Cloud computing is the delivery of on-demand computing services -- from applications to storage and processing power -- typically over the internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis. In cloud computing, rather the owning their own computing infrastructure or data centers, organizations can rent access to anything from applications to storage from a cloud service provider.
There are certain attributes that service has to provide before it can accurately be calleda cloud service. Here are a few attributes.
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- Self Service
Here the user should be able to get service by making an online payment and then accessing it via online too. These services should be on an on-demand basis.
- Pay Per User
User should be allowed to use some features of services without any cost; i.e. some features of the services should be free so that any user can use it to explore before actually buying it.
- Elastic
User should be allowed to provision/de-provision their resources as and when needed. It’s not only about the resourcses but the billing model should also be elastic.
- Scalable
User should be able to scale resources up or down as per Internet speed.
- Fully Virtual and Automated
Services should be fully automated. User shouldn’t be allowed to access physical infra/layer of the services. Instead he should be given access to the simulated layer of that physical layer.
- Multi-Tenant
Cloud service should support a multi tenant model; i.e., multiple users should be able to access the same application without compromising safety/security and privacy of the user.
If any of the above attributes are missing, organizations cannot say that the service they provide is a cloud service. And also, users should be aware of these attributes before buying any service.