Amazon Web Services was launched in 2006 to allow businesses and individuals to run a  large-scale distributed, transactional IT infrastructure with a minimal investment in hardware and personnel.

Because it is based in the cloud, AWS users have the ability to decide on what they need in computing power, storage and other services and can choose how they want to use these services at a fraction of what it would cost them to set up their own systems.  They pay only for what they use.

There's no up-front investment, long-term commitment, or a minimum usage requirement. Users also have complete control over what they need and how they use it and can end their relationship with AWS at any time.

New resources become available as soon as they are moved to the cloud and users can make changes quickly, allowing them to meet new challenges that could affect their bottom line.

Of course, there are a few rules to follow and a plan for how AWS is to be used must be in place. But the importance lies in how adaptable storage on the cloud can be. And the cost of using cloud services such as AWS is coming down, making it a better fit for an individual or corporation's budget.

So, how can AWS act as a catalyst to change the way you do business?

Basically there are five points of catalyst using Amazon Web Services and Cloud Applications: 

• The Model:  The AWS model provides customers with benefits and potential hot spots in the public cloud.

• Agility:  AWS provides customers with speed of application selection, adoption and time to productivity through its flexible computing resources.

• IT Pricing:  Traditional IT (transaction) pricing is morphing into a pay-per-use IT technology business model.  AWS' price point now qualifies as "discretionary" spending for many customers, which allows business units (or lines of business) to procure IT resources and computing resources through recurring credit card purchases.

• Corporate IT:  As business units (or lines of business) have the flexibility to procure IT solutions and resources, Corporate IT divisions must play a significant role in ensuring that decentralized IT procurement aligns and complies with corporate governance and regulatory and compliance requirements.

• Startups:  AWS makes its platform and resources available to start-ups, who need elastic and on-demand infrastructure at low and various costs.