Cloud computing

Research
Publication Date: 13 October 2010 ID Number: G00208145

Cloud Computing Key Initiative Overview for CIOs
David W. Cearley

This overview provides a high-level description of the CloudComputing Key Initiative. CIOs can use this guide to understand what they need to do to prepare for this initiative.

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ANALYSIS
Cloud is a style of computing where scalable and elastic IT-related capabilities areprovided as a service to external customers using Internet technologies. Cloud computing can help CIOs improve the creation and delivery of IT solutions, by leveraging a potentially more agile andcost-effective style of computing. With public and community cloud computing, an external provider delivers services to the enterprise. CIOs that use public and community cloud services can potentially savemoney by leveraging a provider's elastically scalable, variably priced environment. But concerns arise concerning security, data management, trust, control and performance. Few CIOs will abandonon-premises models. Most will move toward private cloud-computing models in which IT acts as the provider, building data centers and services for internal use. Intense hype surrounds cloud computing,...