In this article, we will see some examples of real-world Cloud Computing applications:
• Coca-Cola Enterprises uses a Cloud-based system to streamline operations with
merchandisers in the field: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_24/b4135048953042.htm
• Nasdaq uses Amazon’s S3 Cloud Service to deliver historical stock and mutual fund information, rather than add the load to its own database and computing infrastructure: http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/early-experiments-in-cloud-computing-020
• Animoto, a small start-up which decided to use Amazon’s Cloud Services, was able to keep up with soaring demand for its service and scale up from 50 instances to 3,500 instances over a three day period: http://www.idgconnect.com/index.cfm?event=showarticle&cid=116&pk=970
• Times wanted to place scanned images covering a 60-year period (15 million news stories) online. After being repeatedly turned down by the CIO for the use of six servers, the newspaper moved four terabytes into Amazon’s S3, ran all the software over a weekend on EC2 for $25, and then launched its product in a matter of minutes: http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1554608
• Mogulus streams 120,000 live TV channels over the Internet and owns no hardware except for the laptops it uses. It handled all of the election coverage for most of the large media sites. Its CEO states that he could not be in business without IaaS: http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1551646
• How the pharmaceutical company EliLilly saved more than $1 billion by using IaaS Amazon Web Services:http://blog.mariaspinola.com/2009/10/why-large-public-and-private-sector.html
In the next article, we will see a possible road-map that will help you determine the bad and good “Candidates” for the Cloud, because not all applications can be in the Cloud!
Thanks, and please let me know how can I help you.
Maria Spínola
http://www.twitter.com/MariaSpinola
P.S. Also see:
– Cloud Computing, in Plain English, to IT Directors, VP’s, CIO’s and CEO’s
– Why Should IT Directors, VP’s, CIO’s and CEO’s Care About Cloud Computing?
– Cloud Equals SaaS, Grid, Utility Computing, Hosting…?
– What Exactly is Cloud Computing?
– Why Large Public and Private Sector Organizations (not just SMB’s) Are Seriously Considering Cloud Computing?
– What are the Cloud Computing Challenges and Risks? (Part 1: Cloud Security Advantages!)
– Cloud Computing Challenges and the Delicate Balance Between Risks and Benefits (Part 2 of 2)
