  Cloud computing refers to a paradigm shift to overall IT solutions while
raising the accessibility, scalability and effectiveness through its enabling
technologies. However, migrated cloud platforms and services cost benefits as
well as performances are neither clear nor summarized. Globalization and the
recessionary economic times have not only raised the bar of a better IT
delivery models but also have given access to technology enabled services via
internet. Cloud computing has vast potential in terms of lean Retail
methodologies that can minimize the operational cost by using the third party
based IT capabilities, as a service. It will not only increase the ROI but will
also help in lowering the total cost of ownership. In this paper we have tried
to compare the cloud computing cost benefits with the actual premise cost which
an organization incurs normally. However, in spite of the cost benefits, many
IT professional believe that the latest model i.e. "cloud computing" has risks
and security concerns. This report demonstrates how to answer the following
questions: (1) Idea behind cloud computing. (2) Monetary cost benefits of using
cloud with respect to traditional premise computing. (3) What are the various
security issues? We have tried to find out the cost benefit by comparing the
Microsoft Azure cloud cost with the prevalent premise cost.
