What is Cloud computing?
Cloud computing may be desribed as the on-demand availability of IT resources via the internet, with a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Instead of purchasing, owning, and managing physical data centers and servers, you can use technology services like computing power, storage, and databases as needed from a cloud provider. This approach allows educational institutions to avoid tasks such as hardware procurement, maintenance, and capacity planning.
When adopting cloud solutions, organizations can choose between several models: single cloud, hybrid cloud, and multicloud. These models offer flexibility in how organizations deploy and manage cloud solutions based on their needs and infrastructure preferences.
Single cloud
Uses one cloud provider for all applications and workloads, which may be developed in the cloud or migrated from other environments. It can leverage both basic infrastructure and advanced managed services, but exclusively from one provider.
Hybrid cloud
Resources are distributed between an organization’s on-premises data center and at least one cloud provider, usually to extend the infrastructure while keeping secure connections to internal systems.
Multicloud
Uses multiple cloud providers, distributing resources and services across them. Often, multicloud adoption occurs unintentionally when different teams or departments choose different providers based on their preferences.