CloudComputingandtheChangingLandscapeofeBusiness

Cloudcomputinginvolvestheprovisionofcomputer,component,oranetworkofvirtualresourcesonline.In essence,itisInternetbasedcomputing,wherebysharedresources,softwareandinformationareprovidedonline tocomputersandotherdevicesondemand,likeapublicutilityovertheInternet. 1 Itisageneraltermforanything thatinvolvesdeliveringhostedservicesovertheInternetanddescribesanewconceptforITservices.Aparadigm frommainframetoclientserverthatprecededitintheearly'80s,itisabyproductandconsequenceoftheease ofaccesstoremotecomputingsitesprovidedbytheInternet. 2 ThetermcloudisusedasametaphorfortheInternet,basedontheearliermodelsusedtodepictthetelephone network,anditsrelationshipwiththeInternetincomputernetworkdiagrams. 3Cloudsoftenappearassingle pointsofaccessforallconsumers'computingneedsandgenerallyhavefiveessentialcharacteristics:ondemand selfservice,broadnetworkaccess,resourcepooling,rapidelasticity,andmeasuredservice. 4 Typicalcloud computingprovidersdelivercommonbusinessapplicationsonlinewhichareaccessedfromawebbrowser,while thesoftwareanddataarestoredonservers.

CloudcomputinglogicaldiagramAdaptedfromSamJohnston(2009)usingOmniGraffleandInkscape Experientially,theconceptanddefinitionofcloudcomputinganditsinfrastructurecurrentlyconsistsofreliable servicesdeliveredthroughdatacentersthatarebuiltoncomputerandstoragevirtualizationtechnologies.These servicesareaccessibleanywhereintheworld,withthecloudappearingasasinglepointofaccessforallthe computingneedsofconsumers.Sincecloudscrossmanycountriesborders,itmaysoonbecometheultimateform ofglobalisation.5 Assuchitisthesubjectofcomplexgeopoliticalissues,wherebyprovidersmustsatisfymanylegal restrictionsinordertodeliverservicetoaglobalmarket.Cloudcomputingisbeingdrivenbyproviderssuchas Google,AmazonandYahooaswellastraditionalvendorsincludingIBM,Intel,MicrosoftandSAP. 6

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http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=707508 "CloudComputing:Clashoftheclouds".TheEconomist.20091015. 3 TheInternetCloudhttp://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,5466,00.html 4 CloudComputingDefinition,NationalInsituteofStandardsandTechnology,Version15 5 KrishnanSubramanian(2009)RecessionIsGoodForCloudComputingMicrosoftAgrees http://www.cloudave.com/link/recessionisgoodforcloudcomputingmicrosoftagrees

Frank Dzubeck (2005) Five cloud computing questions (2005) http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2008/080508-dzubeck.html

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CloudComputingandtheChangingLandscapeofeBusiness

Commercialofferingsneedtomeetthequalityofservicerequirementsofcustomersandtypicallyofferservice levelagreementswhennecessarywithopenstandardssourcesoftwarebeingcriticaltothegrowthofcloud computing. 7 Ascustomersgenerallydonotowntheinfrastructureorknowalldetailsaboutcloudcomputing,theymostoften consumetheresourcesasaservice.Manycloudcomputingprovidershaveadoptedtheutilitycomputingmodel whichisanalogoustohowtraditionalpublicutilitieslikeelectricityareconsumed,whileothersarebilledona subscriptionbasis.Bysharingconsumableand"intangible"computingpowerbetweenmultipletenants,utilization ratescanbeimproved(asserversarenotleftidle).Thisreducescostssignificantlywhileincreasingthespeedof applicationdevelopment. Today,cloudcomputingisenablingITprofessionalstorethinktheentirepackaging,delivery,andoperationofe business.Theconceptofebusinessisasimpleone.Electronicbusiness,commonlyreferredtoas"eBusiness"or "ebusiness",istheapplicationofinformationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICT)insupportofalltheactivities ofbusiness.ElectroniccommercethereforefocusesontheuseofICTtoenabletheexternalactivitiesand relationshipsofthebusinesswithindividuals,groupsandotherbusinesses.8 Cloudcomputingishelpingbusinessesadvancetheirebusinessmodels.Thischangingrelationshipbetweencloud computingandebusinesswillresultinapositiveshiftinitsdelivery.Cloudcomputingcomesintofocusonlywhen anorganizationthinksaboutwhatebusinessalwaysneeds:awaytoincreasecapacityoraddcapabilitieswithout increasingcost,thatis,investinginnewinfrastructure,trainingnewpersonnel,orlicensingnewsoftware.Since cloudcomputingdealswithsharingresourcesonline,itbecomeseasiertomarket,andshareresourceswithinthe changingglobalmarket.Thissavesalotofcommutingcosts,collateralmaterialcosts(letterheaded,papersand envelopes)andpresentstheaddedopportunityofonlinewebhostingandemeetings. CloudComputinghoweverisnotwithoutitsissues.Itposestheproblemofsecuringsensitiveandpersonaldata inthewildontheinternet.Asphysicaldatawillbestoredoffpremises,companieswillneedtotakestepsto ensuredatasecuritybyinquiringaboutsomeofthesecuritypoliciesemployedbytheCloudprovider.Regulatory compliance,useraccesscontrolpoliciesandprocedures,businesscontinuity/disasterrecoveryandchange managementareallimportantfactorsaclientshouldconsiderwhenmigratingtotheservicesofferedbyaCloud provider. Asitiswithelectronicadvancementsuchascloudcomputingandebusiness,thereareadditionalsecurity concerns.Althoughcontrollable,certainpertinentissuessuchasidentitytheft,onlinefraud,creditcardcloning andotheronlinescamshaveledtoaneedforgreatersecurity.Consequently,ITsecurity,throughcloudcomputing isneededtoenhancetheebusinessrequirementforsafeworkingoperations.Assuch,securitycompliance becomesindispensable.Proactivestrategiesneedtobeputinplacetopreventinformationfrombeinghijacked fromwithintheCloud,andmeasuresalsoneedtobetakenbytheprovidersofCloudComputingtoensurethat anychangesandmodificationstheymaketothesoftwaredoesnotcompromisethesecurityoftheirclients. Thisinformationsecurityapproachthereforebecomesawatchdogforthecloudcomputingandebusiness processandmakessureallnecessarysecurityprotocolsaremetandupheld.SinceInformationsecurityhelps bridgethegapbetweenbothprocesses,itinadvertentlycheckmatesthenegativeimplicationsofusingcloud computingtoenhancetheebusinessprocess.

7 LuisM.Vaqueroetal(2008)Abreakintheclouds:towardsaclouddefinition.Vol.39,Issue1Pg:5055.Jan.
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BeynonDaviesP.(2004).EBusiness.Palgrave,Basingstoke.
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CloudComputingandtheChangingLandscapeofeBusiness

ThefutureseemspromisingfortheCloudComputingplatform.WCShastheexperienceandcapacitytoeffectively manageandimplementcloudcomputingprocessesandhasdonesointhepast.WCSaimstobethefinal definitivesolutionforbusinesseswhichrelyonandrequireamoresecurecloudasameanstoeffectivelyand efficientlyconductebusiness.AsafercloudmeanssaferebusinesspracticesandWCSisaresourcetoachieve thisgoal. WCSContactDetails SalesandMarketingDepartments 11002VeirsMillRoad Suite755 Wheaton,MD,20902 Telephone: 3019423711Extension702 Fax: 3015606514 Email: sales@consultwcs.com