Comprehensive Beginner’s Guide of Cloud Computing Basics by Anders Lisdorf

Dive into the world of cloud computing with “Cloud Computing Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction” by Anders Lisdorf. This essential guide demystifies the complex concepts behind cloud computing, making it accessible to readers without a technical background. Discover the tremendous potential of cloud computing and how it can transform the way you work and do business.

Unlock the secrets of cloud computing and revolutionize your understanding of this game-changing technology. Keep reading to gain valuable insights and practical knowledge that will empower you to harness the power of the cloud.

Genres

Technology, Computing, Business, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Digital Transformation, IT Management, Data Storage, Scalability, Cost Efficiency

“Cloud Computing Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction” by Anders Lisdorf is a comprehensive guide that breaks down the complex world of cloud computing into easily digestible concepts. The book is specifically designed for readers without a technical background, making it an accessible resource for anyone looking to understand the fundamentals of cloud computing.

Lisdorf begins by explaining what cloud computing is and how it differs from traditional computing models. He explores the various types of cloud services, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). The author also delves into the benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability, cost efficiency, and flexibility.

Throughout the book, Lisdorf provides real-world examples and case studies to illustrate how businesses and organizations can leverage cloud computing to streamline operations, reduce costs, and drive innovation. He discusses the challenges and risks associated with cloud adoption and offers practical guidance on how to overcome them.

The book covers essential topics such as data security, privacy, and compliance in the cloud. Lisdorf explains the shared responsibility model and the importance of implementing robust security measures to protect sensitive data. He also explores the role of cloud service providers and the key considerations when selecting a provider.

Additionally, Lisdorf examines the impact of cloud computing on various industries, including healthcare, finance, and education. He discusses how cloud technologies are enabling new business models, fostering collaboration, and driving digital transformation.

The book concludes with a look at the future of cloud computing and the emerging trends that are shaping the industry. Lisdorf provides insights into the potential of edge computing, serverless computing, and the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning with cloud services.

Review

“Cloud Computing Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction” is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand the fundamentals of cloud computing. Anders Lisdorf has done an excellent job of demystifying complex concepts and presenting them in a clear and concise manner.

One of the strengths of the book is its accessibility. Lisdorf assumes no prior technical knowledge, making it suitable for a wide range of readers, including business professionals, students, and anyone curious about cloud computing. The author’s use of real-world examples and case studies helps to ground the concepts in practical applications, making it easier for readers to grasp the relevance and potential of cloud computing.

The book covers a comprehensive range of topics, from the basics of cloud services to more advanced concepts like data security and industry-specific applications. Lisdorf’s explanations are thorough yet succinct, providing readers with a solid foundation without overwhelming them with technical jargon.

Another notable aspect of the book is its focus on the practical implications of cloud computing. Lisdorf goes beyond merely explaining the technology and delves into the business benefits, challenges, and strategic considerations associated with cloud adoption. This holistic approach makes the book valuable not only for individuals looking to understand cloud computing but also for decision-makers and IT professionals tasked with implementing cloud strategies.

However, one potential drawback of the book is that it may not provide in-depth technical details for readers with advanced knowledge or specific technical requirements. The book’s focus is on providing a non-technical introduction, and as such, it may not satisfy readers seeking more complex or specialized information.

Overall, “Cloud Computing Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction” is an excellent resource for anyone looking to gain a solid understanding of cloud computing. Anders Lisdorf’s clear and accessible writing style, combined with practical insights and real-world examples, make this book a must-read for anyone interested in harnessing the power of the cloud.

Recommendation

Launching an online business used to require a great deal of time and money. You had to purchase the appropriate computers, rent a space, license software, and set up systems for accounting, human resources, and inventory. Today, by working with cloud vendors, you could start the same business with your laptop, sitting in a coffee shop, by accessing servers already set up with the software you need. In this practical text, tech consultant Anders Lisdorf offers an introduction to modern cloud computing and actionable guidance for your organization’s inevitable move to the cloud.

Take-Aways

• Cloud computing allows users flexible access to computing services via the internet.
• Even large companies capable of sustaining on-premise data centers are transitioning to the cloud.
• Individual cloud vendors adopt different emphases.
• The three main categories of cloud technologies offer varying degrees of customizability and ease-of-use.
• Proper security practices are crucial for cloud implementation.
• Cloud computing has the potential to benefit an organization’s finances.
• Cloud computing deployment changes the way a company functions.
• Companies adopt and deploy the cloud in a variety of ways.

Summary

Cloud computing allows users flexible access to computing services via the internet.

The concept of a “cloud” suggests something dispersed and decentralized, and how that applies to technology isn’t self-evident. People initially used the term to denote abstract networks used in engineering. Later, the term was extended to include networks of interconnected computers that allowed users to work with the entire network at once, including all the information on it. In 2008, IT consultants at Gartner provided an updated and more exact definition of cloud computing: “scalable and elastic” digital capacities packaged as internet-driven services.

