1. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
GBS 789 – LECTURE NOTES 10
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
UNIVERSITY OF LUSAKA
N. MOOLA

2. Cloud Computing

3. Cloud Computing

4. Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a computing model in which you access software, server, storage, development and other computing resources over the Internet, in a self-service manner,

5. Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing can be described as a model for enabling convenient access to shared resources such as servers, networks, storage, applications and services through the use of internet.
Cloud Computing consists of hardware and software resources made available on the internet managed as third-party services. Cloud Service providers deliver applications via internet, which are accessed from a web browser, while the applications and data are stored on servers at a remote location.
In cloud computing, the word "cloud" (also phrased as "the cloud") is used as a metaphor for "the Internet“. Therefore, the phrase cloud computing means a type of Internet-based computing.

6. Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) is defined as an integration of cloud computing applications on Mobile Devices. Android is one of the common Operating System that runs on these Mobile Devices and would normally coordinate the activities on these mobile devices as well as facilitating connectivity to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider.
For laptops, desktops and other similar device, we would have a browser such as Google Chrome running on an Operating System such as Windows 10. Connectivity to the Internet is done through the browser.
In cloud computing, the services are delivered and used over the Internet and are paid for by cloud customer (your business) -- typically on an "as-needed, pay-per-use" business model.
The cloud infrastructure is maintained by the cloud provider, not the individual cloud customer.

7. Cloud computing is an emerging technology being used by businesses in many different ways in order to help them save money but also so that they can update their IT Systems to reflect the changes in attitude and technology.
As well as cloud web hosting services being available for businesses that require added reliability, cloud computing services are also available.
The main idea of cloud computing is to allow users to store all of their data in one location on the internet that can then be accessed by the many different devices that they may be using to view their data such as desktop computers and mobile devices.

8. Some of the benefits associated to Cloud Computing are:
Scalability – The Cloud Infrastructure required by a company can be increased or reduced easily depending on the demand to support fluctuating workloads. Payment is related to usage and great savings can be recorded when the workload reduces.
Infrastructure – Cloud Computing provides use of any infrastructure that may be required to enhance the business. Since payment is only for usage, companies would be able to utilize some equipment which would be too expensive for them to buy; especially newly established companies who may not have enough funds to purchase state of the art equipment.

9. Short Term Operations – Operations that are only for a short term period can still use state of the art equipment without the worry of failing to dispose them at the end of their operations; as they would remain under the ownership of the cloud provider.
Easy Accessibility – Applications and data in the cloud can easily be accessible from anywhere in the world. The only required is an internet access or connection. This works well in an arrangement where the company has offices in different locations and probably with one centralized control.
Quick Deployment – Deployment of services can be done quite quickly; especially under Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) where services are normally available for use immediately.

10. Data Security – The security and safety of the data is managed by the cloud provider. Problems such as hardware failures do not normally result in data loss because of networked backups. This enables the organizations to focus on the utilization of the services and other priorities.
Competitive Edge – Organizations can move more quickly than competitors who must devote financial resources to buying and managing IT Infrastructure. Cloud Service providers regularly update offerings to give users the most up-to-date technology.

11. The concerns that people raise about cloud computing have not changed much either.
They continue to revolve around reliability, security and support questions, such as how do providers protect your data? What happens if a service goes down, and you can’t access the application or your data?
Even highly reputable cloud providers, including Amazon, Google, Intuit and Microsoft, have experienced outages. Customers still need to do their homework and get details from providers on uptime guarantees, data protection, service levels and other policies and practices.
To prevent unauthorized access to data, users are increasingly adopting intelligent third-party key management systems to help secure their data.

13. Cloud Computing – Common Service Models
The cloud is a very broad concept, and it covers just about every possible sort of online service.
However, when businesses refer to cloud procurement, there are usually three main models of cloud service under consideration:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS),
Platform as a Service (PaaS), and
Software as a Service (SaaS).
We shall look at each of the three models and also explore the difference among them.

14. 1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Providers of IaaS offer computers – physical or (more often) virtual machines – and other resources.
IaaS cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools installed in data centers.
For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks).
To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure.
In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software.

15. 2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)
In the PaaS models, cloud providers deliver a computing platform, typically including operating system, programming language execution environment, database, and web server.
Application developers can develop and run their software solutions on a cloud platform without the cost and complexity of buying and managing the underlying hardware and software layers.
With some PaaS offers like Microsoft Azure and Google App Engine, the underlying computer and storage resources scale automatically to match application demand so that the cloud user does not have to allocate resources manually.
Platform as a service (PaaS) provides a computing platform.

16. 3. Software as a Service (SaaS)
In the business model using software as a service (SaaS), users are provided access to application software and databases. Cloud providers manage the infrastructure and platforms that run the applications.
In the SaaS model, cloud providers install and operate application software in the cloud and cloud users access the software from cloud clients (thin-client model arrangement). Cloud users do not manage the cloud infrastructure and platform where the application runs.
This eliminates the need to install and run the application on the cloud user's own computers, which simplifies maintenance and support. To accommodate a large number of cloud users, cloud applications can be multitenant, that is, any machine serves more than one cloud user organization.

18. Cloud Computing – Common Deployment Models
1. Private Cloud
Private cloud is cloud infrastructure operated solely for a single person or organization, whether managed internally or by a third-party, and hosted either internally or externally.
Undertaking a private cloud project requires a significant level and degree of engagement to virtualize the business environment, and requires the organization to re-evaluate decisions about existing resources.
When done right, it can improve business, but every step in the project raises security issues that must be addressed to prevent serious vulnerabilities.

19. 2. Public Cloud
A cloud is called a "public cloud" when the services are rendered over a network that is open for public use. Public cloud services may be free or offered on a pay-per-usage model. 
Technically there may be little or no difference between public and private cloud architecture, however, security consideration may be substantially different for services (applications, storage, and other resources) that are made available by a service provider for a public audience and when communication is effected over a non-trusted network.
Generally, public cloud service providers like Amazon AWS, Microsoft and Google own and operate the infrastructure at their data center and access is generally via the Internet.

20. 3. Hybrid Cloud
Hybrid cloud is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community or public) that remain distinct entities but are bound together, offering the benefits of multiple deployment models.
It can also be defined as a cloud computing service that is composed of some combination of private, public and community cloud services, from different service providers.
A hybrid cloud service crosses isolation and provider boundaries so that it can’t be simply put in one category of private, public, or community cloud service.

21. Varied use cases for hybrid cloud composition exist.
For example, an organization may store sensitive client data on a private cloud application, but interconnect that application to a business intelligence application provided on a public cloud as a software service.
ii) Another example, an organization might use a public cloud service, such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) for archived / analytical data but continue to maintain the private cloud for operational customer data.
The hybrid approach allows a business to take advantage of the scalability and cost-effectiveness that are offered by different cloud models.

22. 4. Community Cloud
Community Cloud shares infrastructure between several organizations from a specific community with common concerns (security, compliance, jurisdiction, etc.), whether managed internally or by a third-party, and either hosted internally or externally.
The costs are spread over fewer users than a public cloud (but more than a private cloud), so only some of the cost savings potential of cloud computing are realized.
Other Deployment Models
Other common deployment models include distributed cloud, intercloud, multicloud, etc.

23. END
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