ist Magazine January 2022

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4. Accessible anywhere, anytime* If you have a connection to the Internet and a device that can access the Internet (e.g. tablet, smartphone, computer), then you can access Cloud services any time. *The only caveat is that if the Cloud service is down for maintenance, upgrades or an outage, then you won’t be able to access the service. 5. Scales to user’s needs People can decide how much (or little) of a service they want to use, without making a long-term commit- ment. For example, if a user finds that they need additional virtual machines to complete a short-term data science project, they can purchase and use those VMs and then, at the end of the project, shut the extra machines down at no utilities, like electricity, they are charged only for what they used in each month. Cloud-computing resources operate in the same way, in which users are only charged for when the Cloud service is running. Deployment Models When most people are writ- ing about Cloud-computing, they are usually talking about a “public” Cloud. On a public Cloud platform, anyone can access the services, which helps to keep the costs of services down. The flip side: because many people can access these services, it can lead to services not performing optimally (often referred to as “noisy neighbors” or “nosy tenants”). Enterprises often opt to develop their own Cloud platforms, referred to as a “private” Cloud, where only those who belong to the organization can access the services on the platform. While this can help with performance and availability, it is very expensive to build and maintain. With a “hybrid” Cloud, public, pri- vate and perhaps physical (or on-prem- ises) infrastructures are used. This may be ideal for cutting costs and addressing specialized security or industry compli- ance concerns. This is not to be confused additional cost or commitment. 6. Pay only for what’s used. When people consume

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As the Cloud becomes a mainstay for businesses, there’s never been a better time to learn the fundamentals.

with “multi-Cloud,’ which is usually two or more public Clouds being used. 8. Service Models & Shared Responsibility There are three different service models that are referred to as infrastructure, plat- form and software as a service. Software as a service (SaaS) is the most common deployment, with software purchased on a recurring basis. The software provider handles just about everything – the software itself, the underlying platform it’s running, updates, security, etc. As the names imply, providers of infrastructure and platform as a service ensure that there are resources to support computing, networking, storage and application development services. Whatever a user places on top of those resources is their responsibility. 9. Multiple platforms In the U.S., Amazon Web Ser- vices, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform are the major public Cloud providers. That said, they are not the only ones – for example, Alibaba Cloud Services is the predominant provider

in China. Not to mention, there is a growing market for “vertical Clouds,” where the Cloud platform services are catered to a specific industry, like finan- cial services and manufacturing. 10. Careers galore! While there is a dearth of Cloud professionals in security, net- working and application development, there is just as much demand for pro- fessionals who can help an organization with their costs and governance needs. As the Cloud becomes a mainstay for businesses, there’s never been a better time to learn the fundamentals, espe- cially if you’re a technologist looking to stay competitive in the IT industry. „

About the Author: Susanne Tedrick is an infra- structure specialist for Azure, Microsoft’s Cloud-computing platform. In her work, she helps her clients address

needs and challenges surrounding Cloud adop- tion, migrating on premises workloads to the Cloud, and cost optimization. Susanne previously worked as a technical specialist for IBM Cloud. For more information, visit SusanneTedrick.com.

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January 2022 istmagazine.com