Cloud computing and its types preferred around the world!

Cloud computing has been a former buzzword which had inspired overtime imagination amongst the geeks. But not many can be sure about what it actually means!

Cloud Computing Development has been always one of the major buzzwords in technology and most organizations have already ventured into the cloud. Cloud computing has proved to be quite cost-effective with the arrival of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. Everyone though seems to have different definitions of the same concept.

Many analysts have labeled cloud computing to be a version of utility computing which refers to different virtual servers across the world and all over the Internet. Some even refer anything outside their own firewall system to be "in the cloud," including outsourcing.

Cloud computing has helped many companies though, to add capabilities without having to train new guys or spend on costly infrastructure. Any subscription-based paid service comes within the purview of cloud computing. Everything from full-blown applications to storage services has been in the canopy of cloud computing. For most companies, nowadays, it is very important for them to participate in cloud-based services.

Here are some types of cloud computing services:

• SaaS (Software as a Service) delivers a single application through the browser to plethora of customers utilizing a multitenant architecture. It does not force any upfront investment in buying servers or even in software licensing, which means that costs are drastically low compared to conventional hosting. Salesforce.com is one of the best enterprise applications running on SaaS.
• Compared to SaaS, utility computing is not new, but this sort of computing is backed by many sites like Amazon.com, Sun, IBM who host servers on demand. Most companies who adopted it some years back used it for non-critical purposes but slowly and steadily, utility computing is bound to replace datacenters.
• Web service providers offer APIs that help out developers to make the best use of its functionality online rather than creating full-blown applications. There are many companies which provide a full range of APIs  like Google offers with its Google maps.
• PaaS is a variation of SaaS where you can use the platform as a service. You build your own applications runs on the provider’s platform. One does not get complete freedom here but one gets predictability and pre-integration.
• Managed service providers are the oldest forms of cloud computing. It is basically an application which manages IT and its applications rather than being useful directly to the end users. The best example of a MSP is a virus scanning service or even a monitoring service and anti-spam services. Even some desktop management services come under the canopy of managed services.