If you trust the media and are looking to the future, you might be thinking a good deal about Cloud Computing — according to ComputerWorld, this could be the next big movement.

I’ve heard the buzzwords but wasn’t exactly sure what they meant–luckily, when there’s media hype, there are definitions, too. According to this article, cloud computing is exemplified by Software as a Service — outsourced, hosted platforms and software that perform services for companies.

Another article puts it slightly differently:

OK, let us look at what form of computing in being provided via the cloud. In this model, all IT applications and facilities (i.e. compute, storage and network) are provided as a service rather than dedicated infrastructure. This is intended to allow any user, independent of client platform, to access IT services without knowledge or concern of their location or form. Sound familiar — it’s a service-oriented architecture (SOA)!

In addition, cloud computing incorporates almost every computing manifestation within the IT world: distributed, grid, utility, on-demand, open-source, Web services, P2P, Web 2.0 and, last but not least, software as a service.

It also accommodates thin, thick and mobile clients and allows integration of corporate, commercial and service provider cloud-accessed resources. As an example, in this model, storage is a service resource that is accessed via the cloud, not a dedicated user resource.

Honestly I read that last one first and found the definition a bit dense. It sounds like a summation of everything that makes up our Internet infrastructure already, so how is that different than the Internet itself? Well, cloud computing isn’t about what service or devices are being supported — it’s more about how it’s being provided– it is a location-independent style of computing. The first article calls it “platform as a service.”

Have you heard better definitions of what cloud computing is and does? Share them in the comments below. Thanks!

See the original post here: