Cloud Computing Pros and Cons

Cloud computing offers many advantages to both end users and businesses of all sizes. The advantages of cloud

Cloud computing is a new technology that comes with both benefits and drawbacks and like any new tech it can be used to great success when paired with steps to mitigate the security issues it raises. Cloud computing has become somewhat of an ambiguous term often having different meaning for different people. An article in InfoWorld (2013) stated, ”Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any

The focus of cloud computing is providing with scalable and a cheap on-demand computing infrastructure with a good quality of service levels. The process of the cloud computing involves a set of network enabled services that can be accessed in a simple and general way. Cloud computing provides with a unique value proposition for any organization to outsource their information and communication technology infrastructure. Moreover, the concept itself provides with a value proposition for an organization as using the cloud saves on cost, resources, and staff, and business opportunities for the organization (Katzan). An extensive connectivity of

Cloud computing will cut costs on the front end; but, in the long-term, we will see other expenses. Access control is more difficult due to the external location of the system. Compliance with data storage policies can be a tremendous concern in a cloud computing system; meaning administrators will need to conduct scheduled cleanups of the network.

I would not advise moving to a cloud computing system. This is mostly due to the reliability risks described above. If cloud computing were used, I would recommend data be backed up in-case of server failure or internet connection

According to Lawrence Shawa, "a number of organizations I have spoken to have expressed concern about how secure their data is that is hosted in the cloud. There is sense of control that is taken from them making the organizations feel vulnerable" (Collection 2:1) Companies naturally feel a strong sense of obligation to protect their customers. Additionally, they may lose business if they have a reputation for compromising customer security.

Immediate deployment of software patch: Most of the cloud providers have team to deploy the patch installation so cloud based software may have shorter vulnerability.

Conversely, some of the known disadvantages of cloud computing models include potential delays in the system access due to a rapidly increasing consumer base, vendor solutions that are not easily transferable, connectivity that relies on internet access, and the lack of consumer controls of the backend infrastructure (Rouse).

Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. (Reference: http://www.nist.gov/itl/cloud/)

Cloud computing will be a cost cutting move of the future for many large information system companies. Zetta, a start up cloud service provider, told InformationWeek that customers realize a three-year total cost of ownership advantage of three to four times that of onsite storage. Imagine having three years worth of ownership cost taken off your budget, three years worth of rent that you can keep in your pocket and spend somewhere else. Using cloud computing will also mean you don’t have to pay for software licenses. A standard that seems pretty consistent for cloud computing companies, if the service doesn’t perform at 99.9% of the time during monthly billing the company will credit you a certain percentage for failing to meet their commitment. If your company was doing its own storage and applications, if the network went down it would do nothing but cost your company money, with clouds they at least pay you for time down.

benefits of cloud computing, there is one major drawback of all these advantages that cloud

Cloud computing has now become a competitor to traditional IT because of how cheap it is and that it is based on “pay-as-you-go” service just like electricity or gas. There has been a great increase in the migration of businesses into cloud. Cloud has its down side but the advantages are higher and almost negate the downsides. Some of these advantages are resource availability on demand, pay as you go, hardware utilization is better and more efficient, no in house losses with respect to hardware and since there is no hardware involved the maintenance is low too. Cloud computing is drawn-out from distributed computing,

Cloud computing enables companies to consume compute resources as a utility -- just like electricity -- rather than having to build and maintain computing infrastructures in-house.

Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models. Essential Characteristics: On-demand self-service. A consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service’s provider. Broad network access. Capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones,

When it comes to cloud computing there are some major risks including security 87.5%, availability 83.3% and performance 82.9% according to Kopp (2011). These are high priority aspects when initially moving to cloud, however