What Is Enterprise Cloud Computing?

Enterprise cloud computing is a computing model in which organizations can access virtualized IT resources via the internet on a pay-per-use basis. Enterprise cloud computing resources include servers, data processing power, data storage, networking infrastructure, virtualization capabilities, and more. Enterprise cloud computing services are delivered from cloud providers that are responsible for deploying, maintaining, and upgrading the cloud infrastructure that enables enterprises to access computing resources over the internet.

While standard cloud computing may involve public cloud resources or private cloud resources, enterprise cloud computing is characterized by the use of both public and private clouds as well as distributed cloud infrastructure (public cloud infrastructure residing in multiple locations) and a unified IT environment that offers centralized control and management.

With traditional computing infrastructure, computing resources like servers and storage are located in an on-site data center within a physical business location. In cloud computing, cloud providers combine and pool a vast collection of computing resources that may be located anywhere. Using virtualization technologies, they create virtual machines (VMs) within these resources, enabling one physical server to run a variety of separate machines with different operating systems and applications. These resources can then be made available to customers via an internet connection. The result is a more efficient use of resources and greater scalability, since customers can access resources on demand from anywhere in the world.

Enterprise cloud deployment combines a variety of public, private, and distributed clouds.

Public cloud services are provided by third-party vendors over the internet. Public cloud services are accessible on demand, allowing organizations to scale up or down far more quickly than is possible with an on-site data center.

Private cloud infrastructure is owned, operated, or leased by a single organization, and all the resources within a private cloud are used only by that organization, accessed via a private network. Rather than using multi-tenant machines — where multiple customers share the resources of a single physical server — private clouds use single-tenant or “bare-metal” machines in which performance is not impacted by the computing requirements of another customer.

Distributed cloud is a public cloud service that enables organizations to run infrastructure in multiple locations to meet performance or compliance requirements.

Hybrid cloud infrastructure combines public and private cloud technology, enabling organizations to run workloads in the optimal environment and to move data and applications between multiple environments seamlessly.

Multicloud environments use two or more cloud services from two or more different providers to increase resiliency and performance.

Enterprises may take advantage of several cloud computing service models.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) offerings provide on-demand access to the fundamental aspects of computing and IT infrastructure — servers, storage, and networking. Organizations pay only for the resources they use, and the IaaS vendor is responsible for cloud management and maintaining and securing the computing infrastructure. The IaaS model lets enterprises set up, run, test, and develop environments with incredible speed while eliminating capital expense, increasing security, enhancing reliability, and improving disaster recovery.

Platform as a service (PaaS) offerings give software development teams on-demand access to technology for developing, running, and managing applications. PaaS services provide access to the hardware, software, infrastructure, and tools that development teams need, while eliminating the complexity and expense of maintaining their own development platforms on site.

Software as a service (SaaS) enables enterprises to access software applications without needing to install them on local servers or hard drives. Instead, SaaS-based applications can be accessed through a web browser, an API, or a dedicated desktop client. Rather than purchasing and owning software, organizations can access SaaS solutions via a subscription fee or a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Upgrades to the software are performed automatically and frequently, giving users access to the latest features and capabilities.

• Reduced costs. With enterprise cloud computing, there’s no need for enterprises to set up a data center, purchase servers or hardware, license software, or hire more IT professionals to manage, maintain, and upgrade IT resources. Additionally, enterprises can achieve even greater cost savings by paying only for the resources they consume.
• Reduced burden on IT teams. Enterprise cloud computing allows IT teams to offload many routine but important tasks to cloud service providers, freeing up time for more strategic priorities.
• Improved security. While there is some risk in moving sensitive data and intellectual property to the cloud, these concerns are offset by the security expertise and best-of-breed cloud network security solutions deployed by cloud providers. Technology like system-wide identity and access controls and cloud security monitoring often enables enterprises to protect data security more effectively in the cloud than in on-premises infrastructure.
• More flexibility. With virtually unlimited cloud computing resources available on demand, organizations have the flexibility to deploy the technologies that are ideally suited for business requirements and workloads at any given moment.
• Easy scalability. Enterprise cloud solutions allow IT teams to quickly scale computing resources up or down as needed.
• Greater agility. With access to all the computing resources they need on demand, enterprises can leverage cloud computing to deploy resources in minutes, accelerating innovation and speed to market.
• Enhanced resiliency. Because enterprise cloud computing resources are served from multiple sites and provide redundancy, outages due to disasters, malfunctions, or cyberattacks will have less impact on performance and availability. Automated backups to the cloud also help organizations to recover quickly after disaster.
• Increased accessibility. Enterprise cloud computing enables hybrid and remote workforces to access the IT resources they need from any location, at any time.

Because enterprise cloud computing resources are delivered over the internet, outages or sluggish connectivity can significantly hinder access to cloud resources. The complexity of enterprise cloud platforms and environments can make it difficult to manage security, availability, and privacy concerns. Security can be more complicated, as most cloud providers operate with a shared responsibility security model in which enterprises are still responsible for securing data and assets within their control. Additionally, because data and infrastructure does not reside on site, IT teams tend to have less control over computing resources.