summary:
It is a delivery of computing and storage capacity as a service to a heterogeneous community of end-recipients.It is very useful to every individual,small and big enterprises,companies and organisation.Cloud can be compute as Software as a service(SAAS),Platform as a service(PAAS) and Infrastructure as a service(IAAS).Also there are three types of clouds: Private,Public and Hybrid cloud.Nowadays use of cloud computing become so popular and easy that even it is being using in accounting and finance department.Any companies working with CPAs and other outside advisors regularly exchanges documents like invoice,purchase order etc with their suppliers or any related customers.With the help of cloud computing they can access the data and share it.This means companies are changing from on premises software to the cloud software or should say SaaS.cloud computing services are easier to use and manage, more adaptable, and potentially less expensive than the traditional on-premises model for application deployment.There are some risks in the cloud clouding which are still being work in process to be fixed.Companies like IBM,Amazon,Microsoft,Google they all are the service provider so because of so much technologies roaming all together in the cloud there are chances of some unpredictable risks.Besides this, there are also other risks like regulation and legislation and Regulatory compliance.As cloud computing is a technology that helps IT model to be an information-centric and information-rich organisation.Cloud computing will help IT teams to transition away from being primarily technologists to being more business aligned informationists.Cloud computing will make a good governance on information assets as well as high content quality to the IT teams.A good governance with high quality content will help organisation to increase the value of information assets.There are many things that IT organisations do which is making making it harder to migrate to cloud computing, but the biggest failing looks like an inability to recognise that cloud computing will require IT organisational change management.Cloud computing can save a big money and time and it is this particular point that will drive its growth in future.Introduction
This is where a data,software applications and computer processing powers are access from a cloud of online resources.It permits individual users to excess a data and application from any device as well as an organisation to reduce a capital cost by purchasing software and hardware as a utility service(Lamont, Judith. 2011).There are three ways to compute cloud :1)SAAS: It is known as a software as a service.It allows users to run existing online applications.It is the easiest way to cloud compute where off the shelf applications are accessed over the Internet.The advantage of SAAS is that all applications are free or charged over subscription.SAAS application is also accessible from any computer on internet and excellent collaborative working.(Lamont, Judith. 2011)
2)PAAS: It is known as platform as a service.It allows users to create their own cloud applications using supplier specific tools and languages..It provides environment and tools for creating new online applications.It allows users to create new online application very rapidly at lower costs.Such application may be used privately or publicly.It limits developers to provide languages and tools.There are a risk of vendor lock in as application built in one provider platform cannot be moved to another.(Lamont, Judith. 2011)
3)IAAS: It is known as infrastructure as a service.It allows users to run any applications they please on cloud hardware of their own choice.It allows existing applications to be run on a cloud's supplier hardware.The fundamental unit of Claud infrastructure is a server.A server can be a physical or virtual.(Lamont, Judith. 2011)
Types of cloud computing:
1)private cloud: It is a data centre dynmically provisioned and which delivers services to the business.In private cloud data stays in a date centre which is always available.It is not provided to third parties and it makes intregation with other systems much easier.(sam johnston. 2009)
2)public cloud: It offers anything from simple personal storage to complex suites to entify its services.It consists of data centres owe by service providers to manage the infrastructure,service,network switches and storage systems and they sell the services to those service system providers.from a customer point of view it has got a price advantage over private cloud because the cost of infrastructure are shared among many users.everyone pays less than they would if they ran their own clouds.(sam johnston. 2009)
3)Hybrid cloud: It is a ability to connect users application data and services to a public cloud have them in operate and efficiently work amongst each other.By utilizing hybrid cloud architecture, companies and individuals are able to obtain degrees of fault tolerance combined with locally immediate usability without dependency on internet connectivity.(sam johnston. 2009)
Critical points to be discussed:
How cloud computing is useful to Accounting & Finance department?
