White Paper: Cloud Computing

White Paper: Cloud Computing

Introduction

Cloud computing has emerged as a disruptive technology, which critical implications on corporate information systems. Its immense transformative potential has seen it become a subject of discussion between scholars and industry players since its emergence around 2007. Theoretical and practical publications have labeled the technology as a revolutionary invention in the area of computing, which is ushering in a new paradigm. Due to its young age, however, various players have come up with diverse definitions of the technology. While it is difficult to make full sense of the different publications and discussions, stakeholders tend to converge on the agreement that cloud computing will be having a revolutionary impact on not only the area of computing alone, but also on all sectors by creating unprecedented networks and connections.

History

It was not until 2007 that cloud computing started gaining prominence. Everything about the technology from its name has a historical underpinning. Being an emerging and recent technology, cloud computing is indeed complex and difficult to understand by non-specialized individuals (Kratzke, 2018). As a result, specialists in the area have simply adopted the word cloud as an abstraction, which represents the underlying infrastructure in the technology (Venters & Whitley, 2012). Since it involves various sets of technological infrastructure, the taxonomies of cloud computing have been evolving with time. Nonetheless, the technology incorporates mainly computing and networking (Venters & Whitley, 2012). The technology comes at the wake of an increased awareness on the importance and value of data in social, economic, and political development.

Recently, access to data has become a goldmine to players in both the public and private sector. Consequently, both sectors are investing immense resource to tap its potential. Everyone appears focused on extracting “pertinent knowledge from large-scale, complex, and unstructured data” popularly known as Big Data (Moura & Hutchison, 2016, p.3). Consequently, governments and the corporate world are investing significantly on it. However, since the discovery of the value of Big Data, it has been difficult to extract pertinent knowledge cheaply and efficiently. As such, cloud computing comes in handy since it offers internet and infrastructural solutions for the utilization of Big Data with its support in terms of storage, security, and access.

Therefore, the development and evolution of cloud computing is a direct response to overwhelming popularity of Big Data. Cloud computing is offering the necessary support required to tap the transformative and revolutionary potential of Big Data (Moura & Hutchison, 2016). During this age of information, mining, storage, and analysis of data is critical in informing critical decisions in the world of business, politics, and every other sector. Cloud computing appears to be the much-needed technological solution in this area considering, for instance, Moura and Hutchison (2016) defined it as “computing services that are provided within (parallel and distributed computer system consisting of a unified collection of inter-connected and virtualized computers accessed on demand by customers” (4-5).

Figure 1: CCT as a support for Big Data  

Current Use

Cloud computing is a more efficient way of utilization of Big Data. Nowadays, every sector is depending on data analysis when making critical decisions. As such, cloud system developers appear to be having a common goal: offering commodity services (Venters & Whitley, 2012). Cloud computing services integrate virtual systems in an elastic, scalable, and pragmatic manner. While the standards are not the same, the approach is similar since the objective is to integrate information systems through software and hardware infrastructure in a manner that will allow the user to access and store data. The few service providers, which appear to adhere to some standards focus on virtual machines, storage and VPN.

However, due to the rapid evolution characterizing the development of cloud computing technology, Kratzke (2018) observes that CC category services are emerging faster than standardization authorities can cope with. Nonetheless, despite the lack of standardization all cloud computing services converge as the delivery of services over the internet through datacenters. Currently, Cloud computing services have been categorized as private or public. Private Cloud is an internal datacenter, which is inaccessible to the public, while the Public Cloud is accessible to the general public (Fox et al., 2009). Accessibility notwithstanding, both the Public and Private Clouds use the same analogy and approach.

In a word, cloud computing has shifted the paradigms of Information and Communication Technology. Unlike in the past where corporates and individuals were required to have huge and costly physical databases to store information, cloud computing has brought efficiency in this age of Big Data (Moura & Hutchison, 2016). With the technology, cloud computing service providers maintain and control information and data in their physical and virtual servers at a fee for consumers. Using an internet connection, the customer can access the information, where, and how he or she likes to a hardware device such as a PC (Fox et al., 2009). Thus, cloud computing is the entails the storage and access of data through an interoperable system of hardware, software, and the internet (Kratzke, 2018).

Figure 2: How CCT works

Detailed Example

Almost every sector, industry, and individuals are adopting the use of cloud computing. The technology supports the invaluable access and interpretation of Big Data, which offers pertinent knowledge crucial for decision-making. Fox et al. (2009) describe it as a dream-come-true in computing utility. It appears to be a response to the emergent popularity of Big Data, where it is offering support. As such, even small businesses are utilizing the opportunities presented by cloud computing technology. For instance, Attaran and Woods (2019) have observed with the technology, it has become possible for business to leverage on the power of the internet. It has created an efficient, secure, and affordable platform where small businesses are creating networks with significant financial and operational gains.

Recent reports have lauded the technology as the most promising and anticipated over the past few years. Instead of relying on cumbersome, costly, and insecure hardware for data storage, CCT has proved to be flexible, safe, efficient, and affordable (Attaran & Woods, 2019). Due to its centralized nature, the technology is facilitating the communication between different stakeholders between the business environments (Khan, 2019). The interoperable nature of the technology makes it possible to link customers, suppliers, and advertisers among other players in the value chain (Khan, 2019). Thus, cloud computing is providing a database where businesses and other stakeholders can access diverse information, which offers pertinent knowledge helping in prudent decision making.

Figure 3: How Cloud Computer Interlinks Stakeholders in Small Businesses

References

Attaran, M., & Woods, J. (2019). Cloud computing technology: improving small business performance using the Internet. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 31(6), 495-519.

Fox, A., Griffith, R., Joseph, A., Katz, R., Konwinski, A., Lee, G., … & Stoica, I. (2009). Above the clouds: A berkeley view of cloud computing. Dept. Electrical Eng. and Comput. Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Rep. UCB/EECS, 28(13), 2009.

Khan, S. (2019). Cloud Computing Paradigm: A realistic option for Business Organizations-A Study. Journal of Multi Disciplinary Engineering Technologies, 12(2), 85-97.

Kratzke, N. (2018). A brief history of cloud application architectures. Applied Sciences, 8(8), 1368.

Moura, J., & Hutchison, D. (2016). Review and analysis of networking challenges in cloud computing. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 60, 113-129.

Venters, W., & Whitley, E. A. (2012). A critical review of cloud computing: researching desires and realities. Journal of Information Technology, 27(3), 179-197.