Cloud computing - we hear the term well-nig daily. But really, just what is cloud computing all about? That seems to be a common question. In June of this year, TELUS and IDC Canada discharged a study on cloud computing which surveyed 200 Canadian business and IT executives and directors at large Canadian companies (500+ employees) crosswise a range of industry sectors. The study found that 63% of Canadian companies surveyed did not have enough or had only a base level of cognition to make decisions on whether to use a cloud service or their internal IT department.
A recent clause from eweek.com also indicates that there is a batch of confusion about cloud computing. The clause makes reference to a recent study commissioned by Citrix Systems which let ind more than 1000 adults in the U.S. The study showed that most respondents thought that the cloud is correlative weather. 51% of respondents thought that the weather could interpose with cloud computing. Despite the confusion, the study also found that 97% of participants are exploitation cloud services nowadays with examples including on-line banking, shopping, social networks and file sharing. Further, 59% of respondents indicated that they believe that the "workplace of the future" will be in the cloud which is somewhat contradictory to the preponderance of cloud computing nowadays.
This insight above mirrors what we find amongst our own clients. Knowledge of cloud computing is comparatively limited and as a result, organizations may be missing out on significant opportunities to make their business stronger by reduction cost and risk. Our hope is that this clause provides insight into cloud computing to help you to assess its fit for your business requirements.
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What is cloud computing?
First of all, it's useful to understand where the term cloud computing came from. It most likely originated from the use of a cloud image to represent a networked computing environment or the net.
A quick Google search will reveal a number of definitions for cloud computing. I like a definition I picked up from Wikipedia which defines cloud computing as the delivery of computing as a service whereby shared resources, software package and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility, similar to the electricity grid, over a network which is most often the net.
What are the various cloud computing models?
To sort out some of the confusion around cloud computing, it is helpful to understand the various cloud service models, of which there are three - software package as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
SaaS is the most wide best-known flavour of cloud service. SaaS is sometimes referred to as on demand software package. With SaaS, software package and its associated data are centrally hosted and are typically accessed over the net exploitation a browser. What are some examples of SaaS? MailChimp, the application we use to distribute our newsletters, is an example. Google Apps is other example as is Dropbox, and the list continues to expand.
PaaS provides the delivery of a computing platform and required solutions to facilitate the deployment of applications without having to invest in the cost and complexity of hardware and software package. Some examples of PaaS let in Microsoft Azure and Google's App Engine.
The IaaS service model allows clients to avoid the procural of servers, software package, data centre space and network equipment. Such resources are provided as a fully outsourced service. Examples of IaaS let in Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud and Rackspace.
In addition to the various cloud service models, it's useful to understand the delivery models through which cloud computing is distributed. The main delivery models let in public, private, community and hybrid.
A public cloud offers infrastructure and solutions to the general public and is typically closely-held by a large organization that sells cloud services.
A private cloud is designed entirely for one organization. A private cloud may be managed by the organization which uses it, or by a third party, and the infrastructure may be attack the site of the cloud user or elsewhere.
A community cloud is shared by several organizations and supports a community of users, normally with some common interest, such as regulative concerns.
A hybrid cloud model consists of two or more clouds, e.g. a public and private cloud, bound together by technology to facilitate data sharing and portability. Egnyte, a file storing and sharing service, is an example of a hybrid cloud computing solution.
What are some benefits of cloud computing?
Earlier this year I participated in a webinar that featured a round table of CFO's commenting on what they believed to be the major benefits of cloud computing. The benefits cited let ind the following:
- Cost nest egg over on-site installations
- Anywhere anytime access through an Internet connection
- Reduced dependency on IT support
- Cloud solutions are most often faster to deploy than on-site solutions
- Cloud solutions typically enables organizations to buy into a large product with much more functionality which would be cost preventative if similar functionality was innate through a non-cloud on-site solution
- IT can focus more on value-add activities as opposed to managing IT infrastructure because infrastructure direction shifts to the cloud provider
- Cloud solutions typically contribute to the following:
- More timely business information
- Optimizing business processes
- Connecting with employees and facultative staff to work remotely
What are some of the risks and concerns associated with cloud computing?
Not withstanding the benefits, there are a number of common concerns associated with cloud computing. It is very important to cautiously consider risks that could impact your sensitive information, regardless whether you are evaluating cloud or on-site solutions. In doing so, it is also important to evaluate risks associated with cloud solutions in the context of similar risks you could face with your own on-site alternatives.
The most common concern is security. For most small and medium-sized organizations, security with cloud solutions is often better than on-site solutions because good cloud solution providers can invest in the skill sets and capabilities to address emerging and evolving threats. Many small and mid-size organizations depend on part-time IT support or have no dedicated IT support at all. This combined with constantly evolving IT risks, would tend to suggest that most small and medium organizations just can't keep up with threats to their information assets. To address security concerns, a good cloud provider should be able to provide assurance at issue to the following:
- Access to data - There should be a rigid authentication process that all users should go through to access their data
- Transmission - Data should be encrypted as it travels from your local site to the cloud service provider
- Network - Strong security should be in place to protect the cloud provider's network
- Physical access - The cloud provider should be able to demonstrate solid controls over physical access to its facilities where your data will reside
- Data security -The cloud provider should be able to provide assurance that your data is encrypted when it is "at rest" in the cloud
- Privacy and Compliance - Your cloud provider should be able to provide assurance that it can protect the privacy of your information and follow with at issue standards and legislation that may be at issue to your organization.
Availability of cloud solutions is other concern. It is at issue to assess the impact of a cloud solution becoming untouchable attributable circumstances such as an net outage or a technical failure by the cloud provider. Again such concerns should be analyzed in the appropriate context. Internet outages, especially elongated outages, tend to be uncommon. Reputable cloud providers can most often demonstrate very high levels of uptime performance, and if problems occur, hot resources are available to address them. How does such a scenario compare with similar risks associated with your on-site alternative? What is your experience with downtime with on-site solutions and can you get timely 24/7 support if you have a critical problem? Availability risks can also be satisfied with the use of a hybrid cloud model. Egnyte was referred to antecedently as an example of a hybrid cloud model for file sharing and storage. With this option, should the net go down, you can still have a local copy of your data available.
Access to data is raised as a concern in two contexts. One is how can I get my data back if I leave my cloud provider. Another is what will happen if my cloud provider goes out of business. An answer to such questions should be pronto available from your cloud provider and should be nominal in your end user agreement. It is most important to consider what format your data will be available in if you seek to door latch on back from your cloud provider. Consider e.g. that if you use a cloud based accounting solution, your data power not be provided back to you in the same format in which you entered it.
One last consideration to think of is data backups. In our experience with small organizations, it is not uncommon to find no backup routines or problems with them, such as backups not being stored off site or restoration from back-ups not being tested. Reputable cloud solutions reduce this risk and in fact, many cloud providers have seven-fold back-up locations in case there is a failure at a particular site.
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