We had complicated and expensive
traditional business applications As a result we started to talk about items • Cloud computing means up to 40 times
in the cloud now offered ‘as a service’ with more cost-effectiveness for an SMB,
• A lot of (and many varieties of) models such as infrastructure as a service, compared to managing an in-house IT
hardware and software was required to software as a service, and platform as a set up
even get started service. Major players in cloud computing
services are Salesforce, Amazon Web • Strangely, a lot of users don’t believe
• Experts were needed to install, configure, services, Oracle Cloud, IBM, Microsoft they use cloud computing when they
test, run, secure, and update Azure, VMWare, and very recently – Cisco. actually do! (Dropbox, Gmail, Shazam –
anyone?)
78 SynergyZ December, 2014
