In October 2014, the Australian Government announced their support and new policy on the adoption of cloud technology. “The convenience of cloud service gives an opportunity for governments to supply services more efficiently. It also provides services which are more responsive to business and community needs.”
Annually, more and more businesses are implementing the cloud. It is progressively being considered a business decision to allow company functions.
Cloud computing relates to storing and accessing data and software over the internet as a replacement for onsite hardware and software.
Cloud computing offers major benefits to users:
Lower Cost – Cloud software is normally much cheaper than onsite systems
- Users do not need to make a large upfront investment in computing resources or staff for managing the system, database and network and don’t need the space required to house them.
- On average, users pay less for the service because they only pay for the software and services they use. Subscription-based or pay-per-use charges are normally much lower than the cost of maintaining on-premises systems.
More simple – the provider handles most of the complex tasks and simply provides access to the system
- The 3rd party provider is responsible for managing all the computing resources such as storage, software, servers, networking and all the electricity needed for the services.
- The only thing that users need to do is login and use the system from the cloud (usually via a web browser).
- Faster to get going
More flexible – users can scale to meet their needs and access the system flexibly
- Users can increase or decrease the level of use of the software and services easily.
- In practice, users can normally access the cloud for services anytime from anywhere as long as they have an internet connection.
Types of cloud
- Private: Resource dedicated to one customer.
- Public: Resources shared by numerous customers.
- Hybrid: Customised combination of shared and dedicated resource.
- Community: Dedicated resource for a group of customers.
Cloud Services
Software as a service: allows users to use an application without setting up it on a computer or another sort of device.
Platform as a service: allows third parties to construct applications without purchasing hardware or maintaining software.
Infrastructure as a service: offers hardware as demanded by users, to run their own software services.