CLOUD COMPUTING

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 2
BENIFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING ....................................................................................................... 3
DRAWBACKS OF CLOUD COMPUTING ............................................................................................... 5
VARIOUS ASPECTS OF CLOUD COMPUTING ..................................................................................... 7
DIFFERENT FORMS OF CLOUD COMPUTING ..................................................................................... 8
APPLICATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING IN DIFFERENT SECTORS............................................... 10
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 11
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 12

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INTRODUCTION
Cloud computing is the newest hot cake of the IT industry. From time to time a new

groundbreaking technology comes and changes the landscape of the whole industry and right

now cloud computing has that crown. Every big IT firms are hiring cloud certified professionals

to claim their big piece of the apple. It uses different methods by utilizing all internet methods

where large amount of data stored in data and treating them as single cluster. Cloud computing

enables users to access their data from any location independent of the device they are using.

Cloud computing is innovating the way we access our data and more importantly from where we

are accessing it, it offers never before seen mobility to its users. It has enabled businesses to

diminish the physical barrier of daily operations. It also enables its users for better teams work

and increased communication irrespective of borders. The main component of cloud computing

is that the device of access should always have an active internet connection. Cloud computing

has three main aspects or modules which are software as service, infrastructure as service and

platform as service. The term cloud computing has been derived from the symbol of cloud and is

often represented by data diagrams and charts. It is defined as an application as well as platform

based. Cloud computing gained popularity after big IT giants like Amazon adopted it as a viable

business application. Cloud computing has targeted the two biggest issues that modern day tech

giants face, firstly companies generate a huge amount of data which needs to be stored and

accessed properly to boost productivity and secondly the companies have a large workforce

spread over significantly large area and they need to find tools and methods to seamlessly access

their data across all geographic locations. Thirdly cloud computing helps business’s upgrade

their operation process by linking their existing framework with an updated one. Lastly it helps

startups reduce costs during their early days and saving funds which can help them in the long

term. In this essay we are considering a cloud computing company Bright Interactive which is

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headquartered in East Sussex and provides cloud based services and we will discuss how they

are impacting the technological ecosystem of UK.

BENIFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

There are a lot of features and benefits of incorporating cloud computing in daily operations.

Cloud computing offers cost cutting by lowering server charges. As most of the service is

internet based it enables the users to refrain from installing heavy software’s which would in turn

require powerful PC with a lot of computing power. Small businesses gain the most from this as

a part of their budget is reduced due to non-usage of powerful pc’s and most of the services are

free and can avoid non compatibility issues. In most of the cases a simple portal is enough to

access the data across all ecosystems of data. It offers users the option to skip backing up of data

as the internet based service automatically backs up all the data and in case of hardware

malfunction there is no loss of data.

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Cloud computing offers a increased degree of work sharing as a file can be shared by a team

simultaneously irrespective of hardware and physical limitations. Multiple team members can

access and edit a single piece of data in real time. Cloud computing also offers its users to use

simple daily life devices like smart phones and tablets as it doesn’t require any heavy software’s.

Cloud computing also offers a large amount of security as most of the data is kept online it is

constantly under the threat of attacks from cyber criminals. Study shows that the main source of

data theft is done by company’s own employees so it is a good option to move data from on site

to cloud where all of the data usage can be tracked. Recent survey showed that more than 90

percent business’s observed decrease in data loss. Cloud computing encrypts data in a unique

way which can’t be replicated and hence offers higher degree of security.

Cloud computing provides easy ways to control and check the quality of data and discard

unwanted data without the need for heavy quality control data. Simultaneous access of data

different users at the same time offers much more data consistency as abnormalities can be easily

spotted and removed.

Cloud computing protects businesses from disastrously losing data due to hardware malfunction

as most of the data stored by in cloud is available on the internet and does not depend on any

particular set of hardware’s. Bright Interactive also offer tools to effectively recover data which

are very cheap and easy to use compared to conventional data recovery software’s which are not

only expensive but requires certified experts to operate them properly.

