Cloud computing lets users access computing resources on demand, including applications, data storage, virtual and physical servers networking tools, development tools and much more, hosted in remote datacenters managed by cloud service providers. Cloud computing is delivered via the internet and generally require an annual subscription or a billing depending on usage.

Significant innovations in distributed computing and virtualization and improved connectivity to high-speed internet have increased interest in this model. It has helped businesses cut costs, improve efficiency and agility and free IT personnel to focus on more strategic projects.

The most popular cloud service providers provide an extensive array of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS offerings. Their platforms have powerful connections and automation features that help manage and integrate workloads, and advanced machine learning, artificial intelligence, and analytics features to deliver greater insight and improve performance.

All three vendors continue expand rapidly, with Amazon Web Services (AWS) leading the pack and then Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. Each vendor offers a diverse variety of services that cover different industries and technologies. For example, AWS has a strong focus on IaaS with features like its elastic compute infrastructure as well as Amazon Elastic Block Store for storage of data. The vendor has been criticized by some for not being transparent with its pricing structure. However, it gives customers check out this site pricing calculators and introductory free tiers to allow them to test.

AWS has a strong market share in both IaaS and PaaS however, its customers are increasingly turning to multi-cloud. This approach can help limit the risk and avoid locking into a particular vendor and also provide the ability to make use of the most powerful features each provider can offer. However, it also introduces new challenges, such as skills shortages and workflow differences between environments.