Unit 6.6
Cloud Computing in Business
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- ✅ Define cloud computing and explain its core characteristics.
- ✅ Differentiate between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS service models.
- ✅ Describe public, private, and hybrid cloud deployment models.
- ✅ Identify key benefits and challenges of cloud adoption.
- ✅ Provide examples of cloud computing in business.
What is Cloud Computing? ☁️
Definition: Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics—over the internet ("the cloud").
Instead of this...
❌ Buying expensive servers
❌ Maintaining data centers
❌ Hiring IT staff to manage hardware
✅ Pay only for what you use
✅ Scale instantly based on needs
🎬 Watch: Cloud Computing in 2 Minutes
The Big Three Cloud Providers 🏢
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) - Market leader (approx. 32% share)
- Microsoft Azure - Enterprise favorite (approx. 22% share)
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP) - Growing fast (approx. 10% share)
Other notable providers:
- IBM Cloud
- Oracle Cloud
- Alibaba Cloud
Five Essential Characteristics (NIST)
- On-Demand Self-Service - Provision resources automatically, anytime
- Broad Network Access - Access from any device, anywhere
- Resource Pooling - Multiple customers share resources (multi-tenant)
- Rapid Elasticity - Scale up or down instantly based on demand
- Measured Service - Pay only for what you use (metered billing)
Cloud Service Models
IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS
The "Pizza as a Service" Analogy 🍕
The Pizza Analogy 🍕
On-Premises (Traditional)
Make pizza at home from scratch
You manage: Ingredients, oven, dining table, everything!
Cloud
- IaaS: Take-and-bake pizza (you get raw pizza, bake at home)
- PaaS: Pizza delivery (ready pizza, you serve it)
- SaaS: Dine-in restaurant (everything is done for you)
Service Models: The Responsibility Stack
| Layer | On-Premises | IaaS | PaaS | SaaS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applications | You | You | You | Provider |
| Data | You | You | You | You |
| Runtime/Middleware | You | You | Provider | Provider |
| Operating System | You | You | Provider | Provider |
| Virtualization | You | Provider | Provider | Provider |
| Servers/Storage/Network | You | Provider | Provider | Provider |
As you move right → Less control, but less management effort!
Service Models: Quick Reference 📊
IaaS - Infrastructure
🏗️ "Rent raw computing power"
👤 For: IT Admins
📌 AWS EC2, Azure VMs
PaaS - Platform
🛠️ "Just deploy your code"
👤 For: Developers
📌 Heroku, Google App Engine
SaaS - Software
💻 "Use it in your browser" | 👤 For: Everyone | 📌 Gmail, Zoom, Salesforce
🎬 Watch: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS
Cloud Deployment Models
Where does your cloud live?
Deployment Models Comparison 📊
| Model | Best For | Key Benefit | Main Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public ☁️ | Startups, web apps | Cost-effective, scalable | Less control, security concerns |
| Private 🔒 | Banks, healthcare, govt | Full control, compliance | Higher cost, needs IT expertise |
| Hybrid 🔀 | Variable workloads | Flexibility, cost optimization | Complex to manage |
💡 Cloud Bursting: Run normal workloads on private cloud, "burst" to public cloud during peak demand
Benefits & Challenges
Why Cloud? Why Not?
Business Benefits of Cloud Computing 💼
- 💰 Cost Reduction - No upfront hardware costs, pay-as-you-go
- 📈 Scalability - Scale up/down instantly based on demand
- ⚡ Speed & Agility - Deploy in minutes, not months
- 🌍 Global Reach - Deploy worldwide with a few clicks
- 🛡️ Disaster Recovery - Built-in backup across multiple locations
- 🔄 Automatic Updates - Always on the latest version
- 🤝 Enhanced Collaboration - Work together from anywhere
Challenges of Cloud Computing ⚠️
- 🔐 Security Concerns - Data on external servers
- ⏸️ Downtime Risk - Internet dependency
- 🔗 Vendor Lock-In - Hard to switch providers
- 📋 Compliance Issues - Meeting regulatory requirements
- 🎛️ Limited Control - Less customization than on-premises
- 💸 Hidden Costs - Data transfer, premium support fees
⛔ Real Case: When the Cloud Goes Down
On 7 December 2021, AWS's biggest region, us-east-1 (North Virginia, USA), had a major outage lasting several hours.
- An automated scaling activity overloaded AWS's internal network.
- Streaming apps, smart-home devices, and even Amazon's own warehouse and delivery systems stopped or slowed.
- Firms that ran everything in that one region had no fallback.
🎬 Watch: When AWS Went Down
🧮 Worked Example: Buy a Server or Rent One?
