IT Services and Cloud Computing
The Case Assignment for this module involves thinking systematically about the IT services movement in general and about cloud computing as a particular instance of that approach. You'll start by reading a number of sources discussing both of these topics and making a number of assertions on their behalf. As we noted before, if you don't really pay attention to this material, it's really unlikely that you can write an acceptable paper on the topic below, let alone an exceptional one. We spend quite a lot of time trying to identify useful sources for you that bear on our topics for analysis; while we strongly encourage you to conduct your own further research and identify additional useful sources, this should be an add-on to the basic material rather than a substitute for it. Our Module 2 sources include:
Navavati, M., Colp, P., Aiello, B., & Warefield, A. (2014). Cloud security: A gathering storm. Communications of the ACM. 57 (5), 70–79.
Lango, J. (2014). Toward software-defines SLA’s. Communications of the ACM. 57(1), 54–60.
Galup, S. D., Dattero, D., Quan, J., & Conger, S. (2009). An overview of IT service management. Communications of the ACM, 52(5). 124–127. [ACM digital library]
Carter, P. E. (2010). IT service value creation in a global environment. Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 13(4), 4–29. [ProQuest]
Katzan, H. (2010). On an ontological view of cloud computing. Journal of Service Science, 3(1), 1–6. [ProQuest]
Chang, V., Bacigalupo, D., Wills, G., & Roure, D. E. (2010).Categorization of cloud computing business models. Retrieved from http://eprints(dot)ecs(dot)soton(dot)ac(dot)uk/18751/11/vchang_ccgrid_2010_poster.pdf.
Here is an interesting TED talk from Tim Berners Lee who invited the World Wide Web. He provides a thought provoking talking on open source data on the web provide through cloud computing.
http://www(dot)ted(dot)com/talks/tim_berners_lee_the_year_open_data_went_worldwide
You may also find it useful to review the corporate statements on IT services provided by some of the biggest corporate names in the business; this is how they are pitching the idea to their current and hoped-for corporate and government clients:
IBM IT services
http://www-935(dot)ibm(dot)com/services/us/en/it-services/gts-it-service-home-page-1.html
HP services
http://www8(dot)hp(dot)com/us/en/business-services/index.html
Oracle services
https://www(dot)oracle(dot)com/products/index.html
In addition, the optional readings expand on many of the central points; you may also want to do some independent research of your own to clarify any issues that concern you.
As you work your way through this material, you will undoubtedly find yourself wondering why we decided to lump these two topics into the same module of this course. IT services is a general philosophy of organization of IT management, while cloud computing is a rather specific set of solutions to some not terribly well-defined problems; solutions that remove from the organization both costs and responsibilities. Often, cloud computing appears to be a solution in search of a problem. The reason why we've chosen to combine them here is because, as you have noted from the sources, the proponents of cloud computing often herald it as a particularly strong instance of the IT services approach. Cloud computing removes the responsibility of managing all that technology from a particular firm. Of course, it also removes from the organization control of its information future and even of its basic data in many cases; it also can cost quite a lot of money which disappears into the services sector rather than into the hard assets category. While clearly confiding your IT management to cloud-based providers reduces the influence of technologists relative to that of information users, it is considerably less certain that users are always better served in the cloud then they would be if they kept their old techno-geek folks still chained in the basement to the old mainframe.
Case Assignment
Your task is now to try to resolve this question at least in part. When you have read through the articles and related material, please compose a 4- to 6-page critical analysis paper, following the general point/counterpoint model described below, on the topic:
"Cloud computing and IT Services"
•Provide a discussion on the benefits and issues of cloud computing. When should a firm purchase its IT services from the Cloud? What is the implication for IT oversight and the firm’s governance of those systems? If the firm moves to an Open Source environment, how will its data be secured and strategic advantage gained over the competition?
IT Services and Cloud Computing
Name
Institution
Date
IT Services and Cloud Computing
Introduction
Increasing global activities has increased the need for IT services for business in the global arena. Given the critical nature of global IT services, understanding IT services and how they support the global business process to provide value to customers is crucial. This essay analyzes business model using cloud technologies as one of the current IT models preferred by several business. Cloud computing provides computer facilities via the internet. A large number of the organization use cloud computing as it is considered one of the major development in computing era. Cloud Computing and IT Services
Cloud computing is a process of delivering IT resources and other application via the internet based on demand. Cloud computing provides a new way to outsource IT operations. Cloud computing shares computer resources instead of using local servers or personal devices to handle applications. Cloud computing enables user access same computer facilities via the internet from different locations providing scalable and cost-effective on-demand computing infrastructures with good quality service (Carter, 2010).
Cloud computing uses the Internet as a transport mechanism for users located on a server in a cyberspace compared to the process of having computer application being hosted on-premises computer. As much as IT services delivers and supports interaction via internet cloud computing has changed the use of infrastructure from purchasing servers ,network equipment, and storage infrastructure by reducing costs as it provides greater ability to respond to changing global demands (Katzan, 2010). Benefits and Issues of Cloud Computing
Cloud systems have several advantages, first it automatically controls and optimizes resources by influencing the appropriate type of services like storage, processing an active user accounts. Resource usage can be monitored using clouds computing, they can also be controlled meaning that it can provide transparency for both the provider and the consumer. Another advantage of cloud computing is that computing resources can be pooled to serve multiple consumers using the multi-model from different physical and virtual locations according to customer’s demands. Meaning that cloud computing offers infrastructure that can be shared by several customers (Katzan, 2010).
Cloud computing services are elastic and scalable meaning that customers can access unlimited services that are also amiable based on their demands. An organization can request more computing power as and when it is needed. This facility is a great advantage for small companies that need not unnecessarily invest in huge infrastructure. As and when their business expands they can request more computing power from a provider and pay only for what they use (Chang et al., 2010). For organization cloud computing reduces capital expenses because organizations need not invest in large computers infrastructure. Therefore, cloud computing reduces other costs like updating and managing software applications, staff updates, and in-house training (Katzan, 2010).
Some of the concerns have been raised in relation to the use of cloud computing, security being one of the major concerns. When managing confidential data it requires users to deploy a private cloud to secure private data. This is because cloud computing removes from the organization control of its information future and even of its basic data in many cases. To effectively use cloud computing resources, the existing tools, software and computer needs to be compatible with the web-based service or the platform and infrastructures. As much as cloud computing reduces staff and hardware costs, prices can end up being unpredictable, meaning that the current organization systems might not be compatible while moving to the cloud raising the operation costs substantially (Carter, 2010).
Given the self-service nature of the cloud, regulatory interpretations can be challenging when it comes to security. A cloud provider may fail to provide the necessary measures and tools to assi...