clouddependent

Clouddependent is a term used in information technology to describe systems, services, or organizations that rely predominantly on cloud computing for their core operations. A clouddependent entity typically uses cloud-based infrastructure, platforms, and software, with much of its data storage, computing, and application delivery provided by external cloud providers. The adjective is often applied to describe both technology stacks and business models that trade on cloud services rather than on locally hosted resources. While not a formal standard, the term is widely understood in the IT industry to indicate a high degree of dependency on cloud providers.

Characteristics and scope: Clouddependent systems generally exhibit strong scalability, frequent reliance on software-as-a-service for business applications, and use of platform as a service and infrastructure as a service for development and hosting. They commonly require reliable internet access, robust vendor relationships, and adherence to cloud-provider security and compliance controls. The term also implies attention to potential vendor lock-in and data interoperability between providers.

Advantages and risks: Benefits include lower upfront costs, faster deployment, global availability, and easier resource elasticity. Risks include dependence on a single or a few cloud vendors, data residency concerns, outages, security and compliance challenges, and potential complexity in data migration or exit strategies.

Management and mitigation: Organizations often pursue multi-cloud or cloud-agnostic approaches, well-defined service-level agreements, and robust disaster recovery plans to reduce risk. Effective cloud governance, data governance, identity management, and regular security audits are important for maintaining resilience in a clouddependent model.

See also: cloud computing, cloud-native, multi-cloud, vendor lock-in.