What is a public cloud?

Public clouds are the most common way of deploying cloud computing. The cloud
resources (like servers and storage) are owned and operated by a third-party cloud
service provider and delivered over the Internet. Microsoft Azure is an example of a
public cloud. With a public cloud, all hardware, software and other supporting
infrastructure are owned and managed by the cloud provider. In a public cloud, you
share the same hardware, storage and network devices with other organisations or
cloud “tenants”. You access services and manage your account using a web browser.
Public cloud deployments are frequently used to provide web-based email, online office
applications, storage, and testing and development environments.

Advantages of public clouds:

 Lower costs – no need to purchase hardware or software, and you only pay for
the service you use.

 No maintenance – your service provider provides the maintenance.

 Near-unlimited scalability – on-demand resources are available to meet your

business needs.

 High reliability – a vast network of servers ensures against failure.

What is a private cloud?
A private cloud consists of computing resources used exclusively by one business or
organisation. The private cloud can be physically located at your organisation’s on-site
data centre, or it can be hosted by a third-party service provider. But in a private cloud,
the services and infrastructure are always maintained on a private network and the
hardware and software are dedicated solely to your organisation. In this way, a private
cloud can make it easier for an organisation to customise its resources to meet specific
IT requirements. Private clouds are often used by government agencies, financial

1
 institutions and any other medium to large-sized organisations with business-critical
operations seeking enhanced control over their environment.

Advantages of a private cloud:

 More flexibility – your organisation can customise its cloud environment to meet
specific business needs.

 Improved security – resources are not shared with others, so higher levels of
control and security are possible.

 High scalability – private clouds still afford the scalability and efficiency of a
public cloud.

What is a hybrid cloud?

Often called “the best of both worlds”, hybrid clouds combine on-premises
infrastructure, or private clouds, with public clouds so that organisations can reap the
advantages of both. In a hybrid cloud, data and applications can move between private
and public clouds for greater flexibility and more deployment options. For instance, you
can use the public cloud for high-volume, lower-security needs such as web-based
email, and the private cloud (or other on-premises infrastructure) for sensitive, business-
critical operations like financial reporting. In a hybrid cloud, “cloud bursting” is also an
option. This is when an application or resource runs in the private cloud until there is a
spike in demand (such as a seasonal event like online shopping or tax filing), at which
point the organisation can “burst through” to the public cloud to tap into additional
computing resources.

2
 Advantages of hybrid clouds:

 Control – your organisation can maintain a private infrastructure for sensitive

assets.

 Flexibility – you can take advantage of additional resources in the public cloud
when you need them.

 Cost-effectiveness – with the ability to scale to the public cloud, you pay for extra
computing power only when needed.

 Ease – transitioning to the cloud doesn’t have to be overwhelming because you

can migrate gradually – phasing in workloads over time.
Deployment Options
As you can see, the cloud provides many options for deployments that are suited to
each organisation's needs. Find out more about cloud computing:

 What is cloud computing?

 Examples of cloud computing

 What is SaaS?

 What is IaaS?

 What is PaaS?
 cloud computing is the delivery of computing services over the Internet. Many of the things you
do every day are made possible through the cloud – like email, online banking, file storage and
backup, social media and even online shopping. The cloud has become popular because it
provides benefits to consumers and businesses alike including lower costs, easier access and
higher reliability.

How businesses use cloud computing

You’re probably using cloud computing at work, too. Just like your personal email, your
business email may also be cloud-based. Other business uses of the cloud include
collaboration and communication; productivity; file backup; data analysis; tools for
developing software; and more. Many organisations use cloud-based apps through a
subscription model. It’s cost-effective because the organisation only pays for what it
uses. And, it’s convenient and keeps people productive because they can access their
apps and data from any Internet-connected device. Cloud computing also makes many

3
business processes more reliable because data can be mirrored at multiple redundant
sites on the cloud provider’s network.

Here are some examples of how businesses use cloud computing:

Communication
The cloud gives users easy, web-based access to communication and collaboration tools
like email and calendaring. Messaging, and voice and video calling apps like Skype also
take advantage of the cloud. Your messages and information are located on the service
provider’s network rather than on your personal device.

