A cloud environment is an array of computing hardware as well as software and data that is hosted by a third-party vendor and accessible via the Internet. It could be an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS) solution.
Clouds that are public offer simple, scalable access over the Internet to computing resources, eliminating capital expenditures, and allowing businesses, when needed, to make use of more computing power without disrupting their development schedules. However, businesses should watch out for expensive hidden fees and expenses, like charges for data transfer, other storage costs, or fees for specialized support or technical assistance.
Private cloud environments offer the flexibility of public clouds but with the added benefit of being private. Typically, businesses will own the physical compute hardware and lease space from a third party hosting service to manage the service.
To ensure control and visibility the IT department of a business must examine the performance of its applications. The addition of modern automation capabilities to cloud environments limits the complexity of the environment while increasing security, workload performance and IT agility.