Cloud first: Introduction to cloud

 
Today's Buzz word is cloud, everything you read, tweet or share mentions this word! Well, it's interesting topic and I'm not going to explain it here. however I am going to help you to to take the appropriate decision and choose the right platform for you, your application and your company.

Cloud offers three main flavors of cloud: SaaS, PaaS and Iaas, Of course there are other flavors but those are the most used/common types:

SaaS (Software as a Service)

SaaS is providing an application functionality as a service, you don’t have to write code, build an interface or data store; it’s offers the most common functionality of software  such as: CRM, Email…etc.. so what you’ve to do is using it by adding your data, you may change it’s look and feel to match your logo and that’s it.

SaaS can be used by business users directly, you don’t need technical background in order to use it.

PaaS (Platform as a Service)

PaaS is providing an environment where your application (most probably code) lives inside it; you may build the exact environment that your application needs in order to run; e.g. to run an application uses Apache Solr search engine you need to have a Java and Apache installed and configured for you, the installation, configuration and updates for the platform are being handled by cloud service provider, you don't have to worry about it.

PaaS can be used by software developers and IT professionals (system administrators) because it needs good technical skills to use it.

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

IaaS is providing virtual machine with a specific computing power, memory, storage and network. you should then do the appropriate actions to run your application. e.g. install the operating system, database, webserver, …etc.

IaaS can be used also by software developers and IT professionals (system administrators) because it needs good technical skills to use it, and you have to keep your system healthy, updated and secured as no one will do it for you.

Why should I move to the cloud?

Well, this is a good question. if you don't know why you should go cloud, then don't go unless you know your pain!
Actually, cloud is being here to address many-many challenges in IT industry and business in general, I'll list most common challenges, but it’s not limited to them only:

• Cost: reducing cost of hosting an application on premises and the need for a team of IT professionals to install, update and fix the application during it’s life cycle is a big challenge especially for business that is not related to IT industry where you have to have an IT department.   
• Geographic distribution: companies that distributed among multi-geographic locations are facing challenges to keep these locations up to date, synchronized and connected.
• Scalability: in some cases, business have the opportunity to expand its operations and the IT becomes (sooner or later) a bottleneck and delays business expansion.
• Speed: IT and business are changing very quickly and organizations have to adapt changes quickly before losing their market, so as quickly your IT adapts changes as you capture more market share.
• Licensing: Managing software licenses is a big challenge for all companies despite its size. every PC, Server and user should have license for the software he is using; with cloud most of services offered including license cost.

I got it, what's next?

Ok, if you think cloud is good for you, that’s great but wait; before you start moving to cloud you have to plan for this move, there are many things you need to take it into consideration before you go cloud. If you're interested, follow my blog to read the next article (Plan for go cloud) next week.