“The NIST definition has come to delineate much of the vocabulary we use today around cloud computing, but certain aspects no longer fit perfectly with the cloud market.”

In 2011, the National Institute of Standards in Technology (NIST) in the United States provided a more comprehensive understanding of the cloud. That definition identified five principal characteristics of a cloud computing solution:

1. End users must be able to access the necessary computing resources themselves, rather than requesting them from a vendor and then waiting for the vendor to provide them.
2. The resources should be available on the internet.
3. Resources should be available to multiple users simultaneously.
4. The resources should be adaptable — “elastic” — to rapidly changing conditions, such as changes in demand.
5. Customers should be charged only for the time, storage, or other measurable elements of the service that they actually use.

The cloud computing world has changed a great deal since 2011, and today these characteristics act more as guidelines rather than strict requirements.

Even large companies capable of sustaining on-premise data centers are transitioning to the cloud.

The cloud is service-oriented — and has been since its earliest days. It’s predicated on consumption and doesn’t require users to own or house computing resources. Some cloud services merely provide basic infrastructure, others offer a complete package. You can think of it this way: Some people enjoy backpacking around a travel destination, others prefer an all-inclusive resort. Today, IT professionals tend to specialize in different functions within the cloud. Cloud providers sell these “layers” — the network, storage, servers, and so forth — as services to users, who can choose the individual cloud services or collections of services they wish to use.

“In the future, we may talk about on-premise data centers in the same way we do about mainframes today, as relics of the past that definitely work well enough, but are mostly used because moving away from them entirely was too difficult.”

Although today much of the IT workforce is geared toward and trained for on-premise data centers and technologies, that will change. The shift toward cloud computing is accelerating yearly, and annual market growth will soon outpace traditional IT. A 2019 survey found that, on average, companies had set aside around 10% of their IT budgets for cloud computing. CIOs worldwide have identified the cloud as one of the primary areas where they expect their spending to increase.

On-premise data centers and hulking mainframes are unlikely to vanish altogether, but in the future organizations will build and use them only for specific purposes. Netflix is large enough to have an on-premise data center, but its leaders chose to move IT operations to the cloud. Spotify began with an on-premise data center and then moved to the cloud. These companies, and others, have embraced cloud computing for many reasons: lower costs, a highly predictable environment, and a level of adaptability that enables rapid responses to changing market conditions. On-premise data centers have more vulnerability to risks such as natural disasters than the cloud, which offers users data backups, storage, and recovery options with just a few clicks. And since the cloud doesn’t require companies to acquire and manage physical resources to accommodate higher use, cloud systems are far easier to scale up — fast.

Individual cloud vendors adopt different emphases.

At least five major vendors offer cloud services: IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. These companies handle the main aspects of cloud vending differently, which in turn affects how they behave in the marketplace:

1. Customer orientation — No cloud vendor, however massive, can do everything for everyone. Vendors calculate how they can generate the most revenue based on the kinds of customers they can most easily reach. Today, Google and Amazon tend to focus on smaller companies, while Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle cater to larger enterprises.
2. Vision — A genuinely visionary company — like Apple under Steve Jobs — will transcend current market demands and imagine future market needs. Amazon took a huge risk in creating the cloud computing industry, but the company has reaped huge rewards for being forward-thinking.
3. End user target — Cloud product end users include both IT professionals and nontechnical business users — but vendors usually choose one of these two groups as their primary focus. Amazon, for example, makes products for developers, while Oracle targets business users. Other kinds of end users might gradually emerge as the industry and market evolve.
4. Product packaging — Cloud services don’t require physical packaging, but companies still carefully consider how they present their services to potential customers. Some, such as Google and Amazon, create individual cloud products that users can combine as they like; others, such as Oracle, offer integrated product suites.
5. Cloud focus — Individual vendors tend to focus on one of the three main types of cloud technologies more than the others: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS). Amazon and IBM mainly offer IaaS services, Microsoft and Google prioritize PaaS, and Oracle’s primary interest is SaaS.

The three main categories of cloud technologies offer varying degrees of customizability and ease-of-use.

IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS differ in their functions and structures, offering users various services and advantages.

• IaaS — IaaS providers offer users a virtual network of computing resources within a specific geographic region. Users can connect from individual computers, the public internet, or a data center’s gateway. Vendors provide storage and a basic operating system (OS) that developers tailor to their specific needs, programming and installing applications and software independently. Users must maintain and upgrade the infrastructure themselves. A virtual Linux machine is an example of IaaS.
• PaaS — PaaS providers offer data management, processing, and analysis services, along with application services, such as email delivery, and operational services, such as security patch management. By optimizing and automating these otherwise time-consuming tasks, PaaS vendors free developers to focus on creating specialized customer applications.
• SaaS — SaaS providers deliver fully functioning applications that users need only configure to their needs, such as wordpress.com.

Proper security practices are crucial for cloud implementation.

Vendors must incorporate security into cloud systems at every level. In this context, security means the capacity to control the negative ways a security breach can affect a system. A security breach might, for instance, affect information privacy, accuracy, and availability.

“The challenge is…not just to keep the system secure, but rather to find the right balance between security and utility.”

Cloud vendors offer a variety of tools to secure systems, and these tools often serve different purposes. For instance, Identity and Access Management includes a complete directory of a system’s users and the operations they’re authorized to perform within it. To access the system, users must confirm their identity and privileges. Another straightforward security tool is encryption, which ensures information privacy by using cryptographic keys.

The cloud also requires users to manage their data in secure ways. At a minimum, users should maintain an adequate archive of the data stored in the cloud, control access to that data, and thoroughly back up regularly. Sometimes, cloud systems fail massively, so users need a recovery strategy. Complete security is impossible, consistent with a functional system. The only way to make a system 100% secure is to make it inaccessible.

Cloud computing has the potential to benefit an organization’s finances.

Fundamentally, an organization’s economic viability is determined by the relationship between its revenue and its costs. Moving to the cloud can enhance an organization’s revenues and reduce expenses. For-profit organizations typically focus on increasing revenues, while nonprofits usually aim for cost reductions.

“Revenue is important to any company, but the cloud may impact it very differently across industries. If your company is working in the mining industry, odds are that the cloud isn’t going to have a profound effect on your revenue. If you are in online gaming, it may be a different situation.”

The cloud’s flexibility means its systems can adapt to market changes in real time. This capacity will make a big difference when demand for a company’s offerings rises sharply and system resources must increase accordingly. Of course, this virtue will be of value only in industries where the market changes meaningfully over time. The cloud also allows companies to access faster and more powerful computing resources than they could otherwise afford, which can help them keep existing customers — customers will be more likely to stick with a company when they’re content with the service they’re receiving. And happy customers will more likely recommend a company to friends and colleagues, bringing in new customers and revenue.

The cloud isn’t always less expensive than on-premise data centers. Indeed, organizations that run their cloud operations along the same lines as they run their on-premise data centers can incur significantly higher costs. To optimize costs, companies should scale their use of cloud services to align with actual needs. Customers should have access to resources only when they’re likely to use them. Resources that aren’t being used should be shut down, and customers should be given incentives to control costs they incur by their use.

Cloud computing deployment changes the way a company functions.

A move to the cloud will change the way people work. Employees will need new skills as the shift to the cloud eliminates, adds to, or alters operational practices.

“Like any technological revolution, there is an associated change in the work that needs to be done.”

Tasks that will disappear once the cloud is adopted include purchasing and installing new servers, removing old hardware, managing equipment’s physical security, and upgrading software. Tasks that will remain the same include managing users, controlling access to resources, and general system support. Activities that will change include systems monitoring, providing access to resources, and setting up the network. Moving to the cloud will also introduce entirely new tasks — these include the close monitoring of costs, management of who can do what in the cloud, and the automation of essential functions, such as obtaining system resources.

When a company moves to the cloud, leaders must proactively manage the effects on the workforce. People’s work lives are important to their sense of well-being, and an unhappy workforce will experience high turnover rates.

Companies adopt and deploy the cloud in a variety of ways.

Companies adopt the cloud in various ways, depending on the type of company and industry. “Cloud native” companies have all of their IT in the cloud, and most of their employees are comfortable working this way. Cloud natives are often new companies without on-premise infrastructure, and they want to build sophisticated software with minimal up-front investment. They often need to be agile in a highly competitive environment.

“The cloud can be used to supply applications to end users. The most basic way is through IaaS, which is similar to moving a data center to the cloud.”

More commonly, an existing company transitions to the cloud in small increments. Established companies already own substantial on-premise technology and have established ways of doing things. They can’t simply close operations while moving from an on-premise data center to the cloud. These companies might move to the cloud because upgrading legacy technologies would be cost-prohibitive. Their principal challenge will be to move to the cloud in a way that optimizes its value and minimizes risks and necessary investment. Moving to the cloud in a gradual way gives the company time to adopt a new work culture and train employees in the required skills. The downside of this approach is that the value of moving to the cloud won’t be immediately apparent.

Not all companies will be able to move entirely over to the cloud. Many will choose a hybrid of on-premise technological operations and the cloud. What’s important is for each organization to adopt an approach to moving to the cloud that’s appropriate and feasible for that organization, and once the move has taken place, to foster a mindset appropriate to working in the cloud. For cloud adoption to benefit the company and offer the most value, the organization’s culture must change.

About the Author

Anders Lisdorf helps organizations in a variety of industries transition from on-premise to cloud technologies. Previously, he was an entrepreneur building cloud-native software.