A quick start guide to cloud computing : moving your business into the cloud

Cloud computing has caused a marketing fog, confusing business executives seeking to understand the technology's potential applications and business benefits. A Quick-Start Guide to Cloud Computing cuts through the industry hype and provides non-technical explanations about what it is and how it can improve your business.

With case studies from large and small business, it shows how enabling a remote workforce and sharing resources can reduce your organisation's carbon footprint. It describes: the benefits of cloud computing; how to choose the right supplier and technologies for your particular business; key security issues and the perils and pitfalls to avoid.

This Quick Start Guide puts business needs before technology, enabling you to make confident decisions about IT strategy, make the right choices for your business and reject 'solutions' that fix problems you don't have.

• About this book p. vi
• About the author p. ix
• Acknowledgements p. xi
• Introduction p. 1
• 1 What is cloud computing? p. 3
• Three layers of computing p. 4
• Defining cloud computing p. 6
• Essential characteristics p. 7
• Three service models p. 10
• Four deployment models p. 16
• When is a cloud not a cloud? p. 17
• Twelve adoption scenarios p. 18
• Quick technology tips p. 18
• Summary p. 22
• Key summary points p. 23
• Question and activity p. 24
• 2 Benefits of cloud computing p. 25
• Financial benefits p. 26
• Technological benefits p. 28
• Operational features and benefits p. 30
• Environmental benefits p. 33
• Competitive advantage p. 35
• Summary p. 37
• Key summary points p. 37
• Question and activity p. 38
• 3 Risks of cloud computing p. 39
• Internal security risks p. 40
• External security risks p. 43
• Data protection risks p. 45
• Cloud outages p. 47
• Data loss p. 49
• Vendor lock-in p. 50
• Vendor failure p. 52
• Risk calculator p. 52
• Summary p. 54
• Key summary points p. 54
• Question and activity p. 55
• 4 Case studies p. 57
• SaaS case studies p. 58
• PaaS case studies p. 64
• IaaS case studies p. 66
• Size matters in the cloud p. 67
• Summary p. 74
• Key summary points, question and activity p. 75
• 5 Choosing a provider p. 77
• The crowded cloud marketplace p. 78
• Client references p. 82
• Service level agreements p. 83
• Service costs p. 90
• Processes, practices and standards p. 97
• Summary and checklist p. 97
• Key summary points and checklist p. 98
• Question and activity p. 99
• 6 Moving into the cloud p. 101
• Step 1 Investigation p. 102
• Step 2 Evaluation p. 107
• Step 3 Decision p. 109
• Step 4 Implementation p. 110
• Step 5 Iteration p. 114
• Summary p. 115
• Key summary points p. 115
• Question and activity p. 116
• 7 Conclusion p. 117
• Obstacles to adoption p. 118
• Predictions p. 119
• Top ten tips p. 121
• Glossary p. 123
• References p. 135