Cloud Computing: Characteristics and Deployment Approaches

Cloud Computing is a generic term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. It is a new paradigm based on a pay-as-you-go approach. Whereas, many large enterprises have embraced the cloud technologies and infrastructures, numerous vendors have developed application, platform and infrastructure services for other organizations to consume. This paper introduces the Cloud Computing concepts, explores the benefits it promises, discusses the inherent issues and challenges and explains, in some detail, the deployment and delivery models for Cloud Computing. The aim is to provide some general information for enterprises wishing to integrate their existing IT processes and systems with Cloud services and infrastructures, which are readily available for their consumption.