Normal software’s often get updates and without them the functionality of the software struggles.

This updates are often large in size and can be really cumbersome to install. Cloud computing on

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the other hand offers online updates which are small in size and doesn’t require to be

downloaded in order to install hence offer an increased degree of comfort ability to the user.

Cloud computing offers a increased advantage over their rivals as data can be accessed at any

time anywhere it hugely decreases the policy implementation time and decision making time

which is not possible for other businesses which have not incorporated cloud computing in their

business operations.

Cloud computing helps in increasing sustainability by offer internet based services and reducing

carbon footprint. Study shows that less use of hardware and paper products helps in reducing

energy usage.

DRAWBACKS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Bright Interactive deal with a lot of customers in a daily basis and often have to face technical

difficulties in the form of outages. This could eventually lead to prevention of access of data for

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its customers. The data will go offline and the businesses will not be able to access their data

which could hamper their productivity and daily operations.

Cloud computing offers an increased degree of security as encryption but it is not possible to

provide complete security of data as whole of the data is hosted on the internet which exposes

them to the risk of attack from cyber criminals who have expertise in the world of hacking.

Cloud based service provides have to be attentive all the time and should always act actively

during a cyber-attack is happening to prevent any data theft from the customers database. It

should also be equipped with latest tools to identify and eliminate any security flaws that could

lead to data theft. In the recent times Cloud based service provides have access to variety of

surveillance tools which is able to predict flaws in security and prevent cyber-attacks before they

are attempted (Mobile lawyering: how to work from anywhere with full access to your practice

information, and, 2013).

Bright Interactive offer a higher degree of flexibility but it also comes with some limitations. The

flexibility modules have not evolved completely and has some flaws and limitations when

compared to the on-site data servers. For example when the data of a business is shifted from one

platform to another it shows some accessing issues which could render the data inoperable.

Applications that are developed based on java will not work properly on dot net platforms.

Applications and infrastructure are owned particularly by the individual cloud based service

provider and offers very limited control over the functionality of data to its customers.

Customers has only rights to control and manage their data but does not offer any backend

support whatsoever. Key infrastructure access like access of shell value, access to firmware

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details are not offered to the customer (Mobile lawyering: how to work from anywhere with full

access to your practice information, and, 2013).

Customer service is another issue that has plagued the cloud computing landscape since its early

days. A very limited number of companies crater to a large number of user base and users often

face delayed response from the Bright Interactive. A business which needs quick response from

the customer service team to maintain its productivity can suffer the most and lead to loss in

revenue. The only option for this kind of businesses is to pay a premium fee or extra price to

access the customer service team in a quick manner.

Bright Interactive always have a fear of bankruptcy. As the vendor recovered the data it can

lockdown the platform and refuse its owner to access the data. This risk is maximum when a

cloud based service provider is given stock options in a company and the provider is given

unmatched access to the businesses data. To prevent this a lot of rules are implemented this days

to discourage this kind of behavior (Mobile lawyering: how to work from anywhere with full

access to your practice information, and, 2013).

VARIOUS ASPECTS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud computing depends on dynamic module computing. The basic traits of dynamic

computation lies in its ability to scale, secure and standardize massive clusters of data in real

time without any loss in quality. The data levels available should be redundant in nature and

must ensure good data concentration and high levels of availability and should also be able to

scale up if user requires to. The whole setup need to provide a virtual result and should not alter

the architectural values and modules (Rountree and Castrillo, 2014).

