Sources Cited:

Sarah Dubois

Emerging Trends in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the latest buzzword in the IT world. What exactly is cloud computing or the cloud? The term cloud computing appeared in 1997 and later in 2007 as Kevin Kelly said that at some point we will all have an, intercloud, cloud of clouds. (Khan, S.,Khan,S., and Galibeen,S., 2011) In reality cloud services are a complex set of computing services accessible via the Internet. These services consist of an interconnected network throughout the world that power services behind the scenes (Khan, S.,Khan,S., and Galibeen,S., 2011). Those who use these services may have no idea of where the servers actually are. Some of the earliest players in the transformation of data centers to the cloud were Amazon, later Google and IBM. Some universities as well started large cloud projects. Cloud computing has certain characteristics such as the availability of large computing, pay-per-use service and no long term commitment. Additionally, it is available from any location and the services are ordered online without a detailed contract. The three distinct areas of cloud architecture are the public cloud, private cloud and the hybrid cloud. The hybrid cloud is emerging as a popular choice because of its mix of private and public clouds managed together. The initial fears companies have had of cloud computing security have waned as security has gotten better and the benefits outweigh the costs. One major benefit is the ability for cloud computing to deliver new services very fast and at lower costs (We are Helping Service2014). Also, cloud computing requires less capital: operating investment and is easy to scale (Digital Reality 2014).An emerging trend and perhaps a requirement of successful cloud computing is the alliances between enterprises. Companies are forced to work together to provide solutions for customers. Digital Reality Trust and Nimbix have built an alliance combining enterprise high-performance computing (HPC) and a cloud solution by Nimbix to service the gas and oil industry because it is faster to deploy (Digital Reality 2014). Also, companies are finding solutions to customer issues by integrating technology. For example Overture Networks is providing a complete solution by combining networking elements (data center, storage) and software services. These services are then offered to telecom giants like Verizon, AT&T and British Telecom (We are Helping Service2014).Secondly, software is moving to the web. Gradually many programs are moving their software online and we may see less and less software being offered in a retail environment. The days of buying a disc in a box may be coming to an end. Adobe has stopped selling its shrