Cloud Computing

Overview

The concept of cloud computing was first introduced in the 1960s and has resurfaced in such forms as Application Management Services (AMS) and Application Service Providers (ASP) in the dot-com era. The basic idea of cloud computing is that the computing is “in the cloud,” where the “cloud” is taken from the symbol in network diagrams that represents the Internet.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identifies five essential characteristics for the model of cloud computing: on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service. The manifestation of these characteristics in practice has also coined cloud computing terms like “computing as a utility” and “computing as a service”. Because of its significant impact on IT, cloud computing has been credited as a “genuine information technology revolution,” a “potentially game-changing technology,” a “new computing paradigm,” and the “fifth major paradigm shift in computing” following mainframe computing, personal computing, client-server computing, and web computing. IT experts expect cloud computing to become the “dominant IT service delivery model” by the end of the decade.

Companies and organizations are increasingly adopting cloud services for their IT provisionings. This industry-wide emphasis on cloud computing has created a new demand for IT professionals with adequate knowledge and skills in cloud technology.