Productivity
Office tools (like Microsoft Office 365) can be cloud-based, allowing you to connect to
your most-used apps over the Internet. You can work in your document, presentation or
spreadsheet software from nearly anywhere. With your information stored in the cloud,
you don’t have to worry about losing your data if your device fails. Many apps can be
run directly from your web browser without needing to download or install special
software.

Business processes
Many sophisticated business applications such as customer relationship management,
enterprise resource planning and document management can also be rented from a
cloud service provider. This ensures the availability and security of your organisation’s
business-critical resources – and lets you access these tools conveniently, through the
web browser.

File storage
The cloud can be used for file storage. The advantage for you is easy backup – many
cloud services automatically sync your files from your desktop. Also, if you switch to a
different computer or mobile device, you can still retrieve your files. Organisations only
pay for the storage used, and don’t have to maintain the infrastructure – the cloud
service provider does this.

4
Backup and recovery
When your organisation relies on cloud services for backup and recovery, it can avoid
capital outlay for infrastructure and management. Instead, the cloud services provider is
responsible for managing data and meeting legal and compliance requirements. The
cloud also provides higher flexibility in that it can accommodate unpredictable storage
and backup demands. Your cloud services provider can also make recovery faster
because your organisation’s assets are located over a network of physical locations
rather than at one on-site data centre.

Application development
If you’re developing web, mobile or gaming apps, the cloud can help you quickly create
cross-platform experiences that scale as your user base grows. Many cloud services
include pre-coded tools – such as directory services, search and security – that can
speed up and simplify your development.

Test and development

The cloud can provide an environment to help save costs and bring your apps to market
faster. Rather than securing budgets and spending valuable project time and resources
setting up physical environments, your teams can quickly set up and dismantle test and
development environments in the cloud. You can scale these dev-test environments up
or down depending on need.

Big data analytics

With cloud computing, you can tap into your organisation’s data to analyse it for
patterns and insights, make predictions, improve forecasting and make other business
decisions. Cloud services can provide your organisation with higher processing power

5
and sophisticated tools for mining massive amounts of data, as well as the ability to
quickly scale your environment as your data grows.

op benefits of cloud computing

Cloud computing

Top benefits of cloud computing

Cloud computing is a big shift from the traditional way businesses think about IT resources. Here
are seven common reasons why organisations are turning to cloud computing services:

Cost
Cloud computing eliminates the capital expense of buying hardware and software and setting up
and running on-site data centres – the racks of servers, the round-the-clock electricity for power
and cooling and the IT experts for managing the infrastructure. It adds up quickly.
Speed
Most cloud computing services are provided as self service and on demand, so even vast
amounts of computing resources can be provisioned in minutes, typically with just a few mouse
clicks, giving businesses a lot of flexibility and taking the pressure off capacity planning.
Global scale
The benefits of cloud computing services include the ability to scale elastically. In cloud speak,
that means delivering the right amount of IT resources – for example, more or less computing
power, storage, bandwidth – right when they’re needed, and from the right geographic location.
Productivity
On-site data centres typically require a lot of “racking and stacking” – hardware setup, software
patching and other time-consuming IT management chores. Cloud computing removes the need
for many of these tasks, so IT teams can spend time on achieving more important business goals.
Performance
The biggest cloud computing services run on a worldwide network of secure data centres, which
are regularly upgraded to the latest generation of fast and efficient computing hardware. This
offers several benefits over a single corporate data centre, including reduced network latency for
applications and greater economies of scale.
Reliability
Cloud computing makes data backup, disaster recovery and business continuity easier and less
expensive because data can be mirrored at multiple redundant sites on the cloud provider’s
network.
Security

6
Many cloud providers offer a broad set of policies, technologies and controls that strengthen
your security posture overall, helping to protect your data, apps and infrastructure from potential
threats.

Types of cloud computing

Not all clouds are the same and not one type of cloud computing is right for everyone. Several
different models, types and services have evolved to help offer the right solution for your needs.
First, you need to determine the type of cloud deployment, or cloud computing architecture, that
your cloud services will be implemented on. There are three different ways to deploy cloud
services: on a public cloud, private cloud or hybrid cloud.
Public cloud
Public clouds are owned and operated by third-party cloud service providers, who deliver their
computing resources such as servers and storage over the Internet. Microsoft Azure is an
example of a public cloud. With a public cloud, all hardware, software and other supporting
infrastructure are owned and managed by the cloud provider. You access these services and
manage your account using a web browser.
Private cloud
A private cloud refers to cloud computing resources used exclusively by a single business or
organisation. A private cloud can be physically located on the company’s on-site data centre.
Some companies also pay third-party service providers to host their private cloud. A private
cloud is one in which the services and infrastructure are maintained on a private network.
Hybrid cloud
Hybrid clouds combine public and private clouds, bound together by technology that allows data
and applications to be shared between them. By allowing data and applications to move between
private and public clouds, a hybrid cloud gives your business greater flexibility, more
deployment options and helps optimise your existing infrastructure, security and compliance.

7
Types of cloud services: IaaS, PaaS, serverless and SaaS
Most cloud computing services fall into four broad categories: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform
as a service (PaaS), serverless and software as a service (SaaS). These are sometimes called the cloud
computing stack because they build on top of one another. Knowing what they are and how they’re
different makes accomplishing your business goals easier.

What is IaaS?
Infrastructure as a service
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is an instant computing infrastructure, provisioned and managed
over the internet. It’s one of the four types of cloud services, along with software as a service
(SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and serverless.
IaaS quickly scales up and down with demand, letting you pay only for what you use. It helps
you avoid the expense and complexity of buying and managing your own physical servers and
other datacenter infrastructure. Each resource is offered as a separate service component, and
you only need to rent a particular one for as long as you need it. A cloud computing service
provider, such as Azure, manages the infrastructure, while you purchase, install, configure, and
manage your own software—operating systems, middleware, and applications.

Hosted Development Operating Servers Networking Data centre

applications/apps tools, systems and firewalls/security physical

8
 database storage facility/building
management,
business
analytics

Common IaaS business scenarios

Typical things businesses do with IaaS include:
Test and development. Teams can quickly set up and dismantle test and development
environments, bringing new applications to market faster. IaaS makes scaling dev-test
environments up and down quick and economical.
Website hosting. Running websites using IaaS can be less expensive than traditional web
hosting.
Storage, backup and recovery. Organisations avoid the capital outlay for storage and
complexity of storage management, which typically requires skilled staff to manage data and
meet legal and compliance requirements. IaaS is useful for handling unpredictable demand and
steadily growing storage needs. It can also simplify the planning and management of backup and
recovery systems.
Web apps. IaaS provides all the infrastructure to support web apps, including storage, web and
application servers, and networking resources. Organisations can quickly deploy web apps on
IaaS and easily scale infrastructure up and down when demand for the apps is unpredictable.
High-performance computing. High-performance computing (HPC) on supercomputers,
computer grids or computer clusters helps solve complex problems involving millions of
variables or calculations. Examples include earthquake and protein folding simulations, climate
and weather predictions, financial modelling and evaluating product designs.
Big data analysis. Big data is a popular term for massive data sets that contain potentially
valuable patterns, trends and associations. Mining data sets to locate or tease out these hidden
patterns requires a huge amount of processing power, which IaaS provides economically.
Advantages of IaaS
Eliminates capital expense and reduces ongoing cost. IaaS sidesteps the upfront expense of
setting up and managing an on-site data centre, making it an economical option for start-ups and
businesses testing new ideas.
Improves business continuity and disaster recovery. Achieving high availability, business
continuity and disaster recovery is expensive, as it requires a significant amount of technology
and staff. But with the right service level agreement (SLA) in place, IaaS can reduce this cost,
meaning you can access applications and data as usual during a disaster or outage.