There are some points to be discussed:1)Location -independent access to the data: SaaS is a small but rapidly growing part of the applications software business.And with the help of this modelWe can get the access to whatever we want and wherever we are from that means we can see dashboard ,reports and see drill down information, and also approval information in terms of financial applications.We just need internet connection and a computer to use it.Workflows don’t get stuck with us as an approver because we are traveling or out of the office.Also its very secure working within the application.There will no problem in VPN and remote access issues.(/blog.cloud9realtime.com)
There are major benefits for a multi-location business.There is no longer concerned about exchanging files through e-mail, telephone calls, or waiting until their computer is online another time.2)Avoid of headaches and cost of running an In-House IT department: While using SaaS we will avoid management time and focusing on new customers, new products, new differentiation, than worrying about building an IT organisation just to run in-house application. we will avoid all that cost, all that hassle, things like capacity planning meetings, budgeting for IT, all that goes away.(Finance in the Cloud. 2009)
3)A world class IT operation far better than we can deliver internally: As SaaS is one of the world class vendor we can expect a premium IT service, far exceeding what we can contract for and deliver our self.cloud service providers make a living on up-time, so if the application is not there, they can’t sell it, and they can’t get paid.As it is world class IT operation it runs with 99.9% availability.(blog.cloud9realtime.com)
4)High return on investment: With the SaaS application we can get higher ROI. This is in part due to the obvious IT cost avoidance. Part of it is that SaaS applications are feature rich, written relatively recently with the knowledge of the past. And part of it is more subtle costs that we don’t necessarily think about initially.Also SaaS application doesn't cost anything.Also there is no need of implementing a new version of the software every two to three years to get access to new features due to the change in underlying database version.Also all of the hidden costs will be disappeared.(Finance in the Cloud. 2009)
what are the cloud computing risk ?
Data security: In terms of data security the risk in the cloud is the data is not secured.The data can be accessed by others.Also the data could be lost if it is corrupted.If it is corrupted than it will become very difficult to recover. Sensitive data processed outside the enterprise brings with it an inherent level of risk, because outsourced services bypass the physical, logical and personnel controls IT departments exert over in house programs. (prakash sri. 2011)
Regulatory compliance: Organisation must be and will be the responsible for the security and integrity of their own data, even when it is held by a service provider. The ability to demonstrate to auditors that their data is secure despite a lack of physical control over systems, hinges in part on educating them, and in part on providing them with the necessary visibility into all activity.(prakash sri. 2011)
System downtime: Well this is another risk in cloud computing.It is about traditional technology on premises.System downtime in any form is very distructive.Recently in NASA there was problem in technology well we can take example of a bank card transactions.we use electronic payments when we use card.But if the technology is down or i should say system is down than we can't use electronic payment.It happens due to too much of cloud technologies in the cloud or energy in the cloud makes network very slow.(prakash sri. 2011)
Privacy agreement and service legal agreement: We should have a suitable agreement with our service provider before commencing service.This will help in safeguard against certain risks and also outline the responsibilities of each party in the form of a service level agreement (SLA). we should understand the responsibilities of service provider before agreeing it.(prakash sri. 2011)
Geographical reasons: There can be the risks of regulation and legislation when storing data.If an organisation or business uses an overseas service provider than they have to be aware of regulation and legislation of that particular place or area.(prakash sri. 2011)
How can Cloud Computing Influence on Business Alignment, Governance, and Content Quality?
