COMPEL Glossary / cloud-computing
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services -- servers, storage, processing power, databases, networking, and software -- over the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than owning and maintaining physical infrastructure.
What this means in practice
Cloud computing provides the scalable, elastic infrastructure that most enterprise AI workloads require: the ability to spin up hundreds of GPUs for a training run and release them when finished, to scale inference endpoints up and down with demand, and to access managed AI services without building everything from scratch. The major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) offer comprehensive AI/ML platforms that reduce the infrastructure burden on organizations. However, cloud dependency creates vendor concentration risk and ongoing cost obligations that transformation leaders must manage through multi-cloud strategies and AI FinOps practices.
Why it matters
Cloud computing provides the scalable, elastic infrastructure that most enterprise AI workloads require — the ability to provision massive compute for training and release it when finished, to scale inference with demand, and to access managed AI services. However, cloud dependency creates vendor concentration risk and ongoing cost obligations that must be managed strategically. Organizations that treat cloud as a procurement decision rather than a strategic choice often face lock-in and cost escalation.
How COMPEL uses it
Cloud infrastructure is assessed within the Technology pillar during the Calibrate stage, evaluating current cloud utilization, vendor concentration, and cost management maturity. The Model stage designs cloud strategy including multi-cloud considerations and vendor lock-in mitigation. During Produce, cloud resources are provisioned and managed through AI FinOps practices. The Evaluate stage monitors cloud spending efficiency and platform performance against requirements.
Related Terms
Other glossary terms mentioned in this entry's definition and context.