What Is Cloud Technology
Let’s define and simplify the cloud first to understand what does cloud mean and what does the cloud do. The cloud is a virtual space that exists on the internet. It is a storage space where people can place their digital resources such as software, applications and files. So in simplified terms, we can say that the cloud is a virtual storage space on the internet. A lot of people do get the cloud mixed up with the internet. However, the cloud is only one part of the internet and not the whole thing. So how does cloud technology work? Cloud computing technology allows people to use the digital resources stored in the virtual space by way of networks – often satellite networks. It allows people to share information and applications across the internet without being the restriction of their physical location.
Consumer vs. Business
Let's be clear here. I'm talking about cloud computing as it impacts individual consumers—those of us who sit back at home or in small-to-medium offices and use the internet on a regular basis. There is an entirely different "cloud" when it comes to business. Some businesses choose to implement Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), where the business subscribes to an application it accesses over the internet. (Think Salesforce.com.) There's also Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), where a business can create its own custom applications for use by all in the company. And don't forget the mighty Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), where players like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Rackspace provide a backbone that can be "rented out" by other companies. (For example, Netflix is a customer of the cloud services at Amazon.) Of course, cloud computing is big business. Our partners at Statista created this chart in February 2021 showing Amazon's dominance in the $100 billion a year business. That, of course, was a month before the COVID-19 coronavirus shut down a lot of businesses—which then transferred their cloud computing to the home, seamlessly for the most part.