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Cloud computing allows its users to efficiently use their software and hardware ecosystem to

their full extent. The cloud has enables to launch web 2.0 applications responsibly and also

empowers business to scale up at an exponential manner. The cloud can be based on traditional

platforms like Apache, Linux Java and other queue based platforms. Massive number of

hardware resources can be clustered together and programmed to run new tools and applications

very quickly (Rountree and Castrillo, 2014). Organizations can access their data online almost

instantaneously and virtual data beds can be made available although the data transfer is not

complete. A lot of companies are using cloud based computing for research and development as

they get a bird eye view of the data which leads to new avenues for innovation which can further

increase the technological capabilities. Cloud computing has proved as a boon for researchers in

countries that don’t possess the required technological superiority to conduct research. They can

now easily access the data from other researchers and base their study on that.

DIFFERENT FORMS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Companies has the option to choose from applications which are different in nature, they are

private, public, community and hybrid clouds. Bright Interactive play an important role while

playing an important role in the selection process.

Public clouds are operated by cloud service providing companies, they offer affordable prices for

very important service which can help a business scale its operations and maintain a stable and

manageable structure. Every single customer are offered the same set of tools and same degree of

control features. The main benefit of public cloud is that as a lot of users from different sectors

use the same service it offers a better stable seamless user experience. The servers are located in

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the Bright Interactive’s premises. The customer has no physical access to the servers

(MAHMOOD, 2016).

Private clouds are services offered by Bright Interactive for a single organization. Only the

assigned organization has the permit to access and store data on the cloud. This offers a greater

degree of security for the organization. Private cloud can be further divided into two parts. First

is private cloud whose servers are hosted within the respective company’s own premises. In this

form the cloud service provider sets up a server farm in the premises of its clients and is

responsible for providing cloud services through its own patented applications. This type of

service provides standardize the whole process and also provides and increased level of security.

This kind of service is provide to companies which require complete control and accessibility of

data. The second type of private cloud is where the servers are hosted at the location of the cloud

service provider. This service is tailor made for businesses which operates from multiple

locations and can’t afford to have data server farms in all its premises. In simple words private

cloud is offered to businesses which want to keep their data private (MAHMOOD, 2016).

Hybrid clouds can be defined as the combination of both private and public cloud architecture.

By the help of hybrid cloud a cloud service provider can actually scale their product and can

utilize their hardware to their full extent. Big organizations can take the advantage of hybrid

cloud the most by hosting their essential and vital data in private clouds and their common or

general data in public clouds, by doing this organizations can further decrease their server costs.

It can also help organizations who access their data a lot to reduce server stress and in result

reduce carbon footprint and less energy usage.

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Community cloud is a service where a single cloud is shared and accessed by different

individuals or organization belonging to a single community. For example different departments

of a government can share, edit and manage data from a single source cloud for better

cooperation and communication.

APPLICATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING IN DIFFERENT SECTORS

The biggest users and benefiters of cloud computing are inventors and researchers. Cloud

computing has enabled them to share their whole research data in real time events and can

perform different experiments across different geographical location simultaneously.

Cloud computing eases the requirement for building virtual worlds. They require a large amount

of computing power and can ease the access to large sets of data which can be handled

effectively (MAHMOOD, 2016).

Ecommerce websites are among the early adopters of cloud computing concept. They have a

need to effectively store, manage and access large amount of data effectively. As they deal with a

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large catalogue of stock based products they need to access the data in real time and with

increased efficiency. The early adoption and success of cloud computing is attributed to

ecommerce. It is and will be the biggest sector for cloud computing.

CONCLUSION

As technology is changing the landscape of businesses and they are getting more dependent on it,

it is actually creating a huge scope for cloud computing. Cloud computing offers new and

innovative ways a organization can conduct its business. More and more Companies are adopting

cloud computing and partnering with companies that provide cloud computing services (Molen,

2010). The basic architecture of this technology is very innovative and shows great potential for

future updates. Start up ecosystem’s are also gaining a lot from this technology and is in turn

giving a huge boost to the technologies evolution. Innovators in the field of cloud computing

must try to cope up with the existing deficiencies and must find ways to diminish them so as to

create a much more intense technology with very few or no limitations.

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