What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is essentially the availability of computing resources and services over the internet, typically, on a pay-as-you-go basis. To understand the current applications of cloud computing, it’s crucial to familiarise ourselves with the three primary cloud computing service models. Let’s look into each of these models to gain a high-level perspective:

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

IaaS is a cloud computing model that offers on-demand access to computing resources, such as servers, storage, and networking, over the internet. What sets it apart is that cloud vendors handle the physical infrastructure, providing users with seamless internet-based access.

The developer no longer needs to worry about managing physical hardware, fixing faulty components, or ensuring server security. These responsibilities are shouldered by the cloud provider. Essentially, IaaS presents hardware resources as a service, with users being the beneficiaries.

While IaaS offers maximum flexibility for building systems, it can also be complex, requiring manual configuration of these resources. Some examples of IaaS providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and DigitalOcean.

Platform as a service (PaaS)

PaaS takes cloud computing a step further by offering a platform or environment for developing and running applications. In contrast to IaaS, which provides the utmost flexibility, PaaS involves greater control by the cloud vendor. They oversee not only the hardware but also some aspects of the software, simplifying tasks for developers.

PaaS streamlines the development process by handling low-level tasks like networking, operating system setup, database software installation, and security roles. Essentially, it’s an additional layer of support from the cloud provider, although it may slightly reduce the flexibility compared to IaaS.

Notable PaaS offerings include AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Heroku, and Google App Engine.

Software as a service (SaaS)

SaaS is cloud-hosted software ready for immediate use by customers, typically end-users of software , that pay a subscription to use a particular software. Users typically pay for SaaS on a monthly, annual, or pay-as-you-go basis. The underlying infrastructure required to operate the software is developed and managed by the SaaS vendor, making it invisible to end-users. With SaaS, users focus solely on how to use the software, as all the backend complexities are hidden from them.

Well-known SaaS examples include Microsoft Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud, just to name a few.

It’s worth noting that these cloud service models are not mutually exclusive, and many companies and organisations leverage a combination of these models to meet their customer specific needs.

Current applications of the cloud

Thanks to these cloud service models, cloud computing has found applications in numerous industries, including but not limited to:

• Entertainment: Netflix, Disney+, EPIC Games and many more companies in the entertainment industry employ cloud technologies to power up their system and cope with the high demand for these services.
• Data analytics and big data processing: enterprises dealing with massive datasets use the cloud to process data and generate analytics for improved business operations.
• Energy: energy companies use the cloud to manage systems and process data efficiently.
• Education: many tools for education are leveraging the cloud, from virtual classroom solutions, to lecture recordings and to provide assessment feedback.
• Financial services: many tools for finance leverage the cloud to provide their services in real-time.
• Governments: certain government services, such as the British government’s gov.uk portal, are powered entirely by cloud computing.
• Healthcare: companies and organisations in the healthcare industry leverage the cloud to create computational pipelines for their needs and to securely store data.
• Retail: companies like Amazon leverage the cloud to power up many of their operations to ensure automation of inventory workflows.
• Travel and food industry: businesses like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Deliveroo rely on the cloud to build and support their systems.
• Software solutions: a wide range of software solutions, including email services, storage providers like Dropbox, and creative tools like Adobe Photoshop, utilise the cloud.

These examples demonstrate the broad spectrum of current cloud computing applications. The cloud’s versatility, combined with its cost-effective pay-as-you-go pricing, has led to a growing adoption rate. We’ve witnessed major corporations migrate from on-premises solutions to the cloud.

In the next step, you can take a short quiz to check your understanding of the three models you learned about in this step.