The Cloud put simply, it is a metaphor for the internet. Cloud computing is a way for a company or an individual to access supercomputing power. Websites such as Twitter, facebook or You Tube are all cloud applications, but on the enterprise side, ie cloud for businesses, it means an on-demand computing infrastructure. Companies effectively tap into a utility and use what they need, when they need it affording flexibility, scalability and cost-effectiveness.
Cloud benefits:
- Pay as you go applications managed by 3rd party providers
- No Capital expenditure and business cost aligned to demand
- User access any time, any place, anywhere
- Scale up and down according to demand
- Fast set up and realisation of ROI
- A collaborative and iterative working approach
What do the terms mean?
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Public cloud |
Shared infrastrucure on a pay as you go basis. They are easily accessible and managed via a self-service portal. |
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Private cloud |
Like the public cloud, but delivered within the organisation's firewall. |
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Community cloud |
Like the private cloud, but open to a select group via membership. |
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Hybrid |
A mix of elements from the public cloud with security criteria elements in the private cloud. |
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SAAS |
Software as a service eg salesforce.com, workforce.com |
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PAAS |
Platform as a service - platforms for building and running customer applications eg force.com, rollbase.com, azure.com |
|
IAAS |
Infrastructure as a service - outsourcing the support needed to run operations, ie storage, servers and workworking components eg amazon web services, rightscale |
| Service Cloud 2 |
The Service Cloud 2 is the platform for modern customer service, featuring everything from “knowledge as a service” to Twitter integration. The benefits include more informed agents and customers, plus real-time service conversations. |
To find out more, read about our services or contact us.