Illustrative numbers: a Kathmandu accounting firm needs one server for 3 years.
| Buy (on-premise) | Rent (IaaS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront | NPR 4,00,000 server + setup | NPR 0 |
| Monthly | NPR 8,000 power, backup, part-time IT | NPR 15,000 rental |
| 3-year total | 4,00,000 + 36 × 8,000 = NPR 6,88,000 | 36 × 15,000 = NPR 5,40,000 |
- Cloud turns a big upfront cost (CapEx) into a monthly bill (OpEx).
- But if the firm keeps the server for 6+ years, buying may become cheaper. Always compare over the full period.
Real-World Business Applications 🌐
- Netflix: 250M+ subscribers, 15M concurrent streams on AWS
- Zoom: 10M → 300M daily users in 4 months (2020) - cloud elasticity!
- Airbnb: 150M+ users globally, zero data centers built
- Spotify: Analyzes 500M+ user patterns daily on Google Cloud
💡 None of these companies could have scaled this fast with traditional infrastructure (figures approx.; they change over time)
Emerging Cloud Trends 🚀
Serverless Computing
- Run code without managing servers
- Pay per millisecond of execution
- AWS Lambda, Azure Functions
Multi-Cloud Strategy
- Use multiple providers
- Avoid vendor lock-in
- Best service for each workload
Edge Computing
Process data closer to source (IoT, self-driving cars) → lower latency
Cloud Computing in Nepal 🇳🇵
Success Stories ✅
- NIC Asia, Kumari Bank (cloud banking)
- Daraz: 10x traffic during 11.11 sales
- eSewa/Khalti: millions of transactions
- TU: 500K+ students on Microsoft 365
Challenges ⚠️
- 35% internet penetration outside KTM
- No local AWS/Azure data centers
- Data sovereignty concerns
- Cloud skills gap
- Figures on this slide are approximate.
Quick check — call on a student
Instructor: Call on one student (or pair). They classify aloud; then reveal on screen.
Quick check — deployment models
Instructor: Ask a different student/group to place each scenario.
True/False — Nepal cloud reality
Instructor: Cold-call; students answer True/False, then Reveal.
🤝 Who Secures What? Shared Responsibility
The provider is responsible for security of the cloud; the customer for security in the cloud.
Data-centre buildings, power, hardware, network, and (for PaaS/SaaS) the platform and software.
Your data, user accounts and passwords, who gets access, and settings such as "public" or "private" storage.
Many cloud data leaks come from customer mistakes, such as a storage folder left open to the public, not from the provider being hacked.
🧪 Quick Activity: Whose Job Is It?
Provider or customer?
- Replacing a failed hard disk in the data centre. → Provider
- Removing a staff member's login after they resign. → Customer
- Keeping the data centre's backup generators fuelled. → Provider
- Turning on two-factor login for all users. → Customer
- Deciding which customer records are stored at all. → Customer
📋 Advising a Nepali SME: Five Questions
- What do we need? Ready software (SaaS), a place for our code (PaaS), or raw servers (IaaS)?
- Is our data regulated? If yes, check where it will be stored.
- How good is our internet? Plan a backup connection.
- What's the full cost over 3 years? Include data transfer and support.
- Can we leave? Check data export before signing.
Key Takeaways 📝
- ☁️ Cloud = renting computing power instead of buying (CapEx → OpEx)
- 📊 Service models: IaaS (IT admins), PaaS (developers), SaaS (everyone)
- 🏗️ Deployment: Public (cheap), Private (secure), Hybrid (flexible)
- 🚀 Emerging: Serverless, Multi-cloud, Edge computing
- 🇳🇵 Nepal: Growing adoption, but infrastructure & data sovereignty challenges remain
Discussion Questions 💬
- How would you advise a Nepali SME on choosing between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS?
- Why might NRB require banks to use private cloud for certain data?
- How can businesses mitigate vendor lock-in using multi-cloud strategies?
- What opportunities does serverless computing create for Nepali developers?
Exam Practice 📝
Short answer
- What is cloud computing?
- Distinguish between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS with examples.
- Distinguish between public, private, and hybrid clouds.
Exam Practice 📝 (continued)
Long answer
- Explain the cloud service models and deployment models, with business examples.
- Discuss the benefits and challenges of cloud computing for businesses in Nepal.
Revise the answers in the full note.
Image & Video Credits
Images
- Virginia Tech - data center: Christopher Bowns, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Shared responsibility model diagram: course author (original), CC BY 4.0
Videos (YouTube)
- Codebagel, "Cloud Computing in 2 Minutes" (0–76 s)
- CertBros, "Cloud Computing Explained | IaaS SaaS PaaS" (472–562 s)
- FOX 5 San Diego, "Amazon Web Services Down" (Dec 2021; 0–49 s)
Thank You! 🙏
Questions?