• The ability to rapidly and cost-effectively provision resources
• Users can access systems  regardless of their location or device, the typically interface is a web browser
• Larger providers can host multiple redundant sites, which is suitable for business continuity and disaster recovery
• Better security since a majority of user information and data resides in a central data center, not on a user’s laptop
• In theory, sharing of resources and costs across a large pool of users should invoke better utilization and be better for the environment over time

A cloud can be private or public, a public cloud is available to anyone on the Internet (usually per fee) and a private cloud is a proprietary network for use within a company or organization.