Cloud computing is on-demand access, via the internet, to computing resources—applications, servers (physical servers and virtual servers), data storage, development tools, and networking capabilities hosted at a remote data center managed by a cloud services provider (or CSP).

Large clouds often have functions distributed over multiple locations, each of which is a data center. You typically pay only for cloud services you use, helping you lower your operating costs, run your infrastructure more efficiently, and scale as your business needs change.