Cloud Computing - Assignment Example

Task Cloud Computing This is a type of technology that involves making use of the machinery found on the Internet and centralized remote servers for the purposes of maintaining several types of applications and data. It facilitates businesses and customers to utilize applications without their installation in accessing their files on any computer that has connectivity to the Internet. It enhances the computing processes by utilizing centralized forms of storage, memory and bandwidths (Velte, Velte & Elsenpeter, 2009). The best examples of the usage of cloud computing in business are shown in the services offered by companies such as Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. These applications do not require installation in the computers found in a business premises, but just need computers that are connected to the Internet. Neither software nor servers are required when using these applications. This form of computing is vital in businesses for the purposes of disseminating product information, supporting manufacturing and designing requirements and carrying out controls on inventory along with production. It is also used for making accounting and pay rolling functions, giving assurances on quality of a product along with the constraints on their control (Shroff, 2010). The use of cloud computing in businesses exhibits the characteristics of empowerment, agility, reduction of costs involved, device along with location independence and virtualization. It also allows for multi-tenancy, reliability, scalability, performance, security and maintenance of the various applications being utilized in a business. Through empowerment, the concept of cloud computing facilitates the users with the control of all the resources at their disposal. Its agility can always be improved with their user’s ability of re-provisioning technological infrastructural resources. These technologies usually provide interfaces that allow many users to communicate and share resources such as software (Miller, 2008). Another major advantage of using cloud computing is that it enables users to get accessibility to various systems by using only web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Internet explorer. The advantage achieved through the process of virtualization enables the transfer and sharing of resources from one server to another. Multi-tenancy in a cloud computing environment facilitates large pools of users in sharing resources in a business environment, and this minimizes the costs incurred in maintaining the computers. This can easily be achieved through centralization, having peak-load capacities and increasing their utilization and efficiencies (Velte, Velte & Elsenpeter, 2009). The reliability of cloud computing can be augmented through the use of multiple sites that are redundant. Finally, security is usually achieved through data centralization, increasing the focus on security resources. The maintenance of resources within a cloud computing environment is very easy. This is because the applications do not have to be individually installed in each computer in the business (Buyya, Brogerg & Goscinski, 2011). The applications have their own benefits and limits when being utilized in a business environment. For example, in the usage of an application in a business environment that supports controls on quality and assurance functions, one must consider the various benefits and limits that come with it (Shroff, 2010). The issues of the application tracking the parts that have been rejected while taking actions that are corrective in reconciling the parts to manufacture in the future should be greatly considered. The supporting of similar activities will ensure that the customers to a business remain willing to do business with a company since the quality of their products is always assured. Cloud computing is also quite vital when supporting purchasing along with inventory control systems and firm’s requirements in the manufacturing process. The use of this form of computing in this field enables the supporting of all these platforms on one application (Buyya, Brogerg & Goscinski, 2011). This enables a business to reduce the costs involved in managing their memory, bandwidth and infrastructural requirements. On the other hand, the concept of cloud computing is wholly capable of offering support to the functions of pay rolling and accounting across all the operating systems in a business environment. It enables a company to enjoy the benefits of reducing their costs on infrastructure, their time when pay rolling along with allocating funds (Hurwitz, Bloor, Kaufman & Halper, 2009). In most business environments, cloud computing is responsible for supporting the management of customer relationships and many of its functions. It offers support in the field of marketing by aiding customers in obtaining information more effectively from the department in charge of sales within a business. This move greatly assists customers in their purchasing decisions along with monitoring their activities with the aim of maintaining them. The management of a business’s activities through the concept of cloud computing additionally helps a business in generating answers to their customers’ queries in a more confident way (Shroff, 2010). This eventually results in the creation and solidification of the relationship between businesses with its customers. The use of cloud computing within a business environment incidentally helps it in saving time when responding to customer complaints and queries through help centers that offer