9
 Innovate rapidly. As soon as you’ve decided to launch a new product or initiative, the necessary
computing infrastructure can be ready in minutes or hours, rather than the days or weeks (and
sometimes months) it could take to set up internally.
Respond more quickly to shifting business conditions. IaaS enables you to quickly scale up
resources to accommodate spikes in demand for your application – during the holidays, for
example – then scale resources back down again when activity decreases to save money.
Focus on your core business. IaaS frees up your team to focus on your organisation’s core
business rather than on IT infrastructure.
Increase stability, reliability and supportability. With IaaS, there’s no need to maintain and
upgrade software and hardware or troubleshoot equipment problems. With the appropriate
agreement in place, the service provider ensures that your infrastructure is reliable and meets
SLAs.
Better security. With the appropriate service agreement, a cloud service provider can provide
security for your applications and data that may be better than what you can attain in-house.
Gets new apps to users faster. Because you don’t need to first set up the infrastructure before
you can develop and deliver apps, you can get them to users faster with IaaS.
Get started with Azure IaaS
Learn how Azure infrastructure as a service (IaaS) helps you quickly create a secure and scalable
infrastructure—while reducing the time and money spent to plan, procure, and manage it.
Quickly provision infrastructure for all your workloads
Deploy hybrid environments consistent with your on-premises infrastructure
Protect your applications with security and management services
Reduce and optimize infrastructure costs

Example:

Four reasons to choose Azure IaaS

1. Infrastructure for every workload 
2. Hybrid by design 
3. Built-in security and management 
4. Cost-effective

Provision the infrastructure that you need

Scale your compute performance from 1 vCPU to 480 vCPU cores and your memory
from 1 GB to 24 TB. Tailor your disk storage capacity from 4 GB to 64 TB and reach up to
160,000 IOPS on a single disk. Rely on networking speeds from 30 Gbps Ethernet to
100 Gbps InfiniBand interconnects.

10
 Choose the SLA that’s right for you: from the industry’s only 99.9 per cent single VM SLA
to 99.99 per cent VM SLA across two or more Availability Zones.

 Learn about Azure virtual machines

 Learn about Azure storage

 Learn about Azure networking

Support the applications that you use

Use Windows or Linux applications and your favourite programming language. Run your
enterprise-class applications such as SAP, Oracle, IBM and SharePoint, or choose from
thousands of other workloads available in the Azure Marketplace.

Tap into nearly unlimited resources to tackle your most demanding high-performance
computing (HPC) or AI challenges, and use purpose-built bare metal infrastructure to
scale workloads such as SAP HANA to extreme levels.

 Run Windows Server on Azure

 Run Linux on Azure

 Run SAP on Azure

What is PaaS?
Platform as a service
Platform as a service (PaaS) is a complete development and deployment environment in the
cloud, with resources that enable you to deliver everything from simple cloud-based apps to
sophisticated, cloud-enabled enterprise applications. You purchase the resources you need from
a cloud service provider on a pay-as-you-go basis and access them over a secure Internet
connection.
Like IaaS, PaaS includes infrastructure – servers, storage and networking – but also middleware,
development tools, business intelligence (BI) services, database management systems and more.
PaaS is designed to support the complete web application life cycle: building, testing, deploying,
managing, and updating.
PaaS allows you to avoid the expense and complexity of buying and managing software licences,
the underlying application infrastructure and middleware, container orchestrators such

11
as Kubernetes or the development tools and other resources. You manage the applications and
services that you develop, and the cloud service provider typically manages everything else.

