Recently, there has been an increasing dependence towards cloud based solutions amidst the small and medium sized businesses (SMB) sector enabling the SMB’s to not only improve their IT functions but also to access consistent, cost-efficient and scalable IT architecture resources.

1. Importance of Cloud Based Solutions
Recently, there has been an increasing dependence towards cloud based solutions amidst the small and
medium sized businesses (SMB) sector enabling the SMB’s to not only improve their IT functions but
also to access consistent, cost-efficient and scalable IT architecture resources.
According to a Microsoft survey conducted by Edge Strategies, it was revealed that 50 percent of SMB’s
think that cloud based solutions make enterprises more competitive. There are multiple reasons as to
why SMB’s are using cloud solutions. Some of the key drivers include the following:
· Cost –efficiency – Cloud based solutions provide SMB’s with enterprise-class IT solutions at
reasonable prices. By adopting cloud based solutions, SMB’s need not pay upfront expenses as cloud
offerings that are accessible on “pay-as-you-go” basis with no long-run commitment.
· Scalability – SMB’s can also experience the flexibility of removing or adding complementary
capacities or licenses to accommodate changing business requirements.
· Quick implementation – Using cloud based solutions, SMB’s are able to get up and operate within
hours than months or weeks.
· Security – SMB’s often benefit by having the security of a huge implementation while paying for
what they require.
· Maintenance – The SMB can concentrate on their business, while the cloud based solution
provider deals with back office complicacies.
Services Offered by Cloud Service Providers
Today companies specializing in software development services offer solutions for developing secure
and scalable cloud based products and business systems. These companies collaborate with their
consumers at every phase of the product lifecycle, right from choosing and configuring the apt cloud
analytics applications, to developing cloud-ready systems, to offer product implementation and support
solutions. Their cloud technology and cross-industry experience allows them to set up cloud-based
solutions were security and performance are critical, from business process management platforms that
improve productivity to real time EMR systems that save lives. The services include the following:
· IaaS: Amazon EC2, VCE vBlock, OpenStack, SAP, OpSource, Joyent, Terremark, Savvis
· PaaS: Windows Azure, Google app engine, SalesForce, CA AppLogic
· Virtualization: VMWare, Hyper-V, Xen, QEMU

2. · Content management systems: Drupal, Magento, MediaWiki, SharePoint, Alfresco, Moodle
· Database servers: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server
· Web servers: Apache, IIS, Tomcat, WebLogic, WebSphere
· Web technologies: Responsive Web Designs (HTML5/ CSS3/ jQuery), RoR, PHP, Python, GWT, YUI,
ASP.NET, Silverlight, Flash/Flex
These companies offer cloud based services that are provided through the internet, and end users are
not restricted to accessing solutions through a certain number, thereby making it simpler for users to
access what they require from anywhere.
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