Opportunities and Pitfalls of Cloud Computing - Term Paper Example

CLOUD COMPUTING OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES By Cloud Computing Opportunities and Challenges Introduction Although the concept of the cloud computing can be traced back to 1950s, its vitality in providing the access to the digital content has over the recent past become evident over the last ten years. Cloud computing can be defined as the Internet-based utility computing that is basically used in the sharing of the resources, information and the software that are used by the end-users that are hosted on the virtual servers (Sadiku, Musa, & Momoh, 2014). From the days that the use of the Internet started to become popular, the architectural diagrams of the network show the internet as the cloud that hide the complexities from the end-users, hence the cloud computing. Avery basic example of the cloud computing is the Salesforce.com and Facebook that have specifically become very popular with the younger generations. The effectiveness and importance of the cloud computing cannot be understated. Cloud computing shares the distributed resources through the network in an environment that is open thus posing the security challenges and hence its effectiveness. Although he effectiveness and importance of the cloud computing is many, it also comes with some underlying ethical issues. For instance, the essence of the cloud computing amounts to the three developments that are closely related to an ethical analysis. These are; the shifting of the control from the technology users to the 3rd parties servicing the cloud due to the outsourcing and the off shoring of the ICT functionality to the cloud. Secondly, the storage of the data in the multiple physical locations in many servers across the world that are possibly owned and administrated by different organizations. Thirdly, the interconnections of the multiple servers across the cloud (Nelson, 2009). The different levels of the functionality are connected with an aim of providing the specific information to the end users. Advantages of Cloud Computing (Opportunities) The challenges and responsibilities that all the firms/organizations face in the modern world are numerous. For instance, they must find a way of storing more data, control costs, and provide more services, and monitoring and managing the energy costs and the carbon impacts. Unfortunately, maintaining the data centers can consume a significant amount of the organization’s budget (Bhattacharya et al., 2009). However, with the introduction of the cloud computing most of the organizations’ challenges such as cost control and the storage of the data will be done in the most effective way. In the past, the large corporations had the advantage over the small corporations owing to the fact that they had access to the capital, and the ability to leveraging the existing, human, hardware, and software resources in supporting the new strategic and marketing initiatives. However, since the inception of the cloud computing, most of the barriers to the entry for starting a company have been dramatically reduced and the cloud computing may have removed this strategic advantage away from the large corporations (Cunningham, & Wilkins, 2009). This, therefore, leaves the small talented team of the individuals to address the perceived market needs. Additionally, this alleviates the need for the venture capital funds that provides the necessary IT infrastructures. Cloud computing creates a learning environment that can surpass the restrictions posed by the location and time that most students face. With the cloud computing, there is a learning environment whereby the students can log in to the online blackboards, downloading the course materials, taking the tests and exams or completing the assignments in a more flexible manner. Additionally, the cloud computing can increase the interoperability between the different institutions that are using the same cloud provider and hence promoting the joint research programs and the exchange of the vital scientific information and the databases between the researchers (Hwang, Dongarra, & Fox, 2013). The utilization of the cloud computing can lead to the reduction of the costs related to the IT infrastructure that are necessary for the standard internet network service. This, therefore, makes the cloud computing particularly very appealing to the governments and businesses that lack the financial means of covering the internet IT support and the recurring hardware costs. For instance, in the education sector, several universities, especially in the developing countries, use the Software as a Service (SaaS) applications whereby the cloud servers host the virtual interfaces of the educational contents. With the cloud services, the educational systems can facilitate the on-line courses, the payroll systems, student emails and the improvements of the cross-campus collaborations between the various university departments. Due to the flexible nature of the cloud services, the educational institutes and universities are able to use some of the cloud services on demand thus helping in the saving of the funds that can be allocated for other services. Another advantage of the cloud computing is in the health sector, especially in the developing countries whereby the majority of the people resides in the remote or rural areas. The mobile health applications are important for the health workers in delivering the efficient healthcare services to the rural areas by providing the range of the services. Additionally, with cloud computing, the organizations are able to use the applications that are only suited to their needs and not paying the huge amounts on the licenses for using the software suite (Brandel et al. 2009). With the canned applications in the cloud computing, the businesses can decide and pay for the applications that they want. Using the virtualization as the major technology, more computing resources can be added dynamically without any downtime. Through the monitoring of the peak load and the server usage, the application can be switched over to the virtual machine dynamically with greater and faster computing speed. The use of the cloud computing offers the new approach that can enable the organizations to deliver the IT services on demand to their customers and employees. The cloud computing organizations and customers don’t have the physical infrastructure because they avoid the capital expenditure through renting usage from the third-parties such as Google’s App Engine, Microsoft Windows and among others (Buyya et al., 2009). Instead, the customers and the organizations that use the cloud computing only use the resources as the service and only pay for the resources that they use. For instance, allows for the customers to find the restaurant that they want to eat without having to ask friends in a convenient manner. Additionally, the cloud computing has led to the improvement of the mobile and cellular applications services. Before the establishment of the cloud computing, the cell phones were only used for receiving and making calls. Nowadays they have been enabled to do more diverse roles due to the computing power of the cloud. With the maintenance of the infrastructure in the multiple redundant sites, the cloud computing gives more confidence to the business organizations regarding the disaster recovery and the business continuity. In most industries today, one of the buzz words is the collaboration. The tools such as the SharePoint are increasingly becoming popular whereby people can work on the same document without necessarily have to store the document locally while working on it (Motahari-Nezhad, Stephenson, & Singhal, 2009). Since the infrastructural component of the cloud computing is not centralized and that the client is a thin client like web browser, the upgrading and maintenance of system are easier as compared to the system in which desktop client is required to connect the server with each desktop needs. Other advantages of the cloud computing include; high returns on the investment (ROI), reduced maintenance and implementation costs, increased mobility for the global workforce, flexible and scalable infrastructures, short time to the market, IT department developments, data in cloud, high computing efficiency, and interoperability. Ethical Challenges of Cloud Computing Although the cloud computing has played a fundamental role in boosting the development of the business in the world, it also presents few concerns about the utilization and acceptance of the cloud computing. With the cloud computing provided as the service and being used by the different customers, the personalization seems to be a limitation. The centralization of the data and out of the business control presents a challenge for the businesses. This will lead to the sensitive data being under the control of the third party hence ending the confidential management records. In regard to the disclosure policies, some of the people have no idea of where to draw the line between and unknowingly or willingly share the vital information and with the third-party accessing the information, it becomes even more critical. With virtually everything accessible the internet, the business might be dependent on the network and service provider’s infrastructure (Erdogmus, 2009). This, therefore, means that the business might come to an uncertain halt in the event that the network or the internet is down. The loss of the control can be problematic owing to the third party control in the event that something goes wrong. Among the risks that can be associated with the cloud computing are the; data corruption, unauthorized access, outing/unavailability, infrastructure failure, and among others. In the event that something goes wrong, it’s hard to discern who and what caused the problem due to the third party control. The ceding to the cloud computing provider raises the question of the information self-determination. The informational self-determination is the ability or the right of the individuals to the exercise of the personal control over the data collection, use, and disclosure. However, in the world of cloud computing where there is ubiquitous and unlimited storage and sharing of data among the organizations, the self-determination can be challenged. Therefore, this does not only raises the privacy issues, but also puts the trust and confidence in a stake of the evolving information in the society. Another ethical issue that comes with cloud computing is that for the users of the cloud computing services are the security of their own data and that there is a possibility that the government can use the cloud computing services for the citizen’s surveillance. Some of the cloud computing applications include the customer services such as social networks and email services. The data centers can be easily targeted by hackers leading to the loss of the data. Additionally, some of the cloud service users that have certain technical skills can use the web or the mobile applications to get the sensitive information from the other users through the exploitation of the SaaS, PaaS or the IaaS systems weaknesses (Zhong et al., 2010). These issues, therefore, raise the ethical questions about the use of the cloud computing services especially when it comes to the developing countries where the authoritarian regimes can seek to obtain the data so as to monitor its citizens. The lack of the market standards associated with the cloud computing leads to the issues to do with the lock-in and the lack of the transferability with the cloud. The vendor lock-in and the succeeding data migration concerns that surface in the cases whereby the cloud computing users decide to change the providers represents two additional restrictions to the cloud computing. Most of the cloud providers offers a range of the variety of the Software (games, virtual desktop, and communication apps), Platform (web servers, database storage, development tools) and the Infrastructure (network, virtual machines, servers) as the propriety services (Armbrust et al., 2010). The question of the migration and interoperability of the data between the different cloud services providers can be problematic as the data can be locked-in. Additionally, the services from the cloud can be inaccessible to the users that do not have specific brands of the devices that can be the major hindrance to the business operations and the access of the user to the digital content. The governments have the sole responsibility for ensuring that they protect the citizen’s interests by ensuring that they keep them informed about the good practices in the use of the cloud services so as to avoid the lock-in and the migration problems. The function creep is another ethical challenge that can be brought about by the cloud computing. The function creep is the data collected with the specific aim that can be used for other purposes. For instance, the database with the biometric data of the citizens can be designed for the authentication purposes but can also be used for the crime investigations (Pieters, 2009). In the global world of the cloud computing, with the relinquished control and the reduced sight on the purpose of the data, the function creep can bring an immense danger. The offshoring of the data raises the question of who owns the data that the user stores in the cloud and what the providers of the cloud services to do with the information. Besides the fact that the data is actively stored in the cloud by the cloud users, the cloud can also generate the data itself for varied purposes such as the provision of the accountability, improvement of the services, and security purposes (Raichura, 2009). However, since this information is being shared in the digital interactions. This can leave a trail of the extraordinarily detailed information (detailed) that if it cannot be protected can be exploited and abused. In the cloud computing, there are few limitations on the use of the information. Additionally, once the personal information is stored in one or more databases in the cloud, it can be accessed and then used in the manner that the individuals never intended with very little oversight (Ostermann et al., 2010). Therefore, this presents an ethical challenge to the cloud computing. The cloud computing is not usually secure by nature. The security concerns that is associated with the cloud is often less visible and intangible hence inevitably creating the false sense of the security and the anxiety about what can be controlled and secured. For instance, off-premises computing paradigm that usually comes with the cloud computing can incur great concerns about the data confidentiality and integrity. Conclusion After having an extensive discussion of the de-merits, merits, opportunities and the ethical challenges that are brought about by cloud computing, there is no clear answer against or in favor of the cloud computing. Cloud computing can be compared to the way that the personal computers and the servers shook up the minicomputers and mainframes world. The cloud computing has given opportunity for the entrepreneurs to use the information technology as an enabler of achieving their business objectives. Additionally, it has been proved beyond any reasonable doubt that cloud computing is capable of giving the small businesses the competitive advantage in the business against the traditional methodologies. However, there is urgent need to design and implement security programs to help deal with the security challenges that faces the cloud computing. Some of the suggested models include; network segments that comprises of the series of the physical and logical layers that are designed to secure the network, the access control model that describes the recommended practices for the accessing the control and manufacturing systems, defining the utility cloud, definition of the privacy and the terms and conditions, and among others. This can help in the reduction of the security challenges that are associated with the cloud computing. References Armbrust, M., Fox, A., Griffith, R., Joseph, A. D., Katz, R., Konwinski, A.,& Zaharia, M. (2010). A view of cloud computing. Communications of the ACM, 53(4), 50-58. Bhattacharya, Kamal Bichler, Martin Tai and Stefan. 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