Cloud Computing

Is cloud computing a new rage, just a fad, a nebulous idea or a far-reaching trend? Cloud computing has become a buzz word in working and learning environments around the globe. Newsstands and Internet pages everywhere are inundated with articles, whitepapers and websites dedicated to defining the many facets of cloud computing such as hosting a website on the cloud, building a cloud infrastructure, cloud security, vulnerabilities, capabilities, pros and cons and cost. IEEE.org (IEEE CLOUD COMPUTING) has dedicated pages on their website to reference nothing but articles of interest and white papers surrounding cloud computing. The barrage of information can be daunting. Jon Oltsik (Oltsik) eloquently discusses industries’ bewilderment with cloud computing when he writes:

When discussing cloud computing, I often think of Joni Mitchell's haunting lyrics from the song,Both Sides Now (jonimitchell.com). In Mitchell's world, clouds can be wonderful "ice cream castles in the air" or annoying disturbances that "only block the sun." This duality prompts Mitchell to declare, "It's clouds illusions I recall, I really don't know clouds at all."

Joni's cloud confusion mirrors current industry bewilderment over cloud computing. Like many other industry initiatives, cloud computing has a number of meanings.

Finally, industry confusion is no more. A guideline has been prepared by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST is responsible for developing standards and guidelines, for all agency operations and assets for use by Federal agencies. In the guideline entitled, The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing, cloud computing (Mell and Grance) is defined as follows:
A model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage,