What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing, often referred to as simply “the cloud,” is the delivery of on-demand computing resources — everything from applications to data centers — over the internet on a pay-for-use basis.

• Elastic resources: Scale up or down quickly and easily to meet changing demand.

• Metered services: Pay only for what you use.

• Self-service: Find all the IT resources you need, with self-service access.

As the cloud has gained popularity and acceptance in the computing world, more and more businesses are making the switch. In fact, 75 percent of existing non-cloud apps will move to the cloud within the next three years.

Cloud computing benefits continuously evolve with the addition of new services, the conducting of uncompromising research and the creation of innovations that relentlessly push the boundaries of the underlying technology and architecture.

Seven benefits of cloud from an enterprise architecture standpoint:

• Cost efficiency

• Choice

• Scale: flexibility and elasticity

• Speed

• Integration

• Audit and compliance

• Business continuity planning

While cloud computing brings great opportunity, it can also introduce challenges for business leaders and IT departments. By far, the most common disadvantages that continue to taint perceptions about cloud computing are security problems and inconsistent performance.

The good news is that these challenges can be overcome with a cloud architecture built specifically for your workloads and through the efforts of a strong, reliable cloud service provider.