The primary concept of cloud computing dates back to the 1960s when John McCarthy stated: “computation may someday be organised as a public utility”. Indeed, it shares characteristics with service departments that date back to the 1960s.
The term “cloud” is borrowed from telephony in that telecommunications companies, who until the 1990s primarily offered dedicated point-to-point data circuits, began offering “Virtual Private Network” (VPN) services with equivalent quality of service but at a much-reduced cost.
The cloud symbol is utilised to symbolise the differentiation point between, that which is the responsibility of the provider, from that of a user.
Cost is claimed to be significantly reduced, and capital expenditure is converted to operational expenditure. Independence of both device and location enables users to gain access to systems with web browsers, regardless of location or method being used.