Public Cloud

The public cloud is a multi-tenant environment where organizations buy a “server slice” in a cloud computing environment that is shared with a number of other clients (or tenants). Public cloud models are well-suited for small businesses, small government agencies, startups with limited budgets, as well as mid- and large-scale organizations that are seeking ways to reduce application costs.

The burden of ensuring system and application availability lies on the public cloud provider’s shoulders, as does security and making sure resources for each tenant are segregated from those of other tenants. That also means the public cloud provider is responsible for managing, maintaining, and updating the infrastructure at their premises, and that the burden of backup and recovery in the event of a system failure is on the provider as well.

Performing stress tests on as-needed basis on SaaS applications from a public cloud provider will help determine how well the application can withstand events such as sudden seasonal spikes in online demand for its products.