Cloud Computing

The edited work highlights the opportunities and risks of cloud computing, bringing the topic closer to readers through illustrative examples from research and practice, and demonstrating the implications that arise from this new infrastructure. The contributing authors present technical solutions, business models, and visions that address the challenges and hurdles of cloud computing—technically, legally, and process-wise—while also emphasizing the opportunities and benefits of this architectural approach. It is contemporary to outsource IT infrastructures, data, and applications from the local environment to a cloud. Users can utilize the offered IT services through self-service approaches, depending on what and how much they currently need—and they only pay for that. Services are provided, maintained, and updated.