August 11, 2009 By Hilton Collins
It's easy to see why an IT leader would be attracted to cloud computing - a mode of computing where users subscribe to services, like data storage, applications and other operational functions that they access over the Internet. Technology heavyweights like Google and Amazon host these services "in the cloud," which means on the Web, so users don't have to spend their own time, money and manpower managing these services themselves.
Many people find the idea of saving in the cloud downright heavenly. In fall 2008, analysts from research company IDC forecast that spending on cloud services would reach $42 billion by 2012, largely because of organizations' desire to shed operational costs. Another major reason is the speed of implementation. CIOs who use cloud services report that they like how fast they can offer a service or application to their end-users, according to IDC.
But sometimes these mainstream, shared "public clouds" aren't what organizations - and government in particular - want when the subjects of privacy and security are raised.
"They want to keep their data and information within their firewall. They want their own people to manage this data," said Sajai Krishnan, CEO of ParaScale, a company that provides cloud computing solutions. "And those are additional levels of comfort that you get when you have it in your own environment."
This brings us to the "private cloud," a type of cloud that companies like ParaScale help customers create. Agencies that want cloud capability without relying on a third party can purchase technology to build clouds on private networks that they own and manage.
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