Principles and services of cloud computing

Cloud computing isn’t disappearing anytime soon – in fact, it seems it’s here to stay.

According to Statista, organisations spent $270 billion on cloud infrastructure services in 2023. For context, overall annual spending grew by 19%, and ‘spending grew by $5.6 billion from the third to the fourth quarter, making the largest sequential increase ever recorded.’

Cloud computing has revolutionised the ways in which enterprises and individuals alike access and utilise computing resources. With the host of business benefits it offers, it’s easy to see why its popularity and uptake continues to surge across industries and domains of all types.

What is cloud computing?

Microsoft defines cloud computing as, ‘the delivery of computing services – including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence – over the internet (“the cloud”).’

Generally speaking, there are two main types of cloud computing models used for delivering information technology services: service-based models and cloud deployment models. These include:

Public cloud computing is when cloud services are hosted and delivered by third-party providers over a network for public use – and multiple users from different organisations share the same infrastructure. While customers have no control over the location of the infrastructure, costs are shared by all users (either free or licensed).

Private cloud computing is when cloud services are used only by a single organisation, giving them increased control over factors such as cybersecurity and data. They can be internally or externally hosted.

Hybrid cloud computing is a combination of both public and private cloud computing, where resources can be managed and provided either internally or by external providers. For example, a business may use the public cloud to interact with their consumers, while storing their data and other resources securely using a private cloud.

Community cloud computing is a form of hybrid cloud computing where cloud infrastructure is shared by a number of different organisations with common concerns. These may include industry-specific standards, security needs, or regulatory compliance.

Multi-cloud computing is the strategic and simultaneous use of computing services or platforms provided by different vendors.

The three big global cloud service providers are Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Other popular cloud providers include Oracle, IBM Cloud, Salesforce, and Alibaba Cloud.

What are the different cloud computing service models?

Businesses have a range of options when it comes to choosing a cloud model that suits their individual needs. Depending on specific requirements, it’s not unusual for organisations to use some combination of all four of these common cloud service models:

• Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). IaaS offers on-demand, internet-based access to critical computing and infrastructural resources – such as networking, storage, physical servers, and virtual servers – via a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model. It reduces upfront costs, works flexibly in line with reduced or increased usage, and doesn’t require unnecessary buying of cloud resources or infrastructure.
• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). SaaS models are the most popular models for commercial software delivery and represent the biggest cloud computing segment. They host application software in the cloud, and enable user access via web browsers, dedicated desktop clients, or APIs (application programming interfaces) that integrate with a device’s operating system. They offer automatic upgrades, protection from data loss, and feature monthly, annual, or pay-per-usage subscriptions.
• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). PaaS on-demand, self-service platforms enable software developers to run, develop, and manage applications without the need for on-premises infrastructure. Everything is hosted by cloud vendors at their data centres, including servers, storage, networks, middleware, databases, and operating system software.
• Serverless computing. Serverless models offload all back-end infrastructure management activities to cloud providers, from scaling and patching to scheduling and provisioning. They run application code on a per-request basis, and users only pay for resources used while the application is running and not for ‘idle’ capacity. Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) is a subset of serverless computing.

What are the main principles of cloud computing architecture design?

Cloud vendors must adhere to certain key design principles in order to build highly efficient, secure, and resilient cloud architectures that deliver value to users and enable them to meet the critical needs of their businesses.

While there exists slight variation in terms of terminology, overarching cloud computing design principles generally encompass:

• scalability. Cloud architectures should have the capacity to scale up or down in line with demand, facilitating real-time, dynamic allocation of resources.
• reliability. Cloud systems should be designed to withstand failures and provide high availability through load balancing, fault tolerance mechanisms, and redundancy.
• security. Cloud security is of paramount importance in a world where cybercrime is constantly on the rise. Measures should exist at every architectural layer in order to safeguard data, applications, and infrastructure from malicious attacks and breaches.
• flexibility. Cloud architectures should prioritise elasticity and flexibility in order to accommodate diverse business requirements and changing workloads.
• performance. Cloud design should ensure architectures optimise performance, providing responsive experiences and high satisfaction for end users and meeting service-level agreements (SLAs).
• cost-effectiveness. Cloud systems should minimise unnecessary expenditure and maximise resource utilisation, for example via methods such as PAYG pricing, automated scaling, and resource pooling.
• interoperability. Cloud design should enable seamless integration with other services and systems, independent of provider and whether or not infrastructure is on-premises or cloud-based.

What are the key business benefits of cloud computing?

The characteristics of cloud computing are designed to facilitate economies of scale (as business needs evolve), flexibility of resources, and quicker innovation. Depending on the chosen cloud model, organisations with broad network access can avoid the complexity, cost, and inflexibility that comes with running and maintaining on-premises platforms.

Typically, businesses will only pay for the cloud services they use. This enables leaders to take advantage of pricing options that can help to lower overall operating costs, organise and run their IT infrastructure more efficiently, and tailor their cloud environments to the exact needs of the business at any given time.

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