Cloud computing has been heralded as the wave of the future, but in many respects has been ill-defined. Every company that provides a cloud solution – from VMware to Microsoft – seems to have a different way to define the term so that it best reflects their own interests. This can make it hard for companies to understand the difference between public, private and hybrid clouds and just how they can be beneficial to their sector.

One must understand that the cloud cannot exist without virtualization and VPS options. These are the foundation of the cloud, which is simply a more efficient version of a virtualized platform. Because of the spin put on to the cloud in media and by companies selling cloud systems, an idea has arisen that the cloud is revolutionary and somehow fundamentally different than virtualization. In many ways, it is virtualized technology with excellent management and business implementation.

Microsoft’s Hyper-V Cloud is a combination of their virtualized environment and software with hardware that has virtualization as its focus. Realistically, the Hyper-V cloud can be best understood in a business sense more than a technical one. Microsoft is not seeking to make the cloud a place of technical perfection, but one that makes accessing and using it simpler for businesses.

The technology exists to run private, public and hybrid clouds; what needs to be further developed are clouds that can be effectively understood and utilized by businesses for their direct needs. It is these needs that drive the evolution of the cloud, more than the need for technical perfection.

So, while the Microsoft Hyper-V cloud may not represent a revolution in technology, it does bring a more effective form of business function to the table – the ultimate purpose of the commercial cloud.