Significance of Cloud Computing In Business-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Advantages as well as disadvantages of Cloud computing for Business. Answer: Introduction The paper mainly reflects on the advantages as well as disadvantages of cloud computing for business. The main of the paper is to reflect the significance of cloud computing in business organizations. According to Avram (2014), cloud computing is defined as a type of computing that mainly relies on sharing various resources of computing rather than having personal devices or local servers for handling different type of applications. It is identified that cloud computing helps in offering number of benefits to the business organization which include enhancing scalability, business continuity, collaboration efficiency as well as flexibility of work practices (Oliveira, Thomas and Espadanal 2014). However, it is found that the utilization of cloud computing also creates number of challenges for the business that include downtime, privacy and security, vulnerability, flexibility and platform dependencies. In this assignment, numbers of journal articles are reviewed in order to identify the advantages as well as disadvantages of cloud computing for business. The paper also provides number of strategies that are helpful in resolving the challenges that the business face by moving to cloud. Project objective The main objectives of the project are as follows: To identify the advantages of cloud computing for business organizations To identify the disadvantages of cloud computing for business To illustrate methods as well as strategies that are helpful in mitigating the challenges of cloud computing within business organizations Project scope The project scope illustrates that number of journal articles are reviewed for elaborating the advantages as well as disadvantages of cloud computing for business. The paper also helps in reflecting the significances of cloud computing in benefitting organizations by reducing cost and for allowing the business organization to concentrate properly on their business rather focusing on infrastructure as well as IT related issues. Literature Review Advantages of Cloud computing for business According to Khanagha, Volberda and Oshri (2014), business organization of all sizes is generally shifting their data as well as application to cloud computing environment for taking advantages of the benefits that are offered by cloud computing. It is identified that cloud computing helps in offering number of benefits to the business organizations. It helps in providing proper flexibility of connecting the business irrespective of time and place. The benefits that are provided to the business are as follows: Reducing IT costs: It is stated by Gai and Steenkamp (2014), that the use of cloud computing within business organization helps in reducing the cost of maintaining as well as managing the IT system. It is identified that the business organization does not have to buy expensive system as well as equipment for the business rather they can minimize the cost by utilizing the resources that are provided with the help of cloud computing service provider. It is opined by Sultan (2014) that the operating cost of the business reduces because the cost that is related with system upgrades, new hardware and software are generally incorporated within the contract. In addition to this, the organizations do not have to pay wages to the expert staff and the cost related with energy consumption reduces. The environment of cloud computing also helps in enabling the business to scale their storage as well as compute needs that is helpful in keeping the cost low. Scalability: The business organizations can easily scale down their different operations as well as storage requirements in order to suit with the situation by allowing appropriate flexibility, as changes are required (Chou 2015). The business organizations do not have to purchase as well as install various types of expensive upgrades as cloud computing service provider is helpful in handling the operation easily. It is identified that moving the business to cloud helps in freeing time that can be utilized for running the business. Business Continuity: According to Rittinghouse and Ransome (2016), the most significant part of business continuity plan is to provide proper protection to the data as well as system. Moving the business to cloud is found to be advantageous for the businesses organizations as they can easily back up their data as well as information even if the business experiences natural disaster or power failure (Hashem et al. 2015). This is because the data as well as information of the business organization are securely stored within the cloud, which can be blackened at any time whenever required. It is identified that being able to access the data quickly helps in allowing the business to conduct with the operation of the organization as usual by reducing or mitigating any type of downtime or productivity loss. Collaboration efficiency: It is identified by Tsohou, Lee and Irani (2014) that collaboration in business organization by utilizing cloud environment helps the business in providing the ability to share as well as communicate more easily outside various types of traditional methods. It is identified that if a project manager is working on different location other than the project location then by utilizing cloud, the project manager can access information about the progress of the project. The use of cloud computing also provides the opportunity to select appropriate model for sharing the records to the advisors. The model is mainly selected for making the process of file sharing easier. Flexibility: Cloud computing allows the employees to become quite flexible in different work practices. The employees can easily access data from home with the help of commute. In addition to this, the employees can also access data while they are off site as the virtual office can be connected quite easily as well as quickly. Access to automatic updates: According to Rai, Sahoo and Mehfuz (2013), the cloud computing service provider helps in allowing employees to access automatic updates as it is included within the service fee. It is identified that based on the cloud computing service provider, the system will utilize the facility of automatic update for updating the system with various types of latest technology. These generally include various types of up-to date versions of software for upgrading servers as well as computing processing powers. Portability: Cloud computing within the business organization helps in offering appropriate benefit of portable applications (Goyal 2014). It is identified that business applications as well as data are generally moved from various infrastructure of computing to the cloud without any facing difficulty by providing proper business flexibility for managing both data as well as applications. Manageability: It is opined by Chou (2015), Cloud computing helps in providing enhanced as well as simplified IT management and capabilities of maintenance through central administration of resources, SLA backed agreements as well as vendor managed infrastructure. It is identified that It infrastructure related updates as well as maintenance are generally eliminated as various types of resources are generally maintained with the help of service provider. The business