Influence of Cloud Computing Technology-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Influence of Cloud computing technology in modern corporations. Answer: Introduction The use of cloud computing in businesses has grown substantially in past decade; it is referred as the activity of performing business functions such as storing, managing or processing data by using a network of remote servers that are hosted by a firm through the internet. Modern corporations use cloud computings online remote servers instead of using local servers or personal computer systems. The popularity of digitalisation and increase in use of internet allow organisations to use cloud computing for their business functions. The competition between corporations requires them to gain a competitive edge through using cloud computing technology. Modern companies use cloud computing due to its various benefits including reliability of software, reducing expenses, gaining a strategic edge, effective manageability, and improvement in usability. Although there are numerous advantages of clouding computing technology, there are few drawbacks as well, such as security problems, downtime, software issues and limited control. This report will evaluate various drawbacks and benefits of implementing cloud computing technology into a business to perform various activities. Further, the report will understand the perspective of modern organisations to understand the shortcomings and advantages of cloud computing technology. Project Objective The primary goal of the report is to understand the influence of cloud computing technology in modern corporations and ascertain its various disadvantages and benefits from reviewing multiple literatures. With the advancement of technology, the use of cloud computing in modern businesses has grown as well; the firms implement this technology to increase the efficiency of performing various business functions such as storing, accessing, managing and processing data. The secondary objective of the report is to examine the role and impact of cloud computing technology in modern businesses. Project Scope The scope of this report is wide which include researching modern corporations which use or provide the services of cloud computing. The report will understand the shortcoming and rewards of cloud computing from the examples of these companies. Various theories given by market experts on the topic will be discussed in the report as well Literature Review According to Armbrust et al. (2010), cloud computing is a model of information technology that has become between modern corporations in the past decade. The cloud computing technology includes the activities of implementing and using the network of remote server hosted through the internet in order to perform various business operations relating to storing, processing, managing and analysing companys data. Qian et al. (2009) stated that the cloud computing technology enables users to ubiquitously access their data through a shared pool of resources and services by using the internet; the technology eliminates the companys requirement of a high level of maintenance and management of data. The company uses cloud computing technology to avoid the traditional sources of data management such as local servers or personal computers. In other words, the technology of cloud computing allows the corporation to utilise the facilities of the cloud for performing computer or internet-based servi ces such as analytics, networking, storage of data and processing of information. Supriya (2012) mentioned that there are a number of corporations which provide cloud services to other companies such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, and Google Cloud Platform (Figure 3). These companies are known as Cloud Service Providers, and they charge their client as per their usage just like water or electric bill. Using the cloud service of third party organisation allows corporations to increase their focus on main business objectives rather than non-core functions. As per Buyya et al. (2009), instead of spending time and resources on managing the secondary functions such as building and maintaining computer infrastructure, the company can improve its core activities. Amazon Web Services is the largest cloud computing service provider in the world which provide on-demand cloud computing platforms to corporations, individuals, and governments. As per the research of IDC, the worldwide public cloud spending will reach up to $127 billion by 2018 (WHIR, 2014) . Google entered in the industry of cloud computing by establishing Google Cloud Platform, the main clients of the corporation include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Best Buy, HTC, Coca-Cola and SunGard Financial Systems (Bort, 2015). As per Chen et al. (2011), modern companies prefer to implement the strategy of cloud computing because it increases the efficiency of operations and enhances customer satisfaction. Through cloud computing, companies provide various services to its customers such as listening to music, watching movies, sending and receiving emails, editing documents, storing personal data, playing games and many others. Organisation from different sectors such as consumer goods, financials, technology and consumers services; mostly, the companies in technology industry uses cloud computing technology in order to improve their performance (Figure 2). Along with numerous benefits in using cloud computing technology, modern corporations also face various risks and challenges relati ng to the technology. Following are disadvantage and advantages of using cloud computing technology in modern businesses. Advantages of Cloud Computing Reduction in Operating Cost According to Chaisiri, Lee, and Niyato (2012), the main benefit of implementing cloud computing technology in a corporation to perform various business activities is reducing the operating expenses. Organisations focus on establishing strategies that assist in