When people refer to the cloud, there is rarely confusion between the seemingly endless data storage capacity and a cumulus white cotton ball in the sky. Appreciating how the definition of cloud computing has evolved is critical for understanding how organizations can leverage the cloud. IT Pro Today brought this interesting information to us in their article, “The Changing Definition of Cloud Computing.”

Cloud computing was a big shift from the traditional way businesses thought about IT resources.  Most cloud computing services provided self service and on demand, so even vast amounts of computing resources could be provisioned in minutes, typically with just a few mouse clicks, giving businesses a lot of flexibility and taking the pressure off capacity planning.

Performance was a huge selling point. The biggest cloud computing services ran on a worldwide network of secure data centers, which are regularly upgraded to the latest generation of fast and efficient computing hardware. This offered several benefits over a single corporate data center, including reduced network latency for applications and greater economies of scale.

Most organizations are already using the cloud, and they’re looking for ways to use it more efficiently and cheaply.

Melody K. Smith

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