can utilize simple interface that is web based for accessing application, software as well as services without appropriate need of installation (Chang, Walters and Wills 2013). SLA helps in ensuring timely as well as guaranteed management, maintenance as well as delivery of various IT services. Disadvantages of cloud computing for Business It is identified that despite of the advantages of cloud computing, there are number of disadvantages that the organization faces due to their move towards business organization. The disadvantages include: Downtime: It is considered as one of the worst disadvantage of cloud computing. It is identified that cloud computing systems are mainly internet based which means that the entire access of the system is dependent on the connection of internet. If the internet service is not proper and it suffers from various types of frequent outrages then the cloud, computing is not suitable for the business organization. It is stated by Ali, Khan and Vasilakos (2015) that the most reliable service providers of cloud computing also suffer due to improper connection of internet. It is very much important to reduce the impact as well as amount of this type of occurrences for ensuring appropriate level of service availability for both the customers as well as staff. Security Issues: According to Stieninger and Nedbal (2014), any discussion that involves data should address proper privacy as well as security especially when the most important task is to manage sensitive data. It is identified that cloud servers are always expected to safeguard as well as manage data that underlies the hardware infrastructure of deployment but remote access responsibility is very dependent on the users and thus it is analyzed that no system is secure. If proper information as well as data related with the business organization are hacked or accessed then it, will bring a great disaster for the business organization. Inflexibility: It is opined by Demirkan and Delen (2013) that cloud users mainly have limited control over the function as well as execution over the infrastructure of hosting. Both cloud providers as well as management related policies create limits on the operation of the customers in context to deployment. It is identified that customers have very much limited control over the management of data, services as well as application. Customer support: According to Almorsy, Grundy and Muller (2016), in the early years of cloud computing utilization, the users faced constantly about the poor customer service. However, most of the vendors have made some strides in improving various types of technical support over the past year but it is identified that appropriate customer service is very much expensive. In order to provide proper customer support, the cloud service vendor must have appropriate number of option available for technical supports that include knowledge bases, email, user forums and more. Limited control: It is stated by Yeboah and Essandoh (2014) that cloud service providers mainly helps in managing as well as monitoring the cloud infrastructure. It is identified that the users have very much little control over it. The user have the ability of managing applications, data as well as services that are generally operated with the help of cloud but they cannot be able to access the various keys of administrative asks including update as well as manage firmware or accessing different server shell. In order to mitigate this type off risk, it is quite important to carry out proper risk assessment before handing over the entire control of the business to the service provider. Methods for mitigating the challenges of cloud computing in business It is identified that the business organizations faces number of cloud computing risks that must be mitigated properly so that the business does not face any loss. The methods that are helpful in mitigating the challenges of cloud computing within business are as follows: Implementation of end-to-end encryption: It is stated by Stieninger and Nedbal (2014) that end-to-end encryption for cloud storage helps in decreasing the likelihood of the data that is being breached. It is identified that most of the cloud solutions have encrypted downloads as well as uploads but it does not store encrypted data. It is identified that the method with very much least amount of risk generally need the data encryption prior to upload. Updating software regularly: The business organizations must not forget to update the in-house software. If they were running outdated software then the organization would be at risk despite of party audits as well as encryption. Utilizing single sign solution for adding security: According to Demirkan and Delen (2013), it is identified that depending upon the size of the business organization, different type of user accounts are generally created for various cloud servers. It is analyzed that single users have different account with various passwords and as a result, the entire operation become much more complex for both the administrator as well as user. It is identified that by utilizing single sign on environment method is quite useful in resolving this problem. It also helps in reducing the number of various types of potential security weakness. Polices as well as procedure for handling IP:It is identified that not all locations are ideally suited for the cloud computing applications. It is very much important to ensure that various policies help in outlining sensitive information for handling data in context to cloud. It is opined by Goyal (2014) that the business organization must identify various types of top categories of data for developing data loss prevention that is dependent on various types of detection rules for protecting data as well as information Conclusion It can be concluded that the utilization of cloud computing within business organization is helpful in providing number of benefits that include enhancing scalability, business continuity, collaboration efficiency as well as flexibility of work practices. However, the business organization also faces number of disadvantages by moving to cloud. It is identified that cloud computing is dependent on internet connection and the internet service is not proper and it suffers from various types of frequent outrages then the cloud is not suitable for the business organization. In addition to this, if proper information as well as data related with the business organization are hacked or accessed then it, will bring a great disaster for the business organization. Therefore, it is quite important to mitigate the issues as well as challenges faced by business. It is found that there are number of strategies that are helpful bi mitigating the issues. The strategies include implementation of end- to-end encryption, utilizing single sign solution for adding security as well as handling the IP with the help of appropriate policies and procedures References Ali, M., Khan, S.U. and Vasilakos, A.V., 2015. Security in cloud computing: Opportunities and challenges.Information Sciences,305, pp.357-383. Almorsy, M., Grundy, J. and Mller, I., 2016. An analysis of the cloud computing security problem.arXiv preprint arXiv:1609.01107. Avram, M.G., 2014. Advantages and challenges of adopting cloud computing from an enterprise perspective.Procedia Technology,12, pp.529-534. 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