Page 58 - Cloud Essentials

External service providers may provide access to innovative software

solutions or platforms. You might have access to solutions that
otherwise would not be available within the organization.
Not owning a large data center full of servers reduces capital
expenditure considerably. A typical server room might represent
thousands of dollars in capital expenditures; a data center could

represent millions of dollars. Cloud providers already have this
infrastructure; you just pay for what you use.

CERTIFICATION SUMMARY

This chapter took a look at cloud computing from a business perspective.
Cloud IT services are rented as needed and, as such, can be quickly scaled
to meet business needs. Outsourcing means enlisting professionals outside
of the organization to complete specific tasks. Cloud computing is a form of
outsourcing specific to IT.
Because of economies of scale, cloud providers are able to offer

reasonable rates for the use of their services. This means instead of an
organization tying up cash (capital expenses, or CAPEX) to invest in
computing hardware, licensing, and maintenance, the cloud provider takes
care of this. As a result, payment for cloud services becomes an operating
expense (OPEX) to the cloud customer. Additionally, this frees up the
organization to focus on their specific business and not on IT.
Cloud services across all types of providers share similar characteristics

such as the rapid provisioning and deprovisioning, or elasticity, of IT
services and on-demand access from any device. Public cloud providers
have the resources and expertise, and they must pass periodic third-party
audits, thus making their security practices second to none. Confidentiality
ensures only authorized persons see appropriate data. Integrity ensures data
has not been tampered with.

There must be a return in business value in order for cloud computing to
be useful. Cloud services must always be available; cloud providers will
normally configure their environments for high availability, but the cloud
customer should have redundant network connections to eliminate this single
point of failure.

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