Cloud computing is a computing paradigm in which tasks are assigned to a combination of connections, software and services accessed over a network. This collection is known as "the cloud."

Computing at the scale of the cloud allows users to access supercomputer-level power. Using a thin client or other access point, this enables users to reach into the cloud for resources as they need them. This could also be described as 'on-demand computing'.

Whilst cloud computing has been around fro 10 years as a concept it is only just finding its feet in the space of banking. Radius in our partnership with force.com are on the leading edge of how to apply the cloud in risk and operations

Wherever you're headed, it takes more than luck or good timing to succeed in today's competitive and unpredictable marketplace. You need to be ready to respond quickly and creatively to changing customer demands and new market opportunities. These challenges encompass both your business processes and IT infrastructure. To move forward, you need a clear vision and strategy for achieving that vision.

This vast processing power is made possible though distributed, large-scale cluster computing, often in concert with server virtualization software and parallel processing. Cloud computing can be contrasted with the traditional desktop computing model, where the resources of a single desktop computer are used to complete tasks, and an expansion of the client/server model. In Cloud computing the network becomes the supercomputer.

Cloud computing is often used to sort through enormous amounts of data. This volume insensitivity is a key driver to organisations looking to move towards cloud technology. By connecting relatively inexpensive processors in parallel to create an immensely powerful, scalable system this new paradigm looks to significantly reduce the operational costs associated to the infrastructure costs. Cloud computing allows users and companies to pay for and use the services and storage that they need, when they need them and, as wireless broadband connection options grow, where they need them.

Cloud computing requires the use of software that can divide and distribute components of a program to thousands of computers. New advances in processors, virtualization technology, disk storage, broadband Internet access and fast, inexpensive servers have all combined to make cloud computing a compelling paradigm.

Customers can be billed based upon server utlilization, processing power used or bandwidth consumed. This looks to change the way software is purchased and how it is built. Taken to the next step, this implies that cloud computing infrastructures, and specifically their middleware and application platforms, should ideally have these characteristics:

• Self-healing: In case of failure, there will be a hot backup instance of the application ready to take over without disruption (known as failover).
• SLA-driven: The system is dynamically managed by service-level agreements that define policies such as how quickly responses to requests need to be delivered. There will be the opportunities to manage system spikes by adding more servers into the cloud. This utilisation mechanism is a key trait of the cloud paradigm.
• Multi-tenancy:The system is built in a way that allows several customers to share infrastructure. In order to enable this to happen data segregation and security is a paramount requirement for this technology.
• Virtualized: Applications are decoupled from the underlying hardware. Multiple applications can run on one computer or multiple computers can be used to run one application (grid computing).
• Linearly Scalable: Perhaps the biggest challenge. The system will be predictable and efficient in growing the application. If one server can process 1,000 transactions per second, two servers should be able to process 2,000 transactions per second etc
• Data The key to many of these aspects is management of the data: its distribution, partitioning, security and synchronization. Another approach that is gaining momentum is in-memory data grids.