Private Equity Sector
Cloud Computing is an Information Technology (IT) paradigm, a model for enabling ubiquitous access to shared pools of configurable resources (such as computer networks, servers, storage, applications and services), which can be rapidly provisioned with minimal management effort, often over the Internet.
Cloud computing allows users and enterprises with various computing capabilities to store and process data either in a privately-owned cloud, or on a third-party server located in a data center - thus making data-accessing mechanisms more efficient and reliable. Cloud computing relies on sharing of resources to achieve coherence and economy of scale, similar to a utility.
Advocates note that cloud computing allows companies to avoid or minimize up-front IT infrastructure costs. As well, third-party clouds enable organizations to focus on their core businesses instead of expending resources on computer infrastructure and maintenance.
Proponents also claim that cloud computing allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with improved manageability and less maintenance, and that it enables IT teams to more rapidly adjust resources to meet fluctuating and unpredictable business demand. Cloud providers typically use a "pay-as-you-go" model. This could lead to unexpectedly high charges if administrators are not familiarized with cloud-pricing models.