Hosted Development Operating Servers Networking Data centre

applications/apps tools, systems and firewalls/security physical
database storage facility/building
management,
business
analytics

Common PaaS scenarios

Organisations typically use PaaS for these scenarios:
Development framework. PaaS provides a framework that developers can build upon to
develop or customise cloud-based applications. Similar to the way you create an Excel macro,
PaaS lets developers create applications using built-in software components. Cloud features such
as scalability, high-availability and multi-tenant capability are included, reducing the amount of
coding that developers must do.
Analytics or business intelligence. Tools provided as a service with PaaS allow organisations to
analyse and mine their data, finding insights and patterns and predicting outcomes to improve
forecasting, product design decisions, investment returns and other business decisions.
Additional services. PaaS providers may offer other services that enhance applications, such as
workflow, directory, security and scheduling.
Advantages of PaaS
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By delivering infrastructure as a service, PaaS offers the same advantages as IaaS. But its
additional features (middleware, development tools and other business tools) give you more
advantages:
Cut coding time. PaaS development tools can cut the time it takes to code new apps with pre-
coded application components built into the platform, such as workflow, directory services,
security features, search and so on.
Add development capabilities without adding staff. Platform as a Service components can
give your development team new capabilities without your needing to add staff with the required
skills.
Develop for multiple platforms – including mobile – more easily. Some service providers
give you development options for multiple platforms, such as computers, mobile devices and
browsers, making cross-platform apps quicker and easier to develop.
Use sophisticated tools affordably. A pay-as-you-go model makes it possible for individuals or
organisations to use sophisticated development software and business intelligence and analytics
tools that they could not afford to purchase outright.
Support geographically distributed development teams. Because the development
environment is accessed over the Internet, development teams can work together on projects,
even when team members are in remote locations.
Efficiently manage the application life cycle. PaaS provides all of the capabilities that you
need to support the complete web application life cycle: building, testing, deploying, managing
and updating within the same integrated environment.

What is SaaS?
Software as a service
Software as a service (SaaS) allows users to connect to and use cloud-based apps over the
Internet. Common examples are email, calendaring and office tools (such as Microsoft Office
365).
SaaS provides a complete software solution that you purchase on a pay-as-you-go basis from
a cloud service provider. You rent the use of an app for your organisation, and your users
connect to it over the Internet, usually with a web browser. All of the underlying infrastructure,
middleware, app software and app data are located in the service provider’s data centre. The
service provider manages the hardware and software, and with the appropriate service
agreement, will ensure the availability and the security of the app and your data as well. SaaS
allows your organisation to get up and running quickly with an app, at minimal upfront cost.

13
 Hosted Development Operating Servers Networking Data centre
applications/apps tools, systems and firewalls/security physical
database storage facility/building
management,
business
analytics

Common SaaS scenarios

If you’ve used a web-based email service such as Outlook, Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail, then you’ve
already used a form of SaaS. With these services, you log in to your account over the Internet,
often from a web browser. The email software is located on the service provider’s network, and
your messages are stored there as well. You can access your emails and stored messages from a
web browser on any computer or Internet-connected device.
The previous examples are free services for personal use. For organisational use, you can rent
productivity apps, such as email, collaboration and calendaring apps; and sophisticated business
applications such as customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning
(ERP) and document management applications. You pay for the use of these apps by
subscription or according to the level of use.

Advantages of SaaS
Gain access to sophisticated applications. To provide SaaS apps to users, you don’t need to
purchase, install, update or maintain any hardware, middleware or software. SaaS makes even
sophisticated enterprise applications, such as ERP and CRM, affordable for organisations that
lack the resources to buy, deploy and manage the required infrastructure and software
themselves.

14
Only pay for what you use. You also save money because the SaaS service automatically scales
up and down according to the level of usage.
Use free client software. Users can run most SaaS apps directly from their web browser without
needing to download and install any software, although some apps require plug-ins. This means
that you don’t need to purchase and install special software for your users.
Mobilise your workforce easily. SaaS makes it easy to “mobilise” your workforce because
users can access SaaS apps and data from any Internet-connected computer or mobile device.
You don’t need to worry about developing apps to run on different types of computers and
devices because the service provider has already done so. In addition, you don’t need to bring
special expertise onboard to manage the security issues inherent in mobile computing. A
carefully chosen service provider will ensure the security of your data, regardless of the type of
device consuming it.
Access app data from anywhere. With data stored in the cloud, users can access their
information from any Internet-connected computer or mobile device. And when app data is
stored in the cloud, no data is lost if a user’s computer or device fails.

