Regardless of where your organization is in your cloud journey, moving to the cloud is an inevitability in the coming years. The cloud is here to stay, and now is the best time to identify optimal strategies to harness the benefits and mitigate the risks. This book is the practical, accessible entry point you have been seeking. Get an introduction to the basics of cloud computing and all five major cloud platforms, gain a fundamental cloud vocabulary, and learn how to translate industry terms used by different vendors. Leveraging the economic and security benefits that the cloud provides can look very different for each organization, and the author uses his expertise to help you adapt your strategy. Whether you are a beginner on the topic or a tech leader kick-starting change within your company, this book provides essential insights for cloud adoption and its benefits for our modern digital era. You will learn what the cloud is and how it differs from traditional on-premise solutions; gain a fundamental cloud vocabulary and learn how to translate between it and the terms used by different vendors; know the main components of the cloud and how they are used; be aware of the vendors in the cloud market, their strengths and weaknesses, and what to expect from them; tailor the optimal cloud solution to the organizational context; and study different approaches to cloud adoption and the contexts in which they are suitable so you can determine how your organization will get the most benefit from the cloud. This book Is for a general business audience that wants to catch up on the basics of cloud computing in order to have informed conversations with technical professionals and vendors. The book is for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of what the cloud is, where it came from, and how it will impact every organization in the future. A basic understanding of information technology helps, but is not required.