What Is Cloud Computing?

Most people know cloud computing only as a mechanism for accessing applications and data storage via the internet.

Individuals and businesses increasingly use cloud computing to manage a multitude of computing services, including personal email, video streaming, mainstream office applications and IT infrastructure. The cloud enables companies to streamline IT operations by renting hardware and software, often on a pay-as-you-go basis. Companies increasingly rely on cloud services. Corporate IT expenditures have been shifting away from in-house toward the cloud, and the trend appears to continue. The move to the cloud may be a company’s choice or the result of an existing provider’s own shift to cloud-based business models.

Companies offer three types of cloud...