This article previously appeared in
Technology and Commercial Contracts Newsletter, November
2011.
Capturing the Cloud
Cloud computing is the delivery of software and data storage
solutions via the internet with the associated hardware generally
located in datacentres far from the cloud customers' main
business premises. Just like businesses access the energy grid to
meet their energy requirements, cloud customers access the cloud to
meet their IT requirements. Using the internet as an IT platform
brings with it a host of benefits: businesses may no longer need to
invest heavily in purchasing hardware or licensing software;
instead, they are offered access to IT solutions "on
tap", and can use the cloud to store data and as a means of
delivering software "as a service." Sharing server
capacity is not only economical but is environmentally friendly,
and can give businesses access to software, storage and security
features that they might not otherwise be able to