the assistance required in real time (Beard, 2008). The use of cloud computing enables businesses to save costs effectively in the competitive business world. This is because the technology in use is ever-changing and often requires updating while the maintenance of personnel on IT still remains very expensive. In addition, computer hardware services often require several upgrades and repairs during the course of their usage. Cloud computing thus helps in cutting the costs involved in implementing these issues by utilizing common memories, bandwidths along with storages. It eliminates a business’s need for separate infrastructures that may be required for different applications that run within its system or environment (Hurwitz, Bloor, Kaufman & Halper, 2009). Generally, the benefits of using cloud computing can be said to include issues such as the resources mobility, scalability and flexibility within a business environment. This type of computing facilitates the ability of organizations to acquire additional resources when their needs increase. The requirements of a business in terms of data management are automated and resources on the cloud are also easily shared (Velte, Velte & Elsenpeter, 2009). The cloud can also facilitate the storage of bulky volumes of data and applications. It helps in reducing the costs involved in building of the infrastructure between computers since it allows for the sharing of a common infrastructure. Through the sharing of resources among computers, a business can achieve better management of their IT systems and can adequately focus their time and efforts on issues such as research, development along with innovation (Buyya, Brogerg & Goscinski, 2011). The concept of cloud computing also has various other challenges that crop up in businesses. The service usually caters for very many organizations over one single infrastructure that is found in the Internet. Thus, the parties concerned in the cloud should ensure that their data along with applications are adequately secured (Shroff, 2010). The challenges encountered in a cloud environment can be classified according to their technical, economic, legal and regulatory categories. The issue of security in the data found in the cloud computing environment is of utmost importance. This is because the parties that have involved themselves in the concept should be well aware of legislations governing the sharing of the data. The mechanisms used for controlling access to the cloud computing environments should also be specified (Miller, 2008). This is because such measures usually ensure the secrecy along with the protection of the data. The security along with the safeguarding of the software involved is the most important concern raised in the clouding environment. Third parties without the consent of the parties involved do sometimes interfere with the data that are involved. Backup issues also affect the clouding environment greatly, since there are great chances of data loss when the applications are unexpectedly turned off or crash (Velte, Velte & Elsenpeter, 2009). These backups can either be internal or external which implies that they can be maintained by an organization or leased from another vendor. There are various pieces of legislation that several countries have regarding the interception of data. For example, when a case is in progress in a law court, an organization may be required to allow access to data on their organization to the authorities (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2009). Another challenge encountered in cloud computing concerns itself with the control and ownership of data. Clouds used for storage by various organizations can either be public or private. This largely depends on the economic feasibility of such data storage. In the event that data and other applications are transferred towards the cloud, there is usually a loss in the control of these two elements. This data are usually the property of an organization and their control should be retained. Intermediaries that provide access to the hosts, carry out the transmission, indexing of the contents, products to third parties may also contribute to the issue of third parties intervening on the data found in clouds (Miller, 2008). Many countries across the globe offer protection laws on data through safe principles when they want to absolve these intermediaries off any liabilities. These organizations that involve themselves with the offering of cloud computing services for other organizations require to ensure that their rights are appropriately secured and safeguarded under the relevant pieces of legislation. The compliance to various legislations ensures that the privacy of their clients’ information is safeguarded. The locations for data storage in a cloud computing environment stipulate that these locations are unknown. This ends ups with most organizations storing their pieces of data in multiple clouds (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2009). This could easily affect the performances of an organization in terms of the transfers of data and the legislations on privacy. The freedoms that the organizations have may easily result in the abuse of privacy and the non compliance to global legislations for the parties involved in the cloud in transferring pieces of information. The ITA laws on the transfer of data stipulate that the receivers of information should have similar practices to ensure that the exchanges are protected. These laws enable the determination that the transferring parties are usually responsible for the infringement of security issues pertaining to the transfers and storage of the data (Beard, 2008). The other challenges that affect the issue of cloud computing are vendor related. The jurisdiction of the governing laws controls the individuals who are located within the boundaries of the stated countries. This has however changed since the inception of the notion of cloud computing where organizations resident in a country can have a cloud belonging to a vendor in a different country (Velte, Velte & Elsenpeter, 2009). These situations normally happen in circumstances where the laws being used are applicable across borders. The major challenges encountered mainly come from making the choices for which set of laws are applicable in a given situation. Another challenge encountered in respect to the issue of vendors is the integration of data along with applications on the scattered clouds. Integration problems occur when the parties to the computing lack access to the resources which are usually dispersed (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2009). The issue of compatibility also affects an organizations’ ability to integrate between the data and applications at its disposal. This is because the integration problems that result from a vendor’s infrastructure becoming incompatible could end up compromising the entire cloud. The vendors of cloud computing contracts usually offer one sided agreements which are hardly responsible. Most companies are not willing to share their private data over the public infrastructure since the cultures of various companies do not allow the sharing of private information (Velte, Velte & Elsenpeter, 2009). The standardization of the courses of action, policies along with guidelines and templates to be followed when addressing contracts usually create deadlocks, since not all terms are acceptable to all the parties. The taxations performed on cloud computers have not been formalized and accepted in most countries around the globe. This creates disruptions in the implementation of cloud computing among the different parties to a contract (Miller, 2008). The provision of cloud computing services depends on several elementary models. These are the concepts that perceive infrastructure, platforms and the software as services. In the infrastructural model, the providers do offer computers, storage facilities along with the required networks. The billing process in this method follows the utility computing basis whereby the costs charged reflect the allocation and resources allocated and utilized by an organization. In the platform model, the clouding providers in charge usually deliver a computer platform including utilities such as operating systems, databases along with web servers (Velte, Velte & Elsenpeter, 2009). It is advantageous for businesses since they are not required to purchase or develop databases and provide servers for their clouding operations. Their actions lead to cuts in their costs and complexities in their purchasing and management of the hardware along with software layers. This model allows for automation in scaling in the computation and storages to match the demand of the application. This enables the users in the automatic allocation of the resources (Gilliam, 2010). Finally, the providers of the service model install and carry on with the operation of the application software allowing the users to get accessibility to the software among their clients. The businesses using this model are charged with the duty of managing the infrastructure and platforms which the applications usually run on. This model eliminates the needs of installation, running, maintaining and supporting the applications in use. It is different from other models, since it allows for cloning of simple tasks onto machines that allow for multiple tasks to facilitate the changes in the demand for work. They additionally utilize load balancers when making distributions of the available work on the machines available. The machines used in these models can facilitate the issue of multi tenants when a large mass of cloud users require the services on offer. They use similar conventions of naming to refer to the special kinds of application software used in a business (Beard, 2008). Reference List Beard, H., 2008. Cloud Computing Best Practices For Managing And Measuring Processes For No-Demand Computing, Applications And Data Centers In The Cloud With Slas. [online] Available at: http://www/Lulu.com. Buyya, R., Brogerg, J. & Goscinski, A., 2011. Cloud Computing, Principles and Paradigms, New York: John Wiley & Sons. Gilliam, L., 2010. Cloud Computing, Principles, Systems And Applications, New York: Springer. Hurwitz, J., Bloor, R., Kaufman, M. & Halper, F., 2009. Cloud Computing For Dummies, New York: John Wiley & Sons. Miller, M., 2008. Cloud Computing, Web-Based Application That Change The Way You Work And Collaborate Online, California: Que Publishing. Miller, M., 2008. Journal of Strategic Information Systems; European Journal of Information System, London: Harvard University Press. Rittinghouse, J.W. & Ransome J. F., 2009. Cloud Computing, Implementation, Management And Security, Sydney: CRC Press. Shroff, G., 2010. Enterprise Cloud Computing, Technology, Architecture and Applications, New York: Cambridge University Press. Pepparda, J. & Ward, J., 2004. Beyond Strategic Information Systems: Towards an IS Capability. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 13 (2004) p.167–194. Velte, A., Velte T.J. & Elsenpeter, R. C., 2009. Cloud Computing, A Practical Approach, New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More