The Top 9 Most Popular Use Cases for Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has truly revolutionized the digital world: it has enabled incredible flexibility and scalability, while reducing the costs associated with deploying and maintaining IT infrastructure. Let’s explore how businesses most commonly utilize cloud computing for their tasks.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is a model for delivering computing resources, such as CPU power, RAM, storage, and data transmission channels, to an arbitrary number of clients over a network, without being tied to physical hardware. Resources are allocated on-demand based on the specifics and complexity of the client’s tasks. Today, this could be a small organization or a startup, as well as a large international company. Regardless of their size, they all pursue similar objectives: to optimize business processes, reduce IT expenses, delegate non-core tasks (such as infrastructure building, maintenance, and administration) to third parties, and redirect freed resources to more critical, priority tasks.
How can an organization use cloud computing? The most popular options are listed below.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS is a highly sought-after model for consuming computational resources on a rental basis. Clients pay only for the resource pool they request from the provider. This model offers the flexibility to easily adjust the parameters of the computing environment: adding processing power and memory if the demand on IT services increases, and scaling back to previous levels when the load stabilizes. Many cloud providers allow for nearly instantaneous changes to the cloud configuration, within minutes or an hour.

The virtual IaaS infrastructure is attractive due to the absence of capital expenditures, scalability, and transparent pricing. It is typically chosen by companies that want to avoid capital expenses involved in deploying IT infrastructure, need to acquire necessary resources within a short timeframe, or wish to delegate administration tasks to the provider as much as possible. This includes startups, small and medium-sized businesses, organizations with a large network of offices or divisions, and those that require computing resources promptly.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS is a model of cloud service delivery that is strictly oriented towards specific tasks. In this model, clients receive a fully prepared platform equipped with the necessary services tailored to specific tasks such as application development and subsequent testing, application deployment, database management, and AI services.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS is a model of cloud computing that is familiar to most internet users; they gain access to fully operational software on a subscription basis. This software can be used from anywhere in the world without the need for installation, configuration, or maintenance. This model is employed by various services such as email providers (Gmail), CRM systems (Salesforce), email marketing services (Mailchimp), and many others. For businesses, this offers an ideal way to utilize essential tools with minimal investment and without concerns about service functionality.

Hybrid Cloud

A Hybrid Cloud is a computing environment that combines on-premise resources (located locally or on servers leased in data centers) with cloud resources. This creates a combined environment that integrates the advantages of both local and cloud IT infrastructures. Clients have the ability to manage all resources centrally, securely store critical business data, and utilize a flexible cloud setup — easily scaling the pool of cloud resources as needed and paying based on results. Hybrid solutions are in demand among businesses that aim to retain maximum control over their IT infrastructure while leveraging a more flexible cloud environment.

Multicloud

A Multicloud computing environment integrates multiple clouds from different service providers, encompassing not only IaaS models but also PaaS and SaaS. Businesses can mix and match different cloud models based on specific needs, performance requirements, security, and scalability. Multicloud allows businesses to choose the most cost-effective products, avoid dependency on a single provider, select the best industry solutions from various service providers, and implement them as soon as they become available on the market.

Testing and Development

The cloud environment is ideally suited for developing, testing, and delivering new software. The cloud can be tailored to meet specific developer requirements and organize their productive work. Additionally, developers gain access to DevOps tools, CI/CD pipelines, microservices, orchestrators, and others that simplify and accelerate not only development but also the implementation of innovations.

Big Data Analytics

Cloud computing holds significant potential for applying AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) in conjunction with analytical tools. The cloud is suitable for collecting and processing large volumes of structured and unstructured data in real-time. The outcomes of Big Data Analytics open up new opportunities for companies: automating and optimizing business processes, enhancing the efficiency of marketing communications, and consequently, increasing profitability.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage systems automate not only the collection and storage of data but also the creation of backups. Cloud storage is appealing for its ability to be accessed from anywhere in the world on a 24/7 basis, its scalability, and the flexibility of payment for used resources. Moreover, the reliability of data storage is enhanced as it is housed in large data centers equipped with all necessary engineering infrastructure and protection against third-party access.

BaaS & DRaaS

In the event of a disaster or other incidents (such as theft or removal of servers, natural disasters), the operability of IT infrastructure can be quickly restored at the cloud provider’s site. This service is known as Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). It is a reliable and effective solution that helps businesses avoid downtime for business applications and the associated material and reputational losses.
Backup as a Service (BaaS) is a service that involves the automatic creation and subsequent storage of backups of important data in the cloud provider’s infrastructure. It is an economical and straightforward solution suitable not only for small and medium-sized businesses but also for large corporate clients who wish to maximize the security of their IT infrastructure; they can use DRaaS in conjunction with BaaS.

At Colobridge, we can help you implement the majority of the cloud computing use cases listed above. Tell us about your requirements and the specifics of your business, and we will offer a solution that is optimal in terms of cost, performance, scalability, and security.