Cloud Computing is a model for accessing, via the internet, computing resources such as applications, networks, servers, storage and services that can be rapidly provisioned with minimal management effort interaction. The Google Cloud services are managed by a service provider who operates the infrastructure and achieves economies of scale through multiple tenancy on their infrastructure.
Adoption of cloud computing by business may offer high-availability, reduction in operational staffing overhead, reduce infrastructure costs.
There are three main models of Cloud Computing: Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service.
Ancoris is a leading UK integrator of Cloud Computing Software as a Service offerings, providing full assessment, deployment, migration, training and support services.
Software as a Service
Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS)
Software-as-a-Service allows the customer to use the providers applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). The customer does not need to manage the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage.
The ability to configure and control user-specific application configuration settings depends on the service provider. Ancoris has selected services which are built from the start for delivery as SaaS and provide full control to the client companies to configure the SaaS application to their need.
Ancoris offers Cloud Software as a Service solutions for the following areas:
| Business Email Server in the cloud | Google Apps Email is a replacement for companies using on-premise mail-servers such as Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino |
| Document Collaboration: | Google Docs provides advanced collaboration applications for documents, spreadsheets, presentations. |
| Intranet/Extranet: | Google Sites provides simple to administer content management platform for developing secure intranet or extranets. |
| Email Security as a service: | Google Message Security, part of the Google Postini Services, provides full anti-spam, anti-virus and content filtering as a service for any in-house, on-premise or hosted mailserver. |
| Email Archiving as a service: | Google Message Discovery provides archiving of both internal or external email as a cloud service. GMD works with mail-servers such as Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, Google Apps Email and other mail-servers. |
| Web browsing security as a service: | ScanSafe provides full web-filtering and protection against web malware (viruses, trojans etc.) as a managed service. This is particularly helpful for distributed companies or remote/roaming users. |
Other examples of Software as a Service include:
- Salesforce.com
- Netsuite
Platform as a Service
Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS).
This allows customers to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider.
The customer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations.
Platform as a service may require the customer to develop applications using service provider specific API's.
Examples include:
- Google Apps Engine
- Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
Infrastructure as a Service
Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
The capability provided to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications.
The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).
As the level of pooling of resources is limited the potential economies of scale are less than those for Software as a Service or Platform as a Service.
Examples include:
- Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)
- a variety of hosted hardware services from Cisco, IBM and HP