At a moment around 60-70% of business are using different types of IT functions and resources to focus on their core business.It means cloud computing will very soon outsource IT that will lead organisations to shift their IT infrastructure to cloud.Business service and applications like business intelligence and dashboard application will have measurable benefits, are straightforward to implement, require agile and iterative development processes, are read-only applications, and are relatively low risk.(Richard Blahunka. 2011)
Applications like business intelligence and dashboard is very important to maintain information value and quality in IT.The IT department of organisation will try to shift managing hardware assets and data centre operations to managing its information assets as well as information architecture.All these assets and information will be properly aligned to the business strategy.(Richard Blahunka. 2011)
cloud computing is very important in terms of governance.Cloud computing will help to establish and maintain good governance of data, models, business rules, content, data, information, applications, system performance, usage, etc. The whole performance of any organisation are measured by business performance dashboard for its goals and objectives.It is very important to have a proper governance in the information assets .so here cloud computing plays an important role as it will protect and increase the value of those information assets.Also makes organisation flow steady with the likes of stewardship (content, business rules, business models, metrics, applications, etc),process monitoring and process controls,content security and privacy,master data management (MDM) and content standardization,cloud computing Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and managing and integrating emerging IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS.(Richard Blahunka. 2011)
Content quality is also influenced by cloud computing.Any business decision or action are based on its business information.It depends its good quality information or bad.If its bad information or data than the overall value of organisation information assets will be reduced.In cloud computing such distructions are very less.There will be more importance of quality information to the IT department as information assets are aligned with business strategy.With the help of content value (data and other content as enterprise resources having measurable organisational value),actionable content ( reliability, accessibility, availability, timeliness) and certifiable content (consistency, completeness, accuracy, conformity) in cloud computing there will be proper guidance in content quality which is very important to add up the value to the organisation.(Richard Blahunka. 2011)
Why cloud computing forcing IT organisation to change in IT organisation management?
With so many big companies like microsoft,google,Amazon in the corner cloud computing looks like a real architecture where data center has a good chance of being connected to in the near future.If it happens than IT organisation has to change.companies will not get all the things from cloud computing they want if IT organisation doesn't adopt the way they work with business units.Too many IT organisations are just focused on pilots project or limited scope.There is no effective management structure in place to really deal with it.(Babcock, Charlie |. 2009.)
The IT organisation believes that cloud computing saves money but they don't have idea on management implication that associates with management model.As a result they suffer from a form of cloud fatigue that makes it difficult to appreciate all the nuances of the cloud computing model.So many of them engage in the from of cloudwashing.It is clear that organisations need to work on managing services rather than managing devices.for example online Services that Help our SMB Work Better", rather than the management of servers, storage and network products and technologies.(Michael Vizard. 2011)
Also,IT workload into the cloud will require some different management approaches, and different IT skills, from what’s grown up in the traditional data centre. With all these combination of technical, economic and cultural issues are forcing IT organisational change.It's better to have IT leaders being well advised to be the ones seen as driving those actual changes rather than being seen as simply letting that just happen to the IT department.(Michael Vizard. 2011)
How can cloud computing help business and organisation to save time and money?
There are some points to be discussed that will describe how cloud computing will save time and money of business and organisations.
1)Low labour costs: In public cloud ,It functions works as a provider and in private cloud,IT function increase their efficiency as management is more efficient in a virtualized environment.so basically both private and public cloud will work eachother to perform several tasks which will allow companies to free up some labours.It will help them in saving their labour costs.(Hoboken, NJ and New York City, NY (PRWEB. 2012)
2)Faster time to value: Companies can save their time when they purchase or install through clouds rather than wait for some time to get it.(Hoboken, NJ and New York City, NY (PRWEB. 2012)
3)Pay as you use: Cloud computing companies operate on a pay-as-you-use model, or in other words, a demand-only model. As a business availing of cloud computing services, you only pay for the services you require and use. This works out to be much cheaper than acquiring equipment you hardly use.(SOURYA . 2011)
4)Maintenance costs: Cloud computing also saves maintenance costs.There is somebody else who looks after IT infrastructure,provides support,technical support,backup and all other things related to the maintenance.(SOURYA . 2011)
5)simplify capital expense: When we buy expensive equipment, that’s considered a capital expenditure, and a big one at that.when we depreciate it on the book it can be very difficult and headache.With cloud computing, this expense is spread across several operational cycles, becoming part of operational costs. As any corporate finance professional will tell you, this is a much better alternative. Factor in the time value of money, and the balance shifts even more towards cloud computing.It will make very easier for a lot of medium-sized businesses to manage their books(SOURYA . 2011).
