Opportunity of cloud computing

for logistics
Michele Colajanni
Universit di Modena e Reggio Emilia
http://weblab.ing.unimo.it/people/colajanni/
http://cris.unimore.it

Logistics is movement and

communication
Movement of goods
Communication of information

Mobility is driving the most important changes (nearly one mobile

device per capita in the planet, global mobile data traffic will increase 26fold)

Internet-of-Things will drive the next revolution

(supply chains will enhance their speed and flexibility through new Internetbased technologies including RFID tagging, NFC protocols, mobile
applications, and advanced analytics)

Vision

Cloud
Services
Very few companies control, own or operate their entire supply chain
internally from end-to-end
An independent (cloud) platform may
represent a facilitator for Service Level Management
Requirements

Logistics as a Service: service engineering for cloud logistics

Logistics as a product: cloud marketplace for logistics services
Collaborative platform on a geographical scale
Dynamic supply chain

Security related to cloud

Companies have an absolute need to protect their products
and customers. Lost data can lead to lost intellectual property,
lost products, lost customers and lost business. So security
and availability are prime concerns
Availability is guaranteed because redundancy and disaster
recovery are embedded in the cloud system

Many customers are still afraid of cloud security, but

The present situation (1)

We want to access to our data and services anytime, anywhere,

anydevice
We want our data with us and for this reason we use:
laptops
smartphones
tablets
USB pens

60% of company data are (also) on PC, laptop, tablet,

smartphone, with increasing percentage of mobile devices with
respect to PCs

The present situation (2)

10% of mobile devices are lost within 12 months
60% of pen-drives contain company data
66% of pen-drives is lost forever
43% of mobile subscribers experience phone damage, loss, or theft
At LAX airport, 400+ lost smartphones are found each month
A whopping 87% of those who lost phones had to manually re-enter their
data, and 31% lost data stored nowhere else
Each unrecovered PDA or business smartphone costs the employer at least
$2,500

In order to access to our data and services

anytime, anywhere, anydevice
the laptop/smartphone/USBdrive model
does not work

Is the cloud model the right alternative?

Cloud paradigm

Portatili
INTERNET

Cloud benefits for logistics

Cloud-based platforms are inherently collaborative and accessible,
creating major benefits for companies that deal routinely with thousands of
suppliers
Cloud-based collaboration allows multiple parties to jointly develop supplier
contracts, dramatically enhancing contract management
Cloud computing offers a collaborative framework with centralized storage and
contact points, fewer visibility barriers, and the opportunity to enact simplified,
standardized processes.

Dynamic supply chain: cloud-based platforms are inherently elastic,

making it possible to scale up with minimal waste of time and capital
ability to switch applications entirely without a lot of added cost or complexity
ability to enter new markets or launch new services quickly

Possible services related to

cloud
Cloud computing applications for functions such as:

network strategy
inventory management
warehousing
transportation

Next cloud computing applications for processes such as:

global trade compliance

replenishment planning
order processing
transportation load building
fleet management
transportation route planning

Security in the cloud: It is

both the #1 opportunity and
the #1 concern
Most (87%) believe cloud will not impact or will
actually improve their security posture
Yet, they rate security as their #1 concern. Top threats:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Mass malware outbreak at your cloud provider

Hacker-based data theft from your cloud provider
Sharing sensitive data insecurely via the cloud
Rogue use of cloud leading to a data breach
Data spillage in a multi-hosted environment

[Symantec report, 2011]

Q&A
Would you put your
data in a cloud?

Never

Would you put your

money in a bank?

Do I have an alternative?

What?

Learned lesson: answers depend on the epoch

Secure cloud storage:

solutions exist

The solution is
encryption

A Cloud provider MUST have a

strong committment on security
Analysis of employees (past records and way of conduct, including strong
logging)
Security team: 100+ experts
Integrated security
Physical (24/7, electronic and biometric accesses, CCTV, multiple generators)
Continuous monitoring of threats and vulnerabilities
Security embedded in the lifecycle software development
Auditing and assessment
Incident Response Teams

Certifications: Safe Harbor, PCI, SAS70, FISMA,

Is security in your data center adequate to your expectation?

Mature industry
Complexity must be masked
Separation between product and security is a demonstration that
the computer industry is still immature
Can you imagine a scenario similar to what happens in IT in any
other industry?

Car dealer: Hey, before arriving at home, remember to buy brakes

for your new car
Security is embedded in any mature industry:
We expect breaks in the cars, a house with the door, a door with its lock, a safe
electric tool, a gun that does not explode, potable water from the faucet
and we sue companies that do not satisfy our expectations

What users expect

Modern users are platform-free:
They do not know what operating system Google (or Facebook or
Skype) use
They do not know the venues of Internet data centers
They do not know where their data are and what providers do with their
data

And they dont care

All provided services must come with dependability,
usability, scalable performance, and security

Security by design
Security will not disappear, but it will be managed by the
providers and not by the users and companies anymore
In the future every (interesting) IT application will be
characterized by trust and reputation

Amazon, Apple, and Google will do it for your services and your
data as Mercedes and Ferrari guarantee for your cars

Security challenges

Do you trust in all producers of the software installed on your

PC?

Customer inability to respond to auditing

Obtaining support for forensics and investigations
Indirect administrator accountability
Users will trust cloud providers to manage their
data and services like they learned to trust banks
with their money

More psycological issues

Applications of cloud providers cannot be examined by the

customers
Loss of physical control
Trusting vendors security model, but everything is a
matter of trust:

Conclusions
The rise of the cloud is more than just another platform shift that gets
geeks excited. It will undoubtedly transform the IT industry, but it will
also profoundly change the way people work and companies
operate
[The Economist, 2011]
Supply chains migration to cloud: not if, but when
While it will take time for supply chains to transition to cloud computing,
we believe the operational benefits and potential savings from
clouds are too great to ignore
 If your organization has not yet started its journey to the cloud, now
its the time to start