Cloud computing is managed, shared applications, development platforms, or computing infrastructure accessible via the internet. It provides options such as bandwidth and on-demand computing power with flexible capabilities normally purchased as a metered service.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines cloud computing as a “model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.