What is cloud computing?
7th February 2025
94% of all companies worldwide use cloud computing, reducing costs and improving efficiency*.
‘Cloud’ is one of those IT terms that we hear so often, but if someone asked us what exactly it was, we might struggle. You know the data on your phone has a backup in the cloud, but how does it work?
Cloud services are made up of servers that are stored in data centres across the globe. These allow users to connect to them from anywhere, provided they have access to the internet.
Services the cloud can provide include remote servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics and intelligence.
There are different types of clouds, that provide different benefits or drawbacks depending on how you intend to use a cloud service. Microsoft defines them as:
Personal clouds – cloud that, because it is privately owned and uses personal hardware, is more secure and allows for better control by the user.
Commercial clouds – offered by companies for use by anyone, from big corporations to individuals. Usually managed by a large cloud service provider – think AWS, Azure or GCP – and are designed to be efficient and secure.
Private clouds – cloud solutions for select users only, often hosted onsite. This allows for more control and better security, but also costs more, as whoever owns it must pay for the infrastructure and upkeep.
Public clouds – shared between multiple organisations. The difference between public and private is that with public the service provider is responsible for how the system is run, saving users on the costs of buying and maintaining hardware.
Hybrid clouds – combine private and public cloud environments. This allows businesses to use one cloud for some services and another for others.
Keep an eye out for a follow-up article explore the various benefits of using cloud solutions. In the meantime, if you’d like to ask any questions please contact us HERE.
*https://edgedelta.com/company/blog/how-many-companies-use-cloud-computing-in-2024
*2https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/cloud-computing-dictionary/what-is-the-cloud