Top Ten Cloud Computing Providers

Have you heard about cloud computing?  Have you ever wondered what cloud computing is and how it works?  I must say, many people are not aware about the nature of cloud computing, much more so its existence.  But if you are curious about it, you are in for a big surprise as the cloud computing domain will not be a vague haze anymore.  This article will talk about what cloud computing is, its nature and most importantly, the top ten cloud computing providers as of last year will be finally revealed!

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is a technology in the computing industry that uses the internet to maintain data and applications. This new technology allows consumers and businesses to use applications without installation and access their personal files at any computer with internet access. It allows for much more efficient computing by centralized storage, processing, memory and bandwidth.

 

What is a Cloud Computing Provider?

A cloud computing provider offers customers storage or software services available via a private cloud or public network cloud. Usually, it means the storage and software is available for access via the Internet.

What are the Categories of Clouds?

Clouds are typically categorized according to three types: private, public and hybrid.  A public cloud is also known as a shared cloud wherein such services are provided "as a service" over the Internet.

Private clouds are also called an internal cloud or enterprise cloud. This category also offers activities and functions "as a service" but is installed over a company intranet.

Hybrid clouds are considered integrated approach, assimilating the power of both public and private clouds, thereby making it stronger.

Outsourcing Cloud Computing Providers 

Business enterprises online looking to outsource infrastructure on cloud computing providers face a bewildering array of choices today. New cloud computing providers are popping up every month and many traditional service providers are rebranding services as cloud hosting.

The following criteria below will be the basis of how we evaluate and select the right cloud platform:

Price

The primary reason why cloud computing has become popular nowadays is because companies see it as the most efficient way to cut their financial expenditures. Mostly, cloud computing providers present a base pricing model with all the resources you need. When comparing and scouting for the best cloud computing providers, clients need to be aware of the categories for the bases of pricing which include computing, storage and bandwidth.

Performance

Cloud computing providers deliver different application performance results based on geographic location and cloud platform architecture. Find out where the cloud computing provider that you are trying to evaluate is located. You should expect a cloud computing provider in your region to offer lower latency Internet access to your applications. Some cloud computing providers may allow you to host your applications in one or more geographic locations.

Security and Assurance

Find out where the cloud computing provider is storing your data. Some cloud computing providers now offer more traditional firewall security options as part of their cloud platform.

Service Level Agreements

A service level agreement (SLA) is one way to gauge a cloud computing provider’s comfort level with its service delivery platform. If one cloud computing provider offers 99.5 percent computing availability in terms of services and the other offers 100 percent, might as well choose the latter. In cases wherein the users experience outage or even wavering internet service, it is the responsibility of the cloud computing provider to provide services credits to compensate the clients’ inconvenience.

Support

The idea that cloud computing providers do not usually provide excellent services to their clients is starting to diminish. Nowadays, clients are assured that they can rely on their cloud computing provider to render their swift services whenever they encounter a problem. 

Finally, here are the Top Ten Cloud Computing Providers as of 2011

RANK 10.  JOYENT

Joyent is a cloud computing provider company based in San Francisco, California since 2004. It has kept its spot in the top 10 by releasing its platform software and forming a partnership with Dell.

RANK 9.  MICROSOFT

Microsoft is an American multinational corporation and was established on April 4, 1975.  The famous software giant can brag about its Azure cloud service. They also have 31,000 companies customers serve as feather on their cap. 

RANK 8.  BLUELOCK

Bluelock is the first new entrant on the list. It is a small-scale provider that has been a key testbed for VMware’s vCloud Express. BlueLock’s Indiana facilities should soon become a major local employer, as it's now a key VMware/VCE provider and likely to perform continued growth.

RANK 7. GOOGLE

Google is an American multinational Internet and software corporation specialized in internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. It has been successful in the Internet industry by offering users the ability to construct host web applications on the web. The company has also reportedly hired 6,000 businesses in the web in 2011.

RANK 6.  RACKSPACE

The Rackspace is one of the first cloud computing providers.  Even though Rackspace fell in the ranks from last year's list, it is still the number two cloud computing provider after Amazon in terms of revenue.

RANK 5. CSC

CSC is the second new entrant in the list.  This cloud computing company has installed an interesting private cloud service called BizCloud. It also performed massive-scale integrations with Google Apps and other players.

RANK 4.  SALESFORCE.COM

Salesforce.com maintains the top five spot. The company is a global software company based in San Francisco, California. It is famous for it Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product.

RANK 3.  IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States.  It manufactures and sells computer hardware and software and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services. IBM is new to the list with its Smart Business Test and Development Cloud. 

RANK 2.  VERIZON/TERREMARK

Verizon Communications Inc. or Verizon is a global telecommunications company. It started in 1983 as Bell Atlantic and was based in Philadelphia.  Verizon then bought Terremark. As part of the Verizon family of companies, Terremark is dedicated to providing enterprises with the world's most sophisticated IT infrastructure and security.

RANK 1. AMAZON

Amazon Web Services (AWS) delivers a set of services that together form a reliable, scalable, and inexpensive computing platform “in the cloud”.  The company has maintained its number 1 spot as the top cloud computing provider for the second year in a row. No other company has come close to the cloud-based innovation Amazon Web Services provides. 

Ann Cervales, Philippines