Cloud Computing Characteristics

By Judith Hurwitz, Robin Bloor, Marcia Kaufman, and Fern Halper

Part of the Cloud Computing Cheat Sheet

Cloud computing requires searching for a cloud provider. Whether your cloud is public, private, or hybrid, look for elasticity, scalability, provisioning, standardization, and billed usage:

Elasticity and scalability. The cloud is elastic, meaning that resource allocation can get bigger or smaller depending on demand. Elasticity enables scalability, which means that the cloud can scale upward for peak demand and downward for lighter demand. Scalability also means that an application can scale when adding users and when application requirements change.
Self-service provisioning. Cloud customers can provision cloud services without going through a lengthy process. You request an amount of computing, storage, software, process, or more from the service provider. After you use these resources, they can be automatically deprovisioned.
Standardized interfaces. Cloud services should have standardized APIs, which provide instructions on how two application or data sources can communicate with each other. A standardized interface lets the customer more easily link cloud services together.
Billing and service usage metering. You can be billed for resources as you use them. This pay-as-you-go model means usage is metered and you pay only for what you consume.