Cloud computing delivers computing resources — storage, processing power, applications, and services — over the internet on demand, rather than from hardware you own and operate yourself.
Deployment Models
- Public cloud — multi-tenant resources from a third-party provider; pay for what you use.
- Private cloud — dedicated, single-organization environments for greater control and security.
- Hybrid cloud — combines public and private to balance scale, cost, and compliance.
- Multi-cloud — using several providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) together; common in 2025+.
Security & Compliance
Each model carries a shared-responsibility split between provider and customer. Regulated workloads (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS) often drive private or hybrid designs — Cyber Verify helps MSPs get the compliance right.
Cloud computing traces back to the Application Service Providers (ASPs) of the mid-1990s, which pioneered the hosted, one-to-many delivery model that underpins today's SaaS and cloud services.