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The Greening of IT
238 How Companies Can Make a Difference for the Environment

Cloud Computing, Both Public and Private Possibilities

Cloud computing is a style of computing where IT applications and busi-
ness functionalities are provided as services and accessed through the Internet.
Consumers pay for the services as a subscription on a periodic basis or through
a pay-for-usage model. The term cloud originated from the popular depiction
of the Internet in architecture diagrams as a cloud. Internet service
providers (ISPs) and application service providers (ASPs) can be thought of as
the earliest users of this style of computing. An Internet service provider (ISP,
also called Internet access provider or IAP) is a company that offers its cus-
tomers access to the Internet:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet. An exam-
ple of a service provided by an ISP is to provide Internet e-mail (http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail) accounts to users that enables them to commu-
nicate with one another by sending and receiving electronic messages through
the ISP’s servers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servers). An application
service provider (ASP) is a business that provides computer-based services to
customers over a network. Typical examples are web hosting, credit card pay-
ment processing, medical practice application services, advertising services, ptg
and so on. The concepts have now evolved to be called “cloud computing.”
Terms such as cloud storage, cloud services, and cloud collaboration
denote specialized forms of cloud computing.
Cloud computing is grounded in the concept of sharing the costs of
procuring, setting up, and maintaining an IT computing infrastructure
over a large number of consuming participants. In a way, this is similar
to the concept of microselling perfected by the Fast Moving Consumer
Goods (FCMG) industry. The FCMG industry realized that there is a
significant portion of the population in developing economies, such as
China, India, The Philippines, Mexico, and Brazil, that had aspirations
to use their products such as soap, shampoo, and laundry detergent but
could not afford the cost of buying a large package of the product. For
such markets, the industry perfected the concept of selling products in
affordable portions, sachets, or sizes. For example, in Brazil, FCMG
giant Unilever (http://www.unilever.com) sells Ala, a brand detergent
created specifically to meet the needs of low-income consumers who
want an affordable, yet effective, product for laundry that is often
washed by hand in river water. In India, Unilever successfully markets
Sunsil and Lux shampoo sachets sold in units of 2–4 dollar cents, Clinic
All Clear antidandruff shampoo sachets at 2.5 rupees each, and 16-cent