Understanding the Benefits of Cloud Computing

Before the option of cloud computing, companies would have physical network components and server hardware to host roles that would allow them to manage identity, storage, databases, and web applications, among others. Each of these requires skill and money to install, configure, maintain, patch, and eventually upgrade.

If, for example, there was a sudden rise in incoming requests to one of your web servers, you may have had a drop in service availability because your hardware lacks the resources required to handle such traffic. If you predicted the sudden rise, perhaps due to seasonal patterns, you may have gone through a capital expenditure (CapEx) process. Once approvals are obtained and everything gets set up, if the actual traffic isn’t what was forecast, or once the traffic drops again, you might be stuck with expensive hardware that isn’t being fully utilized, while still having ongoing running and maintenance costs...