Serverless computing
An introduction to serverless technologies

What is serverless computing?

Serverless computing enables developers to build applications faster by eliminating the need for
them to manage infrastructure. With serverless applications, the cloud service provider
automatically provisions, scales and manages the infrastructure required to run the code.
In understanding the definition of serverless computing, it’s important to note that servers are
still running the code. The serverless name comes from the fact that the tasks associated with
infrastructure provisioning and management are invisible to the developer. This approach
enables developers to increase their focus on the business logic and deliver more value to the
core of the business. Serverless computing helps teams increase their productivity and bring
products to market faster, and it allows organisations to better optimise resources and stay
focused on innovation.
Top benefits of serverless computing
No infrastructure management
Using fully managed services enables developers to avoid administrative tasks and focus on core
business logic. With a serverless platform, you simply deploy your code, and it runs with high
availability.
Dynamic scalability
With serverless computing, the infrastructure dynamically scales up and down within seconds to
match the demands of any workload.
Faster time to market

15
Serverless applications reduce the operations dependencies on each development cycle,
increasing development teams’ agility to deliver more functionality in less time.
More efficient use of resources
Shifting to serverless technologies helps organisations reduce TCO and reallocate resources to
accelerate the pace of innovation.

Uses of cloud computing

You’re probably using cloud computing right now, even if you don’t realise it. If you use an online service
to send emails, edit documents, watch films or TV, listen to music, play games, or store pictures and
other files, it’s likely that cloud computing is making it all possible behind the scenes. The first cloud
computing services are barely a decade old, but already a variety of organisations – from tiny start-ups
to global corporations, from government agencies to non-profits – are embracing the technology for all
sorts of reasons.

Here are a few examples of what’s possible today with cloud services from a cloud provider:

Create cloud-native applications

Quickly build, deploy and scale applications – web, mobile and API. Take advantage of cloud-native
technologies and approaches, such as containers, Kubernetes, microservices architecture, API-driven
communication and DevOps.

Test and build applications

Reduce application development cost and time by using cloud infrastructures that can easily be scaled
up or down.

Store, back up and recover data

Protect your data more cost-efficiently – and at massive scale – by transferring your data over the
Internet to an offsite cloud storage system that’s accessible from any location and any device.

Analyse data

Unify your data across teams, divisions and locations in the cloud. Then use cloud services, such as
machine learning and artificial intelligence, to uncover insights for more informed decisions.

Stream audio and video

Connect with your audience whenever, wherever, on any device with high-definition video and audio
with global distribution.

Embed intelligence

16
 Use intelligent models to help engage customers and provide valuable insights from the data captured.

Deliver software on demand

Also known as software as a service (SaaS), on-demand software lets you offer the latest software
versions and updates around to customers – whenever they need it, regardless of where they are.

How do I choose a cloud service

provider?
Once you’ve decided to make the move to cloud computing, your next step is to select a cloud
service provider. It’s vital to assess the reliability and capability of a service provider that you
plan to entrust with your organisation’s applications and data. Some things to consider:

Business health and processes

 Financial health. The provider should have a track record of stability and be in a healthy
financial position with sufficient capital to operate successfully over the long term.

17
 Organisation, governance, planning and risk management. The provider should have a formal
management structure, established risk management policies and a formal process for assessing third-
party service providers and vendors.

 Trust. You should like the company and its principles. Check the provider’s reputation and see
who its partners are. Find out its level of cloud experience. Read reviews, and talk to customers whose
situation is similar to yours.

 Business knowledge and technical know-how. The provider should understand your business
and what you’re looking to do, and be able to match it up with their technical expertise.

 Compliance audit. The provider should be able to validate compliance with all of your
requirements through a third-party audit.
Administration support
 Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Providers should be able to promise you a basic level of
service that you are comfortable with.

 Performance reporting. The provider should be able to give you performance reports.

 Resource monitoring and configuration management. There should be sufficient controls for

the provider to track and monitor services provided to customers and any changes made to their
systems.

