Most of the information available on cloud computing is either highly technical, with details that are irrelevant to non-technologists, or pure marketing hype, in which the cloud is simply used as a selling point. This book, however, explains the cloud from the user's viewpoint. The author explains what the cloud is, when to use it (and when not to), how to select a cloud service, how to integrate it with other technologies, and what the best practices are for using cloud computing. A simple and basic definition of cloud computing from the National Institute of Science and Technology is consid ... More

Most of the information available on cloud computing is either highly technical, with details that are irrelevant to non-technologists, or pure marketing hype, in which the cloud is simply used as a selling point. This book, however, explains the cloud from the user's viewpoint. The author explains what the cloud is, when to use it (and when not to), how to select a cloud service, how to integrate it with other technologies, and what the best practices are for using cloud computing. A simple and basic definition of cloud computing from the National Institute of Science and Technology is considered: a model enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources. Thus businesses, individuals and communities can harness information technology resources usually available only to large enterprises. This, as the author demonstrates, represents a paradigm shift for businesses and individuals alike. In additon, the book considers the contractual, legal, financial, security and risk related aspects of adopting and migrating to the cloud. Cloud patterns are examined in terms of five deployment models; and a cloud computing maturity model is derived to align the use of cloud computing with best practices.A unique aspect of the book is that it provides innovative constructs that affect the way cloud computing shall be viewed and used in the future. In particular, it addresses novel concepts for cloud computing: cloud cells, or specialist clouds for specific uses; the personal cloud; the cloud of things and services; and cloud service exchanges.