Why cloud computing forcing IT organisation to change in IT organisation management?
Also,IT workload into the cloud will require some different management approaches, and different IT skills, from what’s grown up in the traditional data centre. With all these combination of technical, economic and cultural issues are forcing IT organisational change.It's better to have IT leaders being well advised to be the ones seen as driving those actual changes rather than being seen as simply letting that just happen to the IT department.(Michael Vizard. 2011)
How can cloud computing help business and organisation to save time and money?
There are some points to be discussed that will describe how cloud computing will save time and money of business and organisations.
1)Low labour costs: In public cloud ,It functions works as a provider and in private cloud,IT function increase their efficiency as management is more efficient in a virtualized environment.so basically both private and public cloud will work eachother to perform several tasks which will allow companies to free up some labours.It will help them in saving their labour costs.(Hoboken, NJ and New York City, NY (PRWEB. 2012)
2)Faster time to value: Companies can save their time when they purchase or install through clouds rather than wait for some time to get it.(Hoboken, NJ and New York City, NY (PRWEB. 2012)
3)Pay as you use: Cloud computing companies operate on a pay-as-you-use model, or in other words, a demand-only model. As a business availing of cloud computing services, you only pay for the services you require and use. This works out to be much cheaper than acquiring equipment you hardly use.(SOURYA . 2011)
4)Maintenance costs: Cloud computing also saves maintenance costs.There is somebody else who looks after IT infrastructure,provides support,technical support,backup and all other things related to the maintenance.(SOURYA . 2011)
5)simplify capital expense: When we buy expensive equipment, that’s considered a capital expenditure, and a big one at that.when we depreciate it on the book it can be very difficult and headache.With cloud computing, this expense is spread across several operational cycles, becoming part of operational costs. As any corporate finance professional will tell you, this is a much better alternative. Factor in the time value of money, and the balance shifts even more towards cloud computing.It will make very easier for a lot of medium-sized businesses to manage their books(SOURYA . 2011).
Criticism:
There are some criticism of cloud computing of not allowing users any freedom and making them totally dependent on cloud computing provider.It may be due to the disrupt in the access of data . If we have to take a example than we can simply say like network outages, denial of service attacks against the service provider, and a major failure of the service provider infrastructure, even if data is securely stored in a cloud.Still there are some other issues as well regarding visibility and transportability due to the complex nature of cloud and web service systems(Cloud computing. 2012).
Experts on the future of cloud computing and its services
According to the recent survey from some of the experts in cloud computing believes that in near future most people will access software applications and information through online and with the use of remote server networks.It is also predicted that most users will perform most computing and communicating activities through connections to servers operated by outside firms.As predicted some experts believes that In near future there will be a hybrid life where most of the peoples all over the world will work in Internet based applications such as Google Docs, and in applications run from smartphones where a spiring application developers will develop for smartphone vendors and companies that provide Internet-based applications but some experts still disagreed with that.According to survey there was a two thoughts on cloud computing expand .some believes that cloud computing will expand but the desktop will not die out also it will be used in new, improved ways in tandem with remote computing.There will be continuing expand of cloud computing which will come to dominate information transactions because it will offer so many advantages that allows users to have easy, instant, and individualized access to tools and information they need wherever they are, locatable from any networked device.Surveys also said that there will be some hurdles like service and compatibility which must be crossed before cloud computing gains more adopters.Beside this there will be the lack of broadband spectrum to handle the load if everyone is using the cloud,the variability of cost and access in different parts of the world and the difficulties that lie ahead before they can reach the ideal of affordable access as well as intellectual property and privacy conflicts(The Future of Cloud Computing - Pew Research Center. 2012).
Good research. Format can be more professional. Many resources used and referenced. Good work
ReplyDelete