 Billing and accounting. This should be automated so that you can monitor what resources
you’re using and the cost, so you don’t run up unexpected bills. There should also be support for billing-
related issues.

18
 Technical capabilities and processes
 Ease of deployment, management and upgrade. Make sure that the provider has mechanisms
that make it easy for you to deploy, manage and upgrade your software and applications.

 Standard interfaces. The provider should use standard APIs and data transforms so that your
organisation can easily build connections to the cloud.

 Event management. The provider should have a formal system for event management that’s
integrated with its monitoring/management system.

 Change management. The provider should have documented and formal processes for
requesting, logging, approving, testing and accepting changes.

 Hybrid capability. Even if you don’t plan to use a hybrid cloud initially, you should make sure
that the provider can support this model. It has advantages that you may wish to exploit at a later time.
Security practices
 Security infrastructure. There should be a comprehensive security infrastructure for all levels
and types of cloud services.

 Security policies. There should be comprehensive security policies and procedures in place for
controlling access to provider and customer systems.

 Identity management. Changes to any application service or hardware component should be

authorised on a personal or group role basis, and authentication should be required for anyone to
change an application or data.

 Data backup and retention. Policies and procedures to ensure integrity of customer data should
be in place and operational.

 Physical security. Controls that ensure physical security should be in place, including for access
to co-located hardware. Also, data centres should have environmental safeguards to protect equipment
and data from disruptive events. There should be redundant networking and power and a documented
disaster recovery and business continuity plan.

19
5 Top Cloud Service Providers
Companies in the World
BY DATAFLAIR TEAM · UPDATED · JANUARY 30, 2019
Nowadays there are many companies which are coming with cloud services
and are performing better day by day. These Cloud Service Providers, are
providing: SaaS, PaaS, IaaS. So, let’s start exploring the big names of Cloud
Service Providers in the world.

5 Top Cloud Service Providers Companies in the World

1. Cloud Service Providers

Earlier the data was stored in hard drives which were not reliable and secure
as the drive can access by anyone. Today the cloud computing services have
replaced search hard drive technology and came with a new concept called
cloud technology in which the data store in the cloud. There are many
companies which provide Cloud computing service and they are very reliable.

20
https://data-flair.training/blogs/cloud-service-providers-
companies/

2. Services Provided by Cloud Providers

These are the service, which offers by Cloud Computing Providers:

i. Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a service, a cloud service provided by the cloud company. In SaaS,
a customer provides software which can be either for a particular amount of
time or for the lifetime. SaaS utilizes the internet and delivers the application
to the customer. Most of the SaaS application does not require any downloads
as they can use directly through the web browser.
ii. Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Platform as a service is a framework for the developer where they can create an
application for customizing the previously built application. This service also
provided through the means of internet and here all the management is done
by the enterprise or any third party provider.
iii. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Infrastructure as a service, provided by the Cloud Service providers which help
the customer to access and monitor things like computer, networking, and
other services. In IaaS, the customer can purchase resources on demand
rather than buying hardware which is costly and hard to maintain.

3. List of Cloud Service Providers

There are many Cloud Service providers in the market:

1. Amazon Web Service (AWS)

2. Microsoft Azure
3. Google Cloud Platform
4. IBM Cloud Services

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5. Adobe Creative Cloud
6. Kamatera
7. VMware
8. Rackspace
9. Red Hat
10. Salesforce
11. Oracle Cloud
12. SAP
13. Verizon Cloud
14. Navisite
15. Dropbox
So, let’s discuss some top Cloud Service providers of the market:

i. Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Amazon Web Services is a cloud computing platform which provides services
such as compute power, database storage, content delivery and many other
functions which will help to integrate a business. The Amazon Web Services is
flexible, scalable, and reliable and due to this many companies are
implementing it in their work. There is no upfront cost and the customer has
to pay only for what they have used. It is one of the leading cloud service
providers among all.

