The Best of 5 Cloud Computing Service Providers

Many businesses who are seeking to expand their enterprise applications are looking to the cloud to outsource their infrastructure needs. Selecting the right service provider can be a daunting task as there are many to choose from. Here is a list of five of the top cloud computing service providers who have remained solid contenders in this growing market.

Amazon Web Services - A long time front-runner in the cloud computing sphere, Amazon delivers a suite of tools that provide an inexpensive and scalable infrastructure as a service to companies who need reliable computing services and storage. Their Elastic Compute Cloud service, otherwise known as EC2, is a cloud-based service where users can create virtual machines and run software of their choice on a per-need basis. Users pay by the hour for the server usage and have control over the location and deployment. It is designed to work directly with other Amazon Web Services like Simple Storage Service (S3) which allows users to store and retrieve unlimited data, paying for only the resources that are used.

Google App Engine - As the major player in Internet technology, Google has joined the ranks of cloud computing providers with its Google App Engine platform as a service. This service is aimed at developing and hosting web applications using Google's infrastructure and data centers. The engine supports several languages including Java, Ruby and Python. This scalable service allows developers to pay for what they use without startup costs or recurring fees.

Microsoft Azure - Microsoft's answer to cloud computing is Windows Azure Platform. This platform as a service allows developers to utilize Microsoft infrastructure and data centers to develop, host and run web applications. Azure provides a complete set of services including computing environments, scalable storage, database functionality and a content delivery network.

Rackspace - This company is the leader in cloud based web hosting. Their easy-to-use server and on-demand solutions provide customers with a way to get servers online as quickly as possible without investing in the hardware. Users pay for server usage by the hour and can add or delete server instances on-demand. Their major selling point is their Fanatical Support service that provides excellent customer support through rapid response to problems, finding solutions that will benefit the customer, and providing technical expertise.

Salesforce.com - Salesforce is a software-as-a-service provider that specializes in distributing business applications through the cloud. Its suite of tools provides businesses with customer relationship management services to help them bolster sales and stay connected with customers. Force.com is a platform-as-a-service that allows developers to use the Salesforce infrastructure to develop add-on applications that integrate with the Salesforce solution.

Although these cloud computing providers merely scratch the surface of options available for enterprise solutions, they serve as a great starting point for further investigation for your business needs.