Cloud Computing For Dummies®

Chapter 2. Discovering the Value of the Cloud for Business

In This Chapter

• Introducing a model of the cloud

• Getting familiar with as a service

• Measuring the cloud value to your business

As soon as you start reading about cloud computing, you run into the words as a service an awful lot. Examples include Infrastructure as a Service, hardware as a Service, social networks as a service, applications as a service, desktops as a service, and so on.

The term service is a task that has been packaged so it can be automated and delivered to customers in a consistent and repeatable manner. These services may be delivered by a cloud service vendor or through your own internal data center.

Modeling Services

We include the various types of cloud services into three distinct models, illustrated as different layers in Figure 2-1. The reality is that there is a blending between the types of service delivery models that are available from cloud vendors. For example, a Software as a Service vendor might decide to offer separate infrastructure services to customers. The purpose of grouping these services into three models is to aid in understanding what lies beneath a cloud service. All these service delivery models require management and administration (including security), as depicted by the outer ring in Figure 2-1.

Note

The three cloud service delivery models are Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service, and the purpose of each model is as follows:

• The Infrastructure ...