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Cloud Service Providers – AWS
With the help of the internet, the customer can access highly durable storage
such as Amazon Glacier, Amazon S3, and Amazon EBS. It also has a high-
performance database such as Amazon Redshift, Amazon Dynamo DB,
Amazon ElastiCache and Amazon RDS.
ii. Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service which is used for building testing
deploying and managing the application. This process is done in a global
network of the Microsoft-managed data centre. It is private as well as a public
cloud platform. It uses virtualization which differentiates the coupling between
the operating system and CPU with the help of an abstraction layer known as a
hypervisor.
This hypervisor emulates all the functionality of the physical machine such as
hardware and server into a virtual one. There is numerous amount of virtual
machine available and each virtual machine can run many operating systems.

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In the data centre of Microsoft, there are many servers and each server
consists of a hypervisor through which multiple virtual machines can operate.
With the help of Azure, it is easy for developers and IT professionals to
manage and deploy their applications and services.

iii. Google Cloud Platform

Google cloud platform is one of the leading Cloud Computing services which
are offered by Google and it runs on the same infrastructure that Google uses
for its end-user products. The Google cloud platform is basically used for
Google search and YouTube. There are various services offered by Google
Cloud such as data analysis, machine learning, and data storage.

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Cloud Service Providers – Google Cloud Platform
The data stored in Google Cloud is secure and can access easily. It offers
varieties of services from infrastructure as a service to platform as a service.
Google also provides a strong commitment to security and stability. With the
help of the Google cloud platform, the user is free to think about the code and
the feature which are needed to develop without worrying about the
operations side.
Here most of the services fully manage and details quite easy for the customer
to concentrate on their work. In this, machine learning and the use of API are
very easy. The API also helps in speech detection language translation very
easily. So it prefers among the customers.
iv. IBM Cloud Services
IBM cloud offers services such as platform as a service and infrastructure as a
service. This cloud organization can deploy and access its resources such as
storage networking and compute power with the help of internet. There are
several tools which help the customer to draw on deep industry expertise.

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Cloud Service Providers – IBM Cloud Services
The speed and agility of the cloud fulfil the requirement of the customer and
make them feel satisfied. A customer using IBM cloud can easily find growth
opportunities, generating new revenue schemes and improving the
operational efficiency. The uses of IBM cloud don’t have many barriers as
compared to traditional technologies.

IBM cloud eliminates the complex problem and the problems which face by
large companies. IBM Cloud computing services are also helping home
appliance manufacturer, retailer, and medical supply businesses. It uses in
because it offers the best services with the price as low as possible.

Let’s Revise about Cloud Computing Architecture

v. Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe creative cloud provides the best experience of apps services design
photography and web. The Adobe cloud services provide tutorials and
templates with which a beginner can easily access the cloud and can start
using it. It provides many facilities to the beginner as well as professionals for
easy access to the cloud.

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It consists of many applications and services that provide access to a collection
of software which uses for video editing, web development, photography, and
graphic designs. There are mobile applications as well as computer
applications which can use by the customers.

Cloud Service Providers – Adobe Creative Cloud

Creative Cloud allows you to work from anywhere and from any device as the
files can save to the cloud and can access at any time from anywhere. Creative
Cloud was the first host on Amazon Web Services but as per the new
agreement with Microsoft, the Adobe creative cloud now hosted on Microsoft
Azure.

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8. Services Provided by Cloud Providers
Name of
 IaaS  Paas  SaaS
Company

 AWS  Amazon EC2  Amazon Web Services  Amazon Web Services

 Microsoft Private
 Microsoft  Microsoft Azure  Microsoft Office 365
Cloud

 Google App Engine

 Google  –  Google Applications
(Python, Java and many)

 Smart Cloud  Smart Cloud Application         

 IBM  SaaS Products
Enterprise Services

 Acrobat, Flashplayer,
 Adobe  –  Adobe Creative Cloud
etc.

So, this was all about Cloud Providers. Hope you like our explanation.

9. Conclusion
Cloud Computing is helping a lot in business whether it is a small or large.
These Cloud Service Providers companies provide storage database server
networking and the software through which the business can increase. So a
customer can choose the company which is most suitable for their business
and their requirement.

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