reducing their operating costs in order to gain a competitive advantage. The use of cloud computing in operations can allow companies to save various costs relating to managing and maintenance of data and servers. The cloud computing technology reduces in-house storage expenses and application requirements of a firm to zero. The companies did not have to establish on-premise processing or storage infrastructure which reduces the expenses relating to establishing and managing such database. Le et al. (2011) mentioned that the firms save expenses of various operations such as power, electricity, air conditioning, and management cost. The cloud computing service providers cover all the requirement of managing and maintenance of co mpanys data; the corporations are able to access their data and applications from all around the world as long as they had an internet connection. Yi, Kondo, and Andrzejak (2010) provided that the companies only have to pay for the amount of data which is used by them through cloud computing and it saves their investment in IT software and hardware. In recent years, the cloud computing services have become substantially cheaper which makes it an affordable option for companies to use. The amount saved by the corporation by using cloud computing can be spent on improving the quality of core activities of the business which result in improving the profitability and performance of the firm. For example, Pearson is a US based company which provide the service of education and learning to its clients. The company gained a competitive advantage by using cloud computing technology which increases the flexibility in their operations and allowed them to provide web-oriented products (IBM Voice, 2014). Reliability of Services The cloud computing service providers offer consistent and high-quality facilities to their clients; as compared to in-house IT infrastructure, the cloud computing is a more reliable method. Alhamad, Dillon, and Chang (2010) stated that the service providers perform all the activities relating to managing and maintenance of IT infrastructure of their clients; they also provide professional and expert advice which improves the efficiency of corporations. The hosting provider of a company performs all the necessary tasks relating to maintenance and management of the servers. The cloud computing service providers offer a Service Legal Agreement that includes the terms of their contract and the services provided by the provider. As per Khan and Mulluhi (2010), the agreement provides that service provider will give 24*7 and 365 days service which also include 99.99% availability. The service providers also might offer a creative and practical solution to its clients which include experts advice. The worldwide service providers such as Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, and Google are well-known companies, and people have trust in their services. These factors increase the reliability of cloud computing and make it a potential option for modern corporations. The reliability of service is necessary when companies are storing their sensitive data on the servers of another firm. Management of Cloud Computing The cloud computing technology assists in simplifying and enhancing the IT activities of a firm without the requirement of maintenance; the SLA backed contracts and vendors infrastructure establishes a central administration which performs all the practices relating to data management and processing. Beloglazov, Abawajy, and Buyya (2012) provided that the cloud computing technology eliminated the requirement of a firm to maintain and update their IT infrastructure because it is the job of the service provider. The technology allows corporations to seamlessly enjoy a web-based user interface which allow them to access and perform actions on application, service, and software without the requirement of installation or maintenance. The Service Legal Agreement signed by the firm guarantee the timely delivery of services, maintenance and supervision of IT infrastructure. All these factors assist companies in easy management their data which improves their manageability, and it also improv es the efficiency of operations. Recovery in Disaster Several natural and artificial disasters can cause significant damage to a corporations data; most of the companies are vulnerable towards natural disasters. In case of large businesses, they can afford to spend heavily on protecting themselves from the disasters by taken precautionary security measure but small, and median firms did have resources to protect themselves. Therefore, their data is always vulnerable to the risk of various disasters. Wood et al. (2010) stated that cloud computing technology can be beneficial for small and media corporations since it allow them to save their data on the online cloud which protects it from various natural disasters. The companies can easily recover their data even after their IT infrastructure is affected by the natural disaster. The cloud computing service providers offer the facility of data recovery which does not require heavy investment by the firm. Automatic Updates The IT infrastructure management by cloud computing service provider receive automatic software updates from the service provider; the corporations which use cloud computing technology did not have to worry about software updates. The service provider rolls out new security and interface updates that improve the usability of cloud computing services. It saves resources and time of the firm which uses cloud computing technology. Competitive Edge The role of internet is modern businesses is constantly growing, and the companies which effectively implement it into their system gains a competitive advantage over the others. As per Velte et al. (2010), the companies do not have to invest any time in maintenance of IT infrastructure if they use cloud computing technology. The companies can implement strategic policies into the organisational system which