Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing

Introduction

Cloud computing has truly revolutionized the way work is done today. Mobility and the availability of information, no matter where one is, has become a necessity rather than an advantage. A key aspect of cloud computing is the IT security; particularly for universally accessible public clouds. Suppliers of such publicly accessible clouds often provide a very simple method for an individual to enjoy their services. A contract and the provision of services including migration of data to and from the cloud of information are often, the most common ways one gains access to information. This method reduces the security needs and requirements of the customers (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2010). It must be remembered that this contract is not nearly enough to safe guard the said information. The protection of personal data in the cloud requires appropriate technical and organizational measures.

Discussion

Knowing the right people, at the right time and in the right place can be the difference between becoming the market leader and dropping out of the market entirely. With the option of cloud computing, data can be manipulated, transferred and retrieved almost anywhere. This in itself is quite lucrative for any organization. Data, in its numerous forms, and applications capable of manipulating information in the cloud is quite powerful, cost effective and crucial for a company to adapt and change with the current times (Furht & Escalante, 2010). The advantages of cloud computing are quite obvious and well known; information does not have to be physically carried from place to place and thus results in incredibly low cost, flexibility and performance of a professionally managed IT infrastructure. Companies do not buy servers and software solutions themselves, but lease the needed capacity for data, computing power and applications from professional providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google, IBM and Microsoft.

On the one hand, the strategy of outsourcing the organizations IT infrastructure needs to the cloud enables companies to focus on their core competencies and to develop new business opportunities. On the other hand, however, the dependence on external IT systems whose failure due to technical faults, malware or hacker attacks not only affects communication, but can also render a whole business or production process useless. One of the greatest dangers that present itself to the world of cloud computing is the equivalent of that old phrase "putting all your eggs in one basket". With that in mind, organizations should consider whether the conditions offered by the service are viable from the following three aspects (Beckham, 2011).

Economic

Operational

Legal

Economic

While the economic advantages often outweigh the disadvantages, organizations must consider the actual requirement in terms of storage; the greater amount of storage the organization requires the more they have to pay. In terms of safety, an organization must be weary of fraudulent service providers. They must ensure that they are getting the worth of their money, that their information is secure and that the storage space they are paying for is dedicated solely for that purpose and not rented out if ...