Here are a few benefits of a cloud computing architecture:

Deployment Speed

The integrated nature of hardware, software, and resource provisioning allows rapid development and deployment of policy-compliant and secure web applications. Customers can unilaterally provision computing capabilities (virtual machine instances, storage, etc.) as needed automatically, without requiring human interaction. Also, a consistent set of frameworks, code repositories, and web services means that your developers can concentrate on turning out quality applications without "reinventing the wheel" for low-level infrastructure requirements.

Cost Savings

Cloud computing systems can easily provide "pay-as-you-go" storage, processing, and bandwidth services that fit your present needs. This means that you pay for only what you need, and you share economies of scale with the other cloud "tenants". Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the services.

Resource Elasticity

Computing resources are aggregated to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to demand. This means that your web applications are supported by the full strength of the cloud's resources and will remain available during demand spikes.

Scalability

Because compute and storage resources are provided through an abstracted interface, a cloud computing architecture allows the supported load on your web application to scale up dramatically, without the costs and delays of provisioning new infrastructure, re-engineering code, etc.

Integrated Reporting and Policy Compliance

A cloud computing architecture provides a large organization with a single platform for reporting and policy compliance purposes. Managers can obtain detailed reports on resource use for all of their organizationl elements, and can set boundaries within the cloud service levels (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) to accomplish IT policy objectives while still delegating the day-to-day control of content and application development.