Given the Developments in Cloud Computing

What Precisely is Cloud Computing?
Melissa Rittel
INF 103 Computer Literacy
Instructor: Phil Rietta
January 31, 2013

What precisely is Cloud Computing? And why are so many organizations switching to this new phenomenon? Cloud computing is defined as “the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a metered service over a network, typically the Internet”. My goal in this paper is to discuss what exactly cloud computing is and how it is affecting businesses today. I will be discussing the top leading groups that have administered and executed “the cloud” in their daily routines for successful business. I also will be focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing and how it can be beneficial for IT government.
The idea of an "intergalactic computer network" was first introduced in the sixties by J.C.R. Licklider, who was responsible for enabling the development of ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) in 1969. His dream was that every person in the world could be linked and could have access to their programs and data at any site, anywhere. Other experts accredit the cloud idea to computer scientist, John McCarthy, who first proposed the notion of computation being conveyed as a public utility, similar to the service bureaus which date back to the sixties (Mohammed, 2009).
Technology is ever expanding at a rapid pace all over the world. The earliest computers can be traced back to the late 1960’s. However, in the present time, there is a computer device in almost every home worldwide, and you can obtain access to the internet on almost every single remote device such as smart phones, laptops, tablets etc. This is when and where the genius of software comes in, and changes the way technology is being developed and the way we conduct business.

One of the first major milestones for cloud computing was the...