Learning about the Cloud

Despite stay-at-home orders and general social distancing policies currently making the workday that we are used to impossible to sustain, many businesses have found that cloud services have helped them to adjust. Let’s review what cloud services are available right now, and how exactly they can help many businesses operate.

Cloud Services, Summarized

For something named for the masses typically seen overhead, the actual purpose of cloud technology is pretty down-to-earth. Actually referring to a server or other piece of computing hardware infrastructure stored remotely, the cloud allows users to access it over an Internet connection to make use of the resources it contains.

Many businesses have found this arrangement to be very beneficial to their operations, as it generally makes their operations much more flexible and convenient.

The Types of Cloud

While the technology that serves as the cloud’s foundation is pretty consistent, it can be used in a few different ways that serve businesses with various needs and priorities.

Public Cloud Solutions

Think the “as-a-Service” offerings that Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are known for in the business world, and you’ve identified the public cloud. Encapsulating various services, these versatile solutions scale based on a business’ need and eliminate any maintenance that the end user is responsible for. Combining all of this, the public cloud has become a popular option for businesses seeking out a reliable service that their budget can support.

Private Cloud Solutions

Quite similarly to the public cloud, the private cloud offers many of the same services with the addition of one important quality: access to these clouds is left exclusively to a single company, because that company owns it. With greater control over the setup of these clouds, businesses that maintain them for themselves can be more confident that their security is assured.

Hybrid Cloud Solutions

Much as the name would suggest, hybrid clouds combine public and private clouds into a single deployment, each half working independently but also cooperating with one another when needed. As a result, a business can make use of the public cloud’s scalability as needed, while also benefiting from the security of a private solution.

Cloud-Available Services

As mentioned above, the cloud can be used for multiple applications. While they all can store data and applications, the public and hybrid clouds can support additional as-a-Service benefits.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service

This cloud variety enables a user to access an offsite computing system, complete with servers and storage space, to host the data and applications they need to complete their operations.

Platform-as-a-Service

In many ways similar to IaaS, Platform-as-a-Service offers the same resources with the inclusion of the applications that the user would otherwise provide.

Software-as-a-Service

Likely the most familiar to most users, SaaS allows users access to software titles via an Internet connection. As a result, tools once reserved for large organizations can be accessed by those with needs on a smaller scale.

If you want to learn more about how your company can use cloud-based tools and solutions to benefit your operations, we can help. Reach out to JensenIT by calling (847) 803-0044 today.