Are Cloud Storage Solutions Irrelevant for a Large Organization of 1,500 Staff - Essay Example

Are cloud storage solutions irrelevant for a large organisation of 500 staff? Organisations in the current competitive environment are formulatingand implementing various strategies to streamline as well as to optimize its functioning, thereby achieving organisational targets, enticing customers and earning sizable profits. To reach a successful end state, organisations particularly large ones have to streamline as well as optimize its operations, and to actualize that, technology plays a key role. Various technologies have developed and are being developed with effective applications, and those technological products and services are being used by the organisation in maximal processes or operations. Among these technology products and services, Information Technology (IT) forms a key part, with organisations, irrespective of the sector they are operating, have been incorporating IT in a strong manner, by having a separate IT infrastructure inside the organisation. Although, in-house IT infrastructure is the norm in many large organisations, due to advent of advancing technology services like Cloud Computing and their resultant benefits, virtual IT infrastructure are being considered and also favoured. That is, to complement the in-house infrastructure and even also to maximally replace it, Cloud Computing is being utilized. As this service appears to be a cost-effective, secure, quality enriched, operational effective, etc., it is being used by varied organisations from large ones to the small ones. Thus, the discussion will be on how these Cloud computing solutions can be relevant to a large organisation of 1500 staffs. Cloud computing is the term given to the web-based virtual computer structure, which can host data, softwares as well as other applications, with the organisational employees accessing and utilizing it without the need for the organisation to have an in-house IT structure. “Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends ITs existing capabilities by increasing capacity or by adding capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software.” (Knorr and Gruman 2010).The Cloud architecture that is needed for delivering Cloud Computing to an organisation consist of various hardwares as well as softwares, and these cloud components are categorized as front end and back end. The front end will be set up in the organisation, and includes employees’ computer, servers and the other applications that run in the computer particularly web browser. The back end will be in an external or virtual state in the ‘Cloud’ itself, which is actually an IT structure of servers, computers and importantly data storage devices. It is there licensed softwares, dedicated business applications and other softwares will be installed and made available for the organisation to access and utilize it. In addition, the data storage devices can be used to store key data and critical information in a safe and secure way. Speaking of licensed softwares, the ones that can be housed in Cloud and can be used by the organisation is known "Software as a Service (SaaS)". This Cloud Computing service is being used by many organisations throughout the world, with Clouds being established and operated by major IT players like Google, Amazon, Salesforce, Microsoft, etc. When large organisations choose this Cloud Computing as part of its IT infrastructure and functioning, it can provide organisations with many advantages, even while causing some ‘solvable’ disadvantages, which will be case when any new technology emerges. When a large organisation wants to utilize Cloud Computing, they need to pay subscriber charges to these major IT players, and utilize the services as when required, with the option to further upgrade. The main advantage with this setup is its’ cost-effective nature, thereby making it relevant for large organisations. That is, organisations does not need to buy and install costly softwares and also avoid upgradation and maintenance costs, instead they can just pay subscriber or user charges and thereby access all those softwares and other applications through the web browser. As mentioned above, establishing an in-house IT infrastructure with all the needed software applications may entail high costs. Firstly, large organisations have to buy specialized softwares for huge prices, and also have to upgrade its IT infrastructure by buying expensive hardwares so it will be apt for those softwares. “As we spoke with business owners it was very common to hear; upfront software costs are high, servers are expensive, internal networks are demanding, nightly backups are challenging, periodic upgrades are frustrating.” (Clixon 2012). Large organisations have to carry out these above two tasks of software purchase and hardware upgradation in an extensive manner, as there will be high number of employees proportionate to its size. High number of employees means the organisations have to buy high number of software licenses and also have to upgrade each and every computer, thereby inflating the costs. In addition, organisation has to install, run and maintain those softwares by involving specific number of employees, thereby draining more of organisational financial resources. “Traditional business applications have always been very complicated and expensive. The amount and variety of hardware and software required to run them are daunting. You need a whole team of experts to install, configure, test, run, secure, and update them.” (Salesforce). However, the costs for operating through Cloud will be lower than the traditional IT infrastructure because as mentioned above, while using Cloud, organisation does not need to buy the softwares, upgrade hardwares and also avoid recruiting or allocating employees for the process. They just need to pay subscriber charges on monthly basis or other periodical basis. “Cloud Computing allows users to subscribe on a monthly basis; there is no software to purchase, no server to purchase, no network to maintain, no backups to worry about, and no upgrades installs to be concerned with.” (Clixon 2012). In addition, Cloud Computing will also help save money for the organisation by cutting down on the software idling costs. Software idling may happen, when software and other applications, which are bought for high costs, are kept idle without any use inside the organisation. Thus, as idling of hardware as well as software (licenses) costs can lead to high expenses for the organisations, Cloud Computing appears to be the cost-effective choice. This is because, while using Cloud Computing, organisation has to pay the charges for the softwares only when it utilizes, and also based on how much it utilizes, thereby eliminating any idling costs. The other advantage is, if the organisations find any deficiencies in the service of the Cloud host or provider, and also if they don’t want further usage of specific softwares, they have the option to terminate the usage of Cloud any time. This is unlike the traditional in-house structure, where the organisations have to pay full costs for buying the softwares, and even if they don’t find it useful, or if the softwares have outrun their use, it cannot be reimbursed or sold back. However, when viewed from the opposite perspective, there are few disadvantages as well, because organisations have to come up with financial resources to maintain the Cloud operations. Although, it might reduce their investment in new softwares and hardware, organisations need to allocate financial resources for the recruitment and the training of apt personnel to maintain Cloud Computing related structures inside the organisations. (Bhardwaj, Jain and Jain 2010). That is, firms still need to allocate costs for maintaining the structures. However, when viewed in an overall perspective, these Cloud Computing maintenance cost are lower comparable to traditional infrastructure costs. Apart from the above discussed cost-effective advantage, Cloud Computing also provide number of advantages to large organisations, thereby making it relevant to it. One of the key advantages is the availability of the ‘Elasticity’ features in Cloud Computing. Due to this feature, organisations have elasticity or flexibility in increasing their utilization of softwares, number of users, utilization time, bandwidth, etc., when situation arises, and also decrease it when situation demands it. “Elasticity, as its name implies, when applied to an application describes the ability to easily and seamlessly scale up (add more resources in order to increase the overall processing power when needed) and scale down (being able to switch off some of those resources when the load on the overall system goes down and the system is over-provisioned).” (Moyne 2009). For example, when a large organisation wants to recruit new employees or include more employees for particular process, and all those employees have to be provided with particular softwares, the organisation can use this elasticity feature in line with the demand. The same applies to increasing the storage capacity, because during certain business seasons, organisation may need extra storage space to store all their data, and during those times also this elasticity feature of Cloud Computing can help a lot. (Bhardwaj, Jain and Jain 2010). Organisations can accomplish both these necessities by just paying the required extra subscription charges, and can revert back to the original charges, when the demand subsides. With organisations mainly using various IT options in their premises for quick actions or responses during all types of situations and increasing demands, this elasticity feature of Cloud Computing can play an effective role. However, the disadvantage with this feature is that there is a possibility that the users many unknowingly or even knowingly tend to overuse the accentuated options available, mainly under the feeling that they unlimited or flexible resources at their disposal. However, this problem can be solved or aptly managed by adopting basic limited plans regarding the usage of services in the Cloud. That is, they can pay less in the initial stages, and when they need excess usage later, which is over the limit of their plans, they can go for higher plans. In the technologically advanced business environment, where many portable devices are being introduced, employees instead of working within the four walls of their offices are always on the move and work virtually. In those scenarios also, Cloud Computing can be advantageous. “Cloud services give freedom for users, because they can use multiple devices and work from many different places and still work with the same data. Applications in the Cloud can be accessed from any device – laptop, tablet, smartphone or desktop.” (Mobile Worker 2013). Even within the walls of the office or organisation, employees could want to work in different places, as that will help in better cooperation and teamwork. “Most often, mobility in the first instance means the ability of employees to be mobile within their office, and to use a far wider variety of spaces in the office. This then sets up the technological and cultural ability to allow employees to work from anywhere – be that at home, on a train, in a coffee shop and so on.” (Davidi 2013). That is, in an organisation, certain employees work involves travelling to different places and carrying out their allocated tasks from there. In addition, certain organisations also allow the provision of “Work from Home”. During both these above mentioned scenarios, the employees need access to the organisational IT infrastructure or resources, and this where Cloud Computing can play an optimal role. As Cloud Computing only involves computer plus web based tools like internet and web browser, these employees can be provided fullest as well as secure access to the organisation’s IT resources. This can aid the employees to complete their given tasks from their place itself, without traveling or investing in newer softwares and hardwares. In addition, it can also aid the employees to coordinate with other employees in a virtual manner. “That simplifies cooperation and communication between workers, they can work anywhere in the world using same tools and information.” (Mobile Worker 2013). The other key advantage for large organisations through Cloud Computing is that, it can provide all the above mentioned services as well as extra options in a safe and secure way. With key inbuilt security features in the Cloud and also in the front end in the organisation, it is one of the key strengths. That is, Cloud providers or Hosts can safeguard the data that are stored by the organisation in the Cloud storage options, without chances of hacking or data loss. In addition, all the user data that gets generated, when organisation and its employees utilize the softwares, can also be stored in an effective manner inside the Cloud. “Large-scale cloud providers are oftentimes more secure than a government agencys or private sector companys internal IT operations, simply because they have the "talent, resources and focus" that their customers—and their smaller counterparts—do not have.” (Wyld 2009, p.37). At the same time, there are chances of hacking, causing loss of crucial data. When the Cloud providers allow virtualization by multiplexing many organisations’ Virtual Machines (VM) across the same physical infrastructure, it can lead to security related vulnerabilities for the customers. The vulnerabilities could arise because it is possible to map the internal cloud infrastructure, then instantiate new VMs, so one could be placed as a co-resident with the target, and then finally such placement could be used to initiate cross-VM side-channel attacks to steal or extract information from a target VM on the same physical machine or infrastructure. (Santos 2013). In addition, the Keystroke timing attack can be mounted by using the cache-based load measurements. During this attack, the adversary can calculate the time between the keystrokes, taken by the user while typing a password. The inter-keystroke times that are gathered can be used to steal passwords. There are few ways through which side-channel attacks can be inhibited. It includes blinding techniques like cache wiping, insertion carried out in a delayed manner, changing each machines perception of time. (Mathur 2010). These techniques can minimize the information that can be leaked. However, these countermeasures have drawbacks, and so for unconditional protection, the large organisations have to avoid co-residence, by populating the Cloud only with their VMs and also from other trusted account. (Santos 2013). Large organisations can do this because as they may high number of employees utilizing services in Cloud, they can populate the Cloud. In addition, they will also have the financial resources to populate the Cloud on those lines. From the above discussion of whether Cloud Computing as a technological service option can be relevant to a large organisation, it is clear that it can provide number of advantages. One of the main reasons, why this Cloud Computing is relevant to large organisations is, it is cost effective, as it saves money. That is, it avoids the necessity to buy and install wide number of expensive softwares, upgrading hardwares and also does not makes it necessary to maintain IT infrastructures with high number of employees. Then, importantly due to the elasticity feature, organisations can utilize Cloud Computing according to their whims, without any restrictions. Although, there are certain security risks, as with any new technologies, all can be managed through counter measures, thereby enabling organisations to use Cloud Computing in a safe and secured way. Thus, Cloud Computing is very much relevant to large organisations because by using the above advantages, those organisations can optimize their productivity, match up with client’s expectations, achieve its organisational targets and thereby become hugely successful. References Bhardwaj, S, Jain, L and Jain, S., 2010. Cloud Computing: a study of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), International Journal of Engineering and Information Technology, Vol. 2, No. 1, 60-63 Clixon., 2012. Cloud-based Dental Software. Available from http://www.clixongroup.com/Blog2.php?blog_entries1Page=2&blog_commentsPage=4&blog_entries4Page=5&Blog_EntryID=45(accessed on May 4, 2014) Davidi, A., 2013. How is cloud computing enhancing our ability to work anywhere? Available from http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/dec/18/cloud-enhancing-work-anywhere-flexible(accessed on May 4, 2014) Knorr, E and Gruman, G., 2010. What cloud computing really means. Available from http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031(accessed on May 4, 2014) Mathur, M., 2010. Elucidation of Upcoming Traffic Problems in Cloud Computing, Communications in Computer and Information Science, Vol. 90, No.1, pp. 68-79. Mobile Worker., 2013. The Cloud is Everywhere. Available from http://www.mworker.com/en/the-cloud-is-everywhere/(accessed on May 4, 2014) Moyne, JN. (2009). The key to Elasticity, and why you need it. Available from http://www.tibcommunity.com/blogs/activespaces/2009/09/14/the-key-to-elasticity-and-why-you-need-it(accessed on May 4, 2014) Salesforce. What is Cloud Computing? Available from http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/(accessed on May 4, 2014) Santos, NMC., 2013. Improving Trust in Cloud, Enterprise, and Mobile Computing Platforms. Available from http://www.mpi-sws.org/cont/tr/2013-007.pdf(accessed on May 4, 2014) Wyld, D. C. (2009). Moving to the Cloud: An Introduction to Cloud Computing in Government. E-Government Series. IBM Center for Business Environment Read More