Pinning Down the Cloud Just what is cloud computing and how can companies turn it to their advantage?

摘要

Likened by some tech-nophiles to the Industrial Revolution, cloud computing is already transforming the world around us and it promises to shape our future world too. Despite its growing importance, however, many companies are struggling to pin down exactly how this technological miracle can truly benefit their balance sheets. The practice of cloud computing is something with which consumers all over the world are already relatively familiar, even if the term itself leaves the lay technophobes scratching their head. Sending an e-mail using a third-party Web-based e-mail service provider, such as Google Mail, for example, is a basic form of cloud computing. In this example, a user accesses a Web-based application maintained by a third-party via his or her Internet connection and browser. The e-mail application itself and all the data it stores exist not on the user's own computer but are delivered as a service via "the cloud" of the Internet.