Cloud computing and IT management - Essay Example

Cloud computing and IT management Issues to Implementation of Cloud Computing Cloud computing is an emerging computing model that is centered around scalability, virtualized and distributed resources those are provided as services hosted over Internet. Cloud computing is set to revolutionize delivery and consumption of IT services, various examples of services those are hosted and provided over the Internet include: Intrastructure-as-a-service, Platform-as-a-service and Software-as-a-service.

Presently cloud computing market is worth $16.2bn and leading market research firm IDC has forecasted that this figure is expected to rise up to $42bn by 2012.As per the researchers and practitioners into cloud computing, five key challenges faced by cloud computing include (Brown):Current enterprise applications cannot be migrated convenientlyRisks (legal, regulatory, and business)Difficulty of managing cloud applicationsLack of Service Level AgreementsLack of cost advantage for cloud computing2.

HealthcareIT and the ChallengesRapid developments in the fields of computers and communications technologies have enabled information technology to secure a commanding position in all walks of life ranging from financial transactions through entertainment to water supplies. Surprisingly, healthcare systems – a domain of high social relevance, world over can be considered as laggards in adopting information technologies (Braa et al. 1). The prime issues those are challenging healthcare IT are (Hersh, 2273):1.

High Costs: Owing to high costs and slow return of investment, healthcare management organizations are not encouraged to deploy IT applications in hospitals.2. Interoperability: Lack of standardization is the root cause of the missing interoperability amongst various applications of IT in healthcare. This leads to information “silos”.3. Technical Issues: Technical issues such as complexity leads to low user friendliness in the case of various IT applications in healthcare.Despite these challenges, forward looking and IT savvy clinicians are trying their best to lead the adoption drive in their respective healthcare set ups, the day is not far when IT applications in healthcare will merge into mainstream healthcare delivery systems.3. HealthIT Business/Service ConceptTelemedicine (use of information technologies like internet to deliver healthcare services at a distance) is one applications of HealthIT that has the potential to not only address some of the intransigent healthcare issues but is also promising enough from a business perspective.

Telemedicine enables delivery of healthcare services and medical education from one geographical location to another primarily to address challenges like uneven distribution and shortage of infrastructural and human resources. Tertiary hospitals can set up peripheral hospitals in remote and isolated areas these and these peripheral hospitals can have telemedicine linkages via internet with the tertiary level (referral) hospital primarily to extend the reach of specialized medical services to remote and isolated cases.

This type of business concept has been used by a number of healthcare service providers around the globe. Slowly and steadily such services are not only bridging the digital divide but are also acting as pathways for revenue generation.References:1. Braa, J., O. Hanseth, A. Heywood, W. Mohammed, and V. Shaw. "Developing Health Information Systems in Developing Countries: The Flexible Standards Strategy." MIS Quarterly. 31.2 (2007): 381-402.2. Brown, E.D. "Risks and issues in Cloud Computing." Eric D Brown: Technology, Strategy, People and Projects 2 Feb 2009: n. pag. Web.

4 Nov 2009. .3. Hersh, W. "Health Care Information Technology: Progress and Barriers." Journal of American Medical Association. 292.18 (2004): 2273-2274.