focuses on improvement of efficiency and productivity of the firm by using cloud computing technology. The time and resources saved by the enterprise in using cloud computing technology can be spent on core activities of the business which resulted in improved operations that provide a competitive edge to the firm. The time invested by a company in creating a new application, maintaining and setting new IT infrastructure is also reduced due to the implementation of cloud computing technology. Disadvantages of Cloud Computing Security Threats The primary risk of using cloud computing technology is the vulnerability of companys data against cyber-attack and data breaches. As per Zissis and Lekkas (2012), modern cloud computing service providers ensure that they implement industry standard high-quality security measure to protect the data of their client from breaches but still, cybercriminals find new ways to breach and collect the data of corporations. The cloud computing technology stores the data of users in multiples servers, and they are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The cloud computing technology requires that users upload their sensitive data on the servers of service providers, and then they can access it anywhere in the world through an internet connection; similarly, cybercriminals can also access the data of companies by breaching into the servers of cloud computing service providers. Subashini and Kavitha (2011) provided that if corporations maintain flexibility into their operation and allow its employees to access their online data easily, the nefarious users can use this opportunity to find loopholes in the security system to gain an unfair advantage. The number of cyber-attacks on corporations have grown in past years, and popularity of cloud computing is one of its reasons; the company which uses cloud computing makes it a potential target for cybercriminals (Figure 4). The cyber-attack on companys cloud can lead data of multiple individuals, and it can negatively influence a large number of people. For example, the data breach of Yahoos account leaked a significant amount of companys data which affected more than 3 billion people. Internet Dependency The corporation which uses cloud computing technology requires having an internet connection at all time in order to access or process their data. Bamiah and Brohi (2011) stated that the companies dependency on the internet increases if they use cloud computing strategy into their business. The corporations are required to have a stable and continuous internet connection into their workplace; several natural or other factors can cause network error in a company which makes it impossible for them to access their data. The corporation which has large amount of data requires a high-speed internet connection to ensure that they efficiently access their data. Large blackouts and adverse weather conditions can shut down the internet connection of a firm which also limits their access to the organisational data. Lack of Control The cloud service providers are third party companies which offer their services to multiple firms, individuals, and governments; therefore, a single company cannot control the function and activities of its service provider. According to So (2011), the corporation which uses cloud computing service did not have the ability to control the operation of IT infrastructure or backend. All the maintenance and update of IT infrastructure is done by cloud service provider which eliminates the control of companies over the management of their data. Many organisations did not prefer the lack of control over their data; therefore, they avoid using cloud computing technology. Downtime Cloud computing technology is completely online based which means no service provider can guarantee the claim of immunity for facility outages. Durkee (2010) stated that the cloud computer performance is entirely based on servers ability to handle the data and there are various factors which negatively affects the ability to servers to handle large traffic. One cloud service provider such as Amazon Web Services provides its facilities to multiple clients, and sometimes their servers can be overwhelmed with the amount of traffic which may temporarily suspend users access to their data. The downtime of servers can also cause due to natural disasters and internet issues which make it difficult for corporations to perform their daily tasks and access their data. Conclusion Conclusively, the use of cloud computing in modern business has grown substantially in past decade; the corporations use these services to perform various functions relating to business such as processing, storing, managing and analysing the data. The implementation of cloud computing technology in business provide numerous advantages to a corporation such as improvement in manageability, reduction in operating expenses, continuous and automatic updates, data recovery option and reliability of services. Although the cloud computing technology provides various benefits to users, it suffered from various risks as well. For example, risk of cyber-attacks, lack of control over operations, dependency on internet and downtime. However, cloud computing technology is the future and corporations will keep using it despite having to depend on the internet or cybersecurity threats. Therefore, companies should measure their cloud computing requirements and implement an effective strategy to gain a competitive advantage by sustaining their future development. References Adhikary, J., 2016. 4 Latest Cloud Computing Trends For Businesses. [Online] GlobusSoft. Available at: https://globussoft.com/4-latest-cloud-computing-trends-for-businesses/ [Accessed on 14/12/2017] Alhamad, M., Dillon, T. and Chang, E., 2010, September. Sla-based trust model for cloud computing. InNetwork-Based Information Systems (NBiS), 2010 13th International Conference on(pp. 321-324). Ieee. 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