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Case Study Title- The Cloud Computing World

Abstract

Cloud computing is a rapidly emerging resource that is being used by businesses for
different reasons
...
Likewise, it seems that many
companies are also trying to stay away from cloud computing because of the drawbacks
associated with it
...
This paper
discusses briefly the three types of cloud services which are the SaaS, PaaS and IaaS
...
Next, the paper analyses the various advantages of switching to the clouds
and the paper is concluded by stating some of the reasons why companies would not want to
consider cloud computing as an option
...
Every
company wants to grow and it I believed that part of their growth process is storing data that will
be easily accessible to their employees or their customers and requires little to no effort to do
...
Companies are interested in the idea of storing data or information in
the clouds and this has created a significant shift from the traditional method of data storage or
recovery to the use of the internet
...
When it comes to cloud computing, companies prefer to shift the responsibility to a
third party, a vendor that would take on the task of creating and maintaining this cloud space for
a monthly fee
...
This means the companies
don’t need to make huge investments in hardware and spend a lot of time on managing the
hardware that is being used
...
Cloud computing is not limited to any particular type of business
and currently most large and small companies require reliable computing resources in order to
succeed in their business
...


Cloud computing is great for various companies in different industries but choosing the
right type of cloud computing is based on the needs of the company and also to make sure the
company is not worst off using it once the type is selected
...


Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software distribution model which provides users with a
completed product made available to customers over the internet and it is run, hosted and
managed by a vendor or a cloud service provider
...
The former
way of providing this service was for the user to purchase the software and they would have to
install the software on each personal computer (software as a product)
...
The vendor is in charge of
running automatic updates as needed by the user and also managing access to applications like
computer accessibility, security, and performance of the system
...


Platforms as a service (PaaS) eliminates the need for companies to buy, configure and
manage infrastructure (hardware and operating systems) and it helps the users focus on the

deployment of a customized built in application
...
This means PaaS providers will make available to its users services like
application hosting or java development which users will get access to by logging in over the
internet to start using the platform
...
This is a great option for developers because they are able to
modify and upgrade their operating system occasionally based on what is best for the company
(Rouse, 2013)
...
Users
have the highest level of flexibility and management control over their IT resources and solutions
when it comes to choosing IaaS (AmazonWebServices, 2015)
...
One way IaaS can be utilized
is by internal business networks, such as private clouds and virtual local area networks
...
With

IaaS, the website is hosted on a virtual server which are founded upon pooled resources from
basic physical servers (Interoute, 2013)
...
This is why it is vital for companies to comprehend why they are opting for the cloud as
an option and also the different deployment models available on the cloud before migrating to
the clouds
...
These cloud models aim to meet the customers’
requirements at various stages of engagement in managing the computing hardware and software
of the organization
...
Naturally, small and medium
businesses make use of the public cloud model since it is less expensive and easier to handle than
other models
...
This cloud is said to be present on the premise of the
cloud provider since it is owned, preserved and operated by a company, academic or government
organization (Granger, 2015)
...


With the private cloud, the resources delivered by the providers are dedicated to just an
organization and it can be hosted at the third party’s location or on premise
...
The users can also configure the clouds to solve their

network problem
...
In this type of situation, the data would need to be managed for
privacy and audits that govern the organization (CloudTweaks, 2012)
...
This cloud
model makes sure that these large companies can handle demand elasticity that is comparable to
that of the public cloud model
...


The community cloud is a multi-tenant platform which allows different organizations to
work on the same platform given that they have a common focus, mission or need such as health
care, automotive and financial services industy
...
The community cloud model
represents a market that meets the need of users in a particular industry and the users stand to
gain by having a dedicated server that would address the needs of those in that industry
(Srinivasan, 2013)
...
Compared to the private cloud, this helps to reduce operational expense since
the platform is shared by various organizations
...

It is also the configuration of various cloud models; public, private and community clouds which
are joined by standardized technology that enables the portability of data and application
...
This cloud
model transfers workload between the private and public clouds without causing any type of
problem for the customer
...
The hybrid model requires
application program interface (API) which allows easy communication and interaction between
the different models (Rouse, 2013)
...
But people choose the hybrid cloud model because it gives
organizations the option to be flexible in cases of changeable workloads and also the ability to
easily deploy data when need be
...


Cloud computing according to various businesses is seen as a blessing and also a
monetary redemption
...
One major advantage of cloud
computing is that it helps businesses to save on their IT expense since it is the most cost efficient
method when it comes to using, upgrading and maintaining a system (AmazonWebServices,
2015)
...
When companies transfer their services to the clouds, they are able to get a lesser
variable cost than they would if they were using the traditional method
...
Also opting for the cloud is more cost efficient because the vendor is
able to offer virtual servers on a single hardware for multiple clients; that is the various clients
are able to split the cost of the servers
...
With cloud service options like pay-as-you-go or one time payments,
companies are able to stay within their budget and also the companies might not require capital
expenditure at all (Viswanathan, 2015)
...
With
cloud computing, companies do not need to pay to hire and train staff since that is done by the
vendor
...


Another advantage of cloud computing is the ability for companies to back up their
information in the clouds and also recover it as need be
...
In the clouds, the
organization has its own resources that it uses and controls and the users will be able to retrieve
lost files up to a point in time
...
This is an important part because the companies basically have a secondary center
that is far from their current location in which their important files may be safer than if it was

onsite
...


Having the right amount of storage capacity or scalability is also a great reason why
companies choose cloud computing
...

With the use of cloud computing, companies do not have to worry about storage capacity
problem
...
Saving data in the clouds also allows the user to easily access the
data stored on it
...
This saves companies from having to upgrade their computer hardware just to enable
larger storage capability
...
These IT providers will allow
their users to increase their current IT resources to accommodate any rise in their business needs
...

Also the availability and reliability of a user’s IT resources are great reasons
organizations switch to cloud computing
...
It could make life better for small companies who do
not have an office space yet or for large companies who have different location all over the
world
...
If the employee is using a private or secure WiFi connection, it would not be necessary to set up a virtual private network (Lynch, 2015)
...
When planning an event with associates from another organizations, applications
like GoogleDocs can be used to make it easier for everyone to see each other's work
...
The advantage of reliability is important because
users are able to better avoid unfavorable conditions that can lead to loss of their data
...


Even though most companies are switching to the clouds, there is also a number of
companies who would rather stick to the traditional method of saving and accessing information
because of some of the drawbacks associated with cloud computing
...
This is a major concern because there is
always an incident of security breach in cloud-based services and this could be as a result of
human error (from the user or vendor) or the resources being used
...
So this means that the information technology resources
that is remotely being used requires the cloud user to expand the trust boundaries and this will
also have to include the external cloud
...
Also security breach can

occur with cloud computing because the extent to which a user’s data is secure is based on the
security controls and policies that is applied by the vendor and the user of the resources
...
When a user’s data is exposed, this can create
opportunities where their IT resources are attacked which can damage the user’s business data
(Eri, 2014)
...
In this case, if the data is stored in a shared disk system, there is always
danger of hackers tapping the communication line and stealing or corrupting the data from the
disk storage
...

This is why it is important to encrypt data when they are transferred to the cloud in other to deter
malicious people (could be disgruntled employees) from using the data to their advantage
(Rajaraman, 2014)
...


Another drawback to switching to the cloud is having to deal with headache if the vendor
goes out of business
...
A sudden change in service for a cloud user
might not be too bad for the organization if the cloud user was only using the application for a
one-off project, but it could be catastrophic if the user were using it for their entire database (Eri,

2014)
...
In a
situation like this, the cloud user will have to look for another cloud provider and shift their
applications which will be time consuming and expensive (Rajaraman, 2014)
...
Even though it is well known that data on the cloud are readily accessible at anytime
and from anywhere in the world but there are sometimes when the system can crash due to one
reason or another
...
The cloud users might get to work one day and notice that they are not able to
access their information in the clouds which will cause a major delay in their day-to-day business
operation
...
Users are
dependent on a good internet connection which helps them log onto the server at all times and if
the internet connection is weak or non-existent, then the company will not be able to do anything
and they will be stuck as a result of network and connectivity difficulties (Viswanathan, 2015)
...

This is why most users always ask their cloud provider for a service level agreement (SLA)
which will assure them an “uptime in excess of 99
...
83 days of downtime
a year, or 3
...


Finally, high cost expense in the long run can be seen as a drawback to cloud computing
...
Cloud computing can be expensive especially
for big organizations who do not know their expected data usage
...
Most people that use cloud
computing save up in their first two years since a large capital investment is not needed for
license fees or hardware
...
This might not be true because most
providers require their users to commit to a predetermined contract independent of actual use
(Ward, 2015)
...


Moving to the clouds is an option that requires a lot of thinking and planning
...
Switching to the clouds has numerous
advantages like cutting capital expenditure and operating costs, easy accessibility, flexibility and
also having the right amount of storage space
...
Even with all these
cons, it shows that companies are still switching to cloud computing because it gives businesses

the opportunity to focus on their core business and rely on their cloud providers to deliver all the
essential computing power that is needed for their company to grow
...


References
AmazonWebServices
...
Types of cloud computing
...
Retrieved from
http://aws
...
com/types-of-cloud-computing/
Blaisdell, R
...
Cloud computing enables business scalability and flexibility
...
rickscloud
...
(July, 2012)
...
CloudTweaks
...
com/2012/07/4-primary-cloud-deployment-models/
Dix, J
...
Cloud computing causing rethinking of disaster recovery
...

Retrieved from
Eri, T
...
(2014)
...

Retrieved from http://whatiscloud
...
Cloud: 4 deployment models
...
sas
...
(2015)
...
interoute
...
(2013)
...
interoute
...
(February, 2015)
...
techsoup
...
(2013)
...

Retrieved from http://www
...
com/knowledge_center/whitepaper/understandingthecloud computing-stack-saas-paas-iaas
Rajaraman, V
...
Cloud computing
...
Doi:10
...
(2013)
...
Retrieved from
http://searchcloudcomputing
...
com/definition/platform-as-a-service-paas
Rouse, M
...
Hybrid cloud
...
techtarget
...
(2014)
...
Retrieved from
http://searchcloudcomputing
...
com/definition/virtual- -servers
Salesforce
...
PaaS: Platform as a service
...
Retrieved from
http://www
...
com/paas/overview/
Salesforce
...
What is cloud computing? Salesforce
...
salesforce
...
(March, 2015)
...
Retrieved from
http://cloudacademy
...
(November, 2013)
...
lib
...
edu/cgi/viewcontent
...
(2015)
...
about
...
htm
Ward, S
...
5 disadvantages of cloud computing
...
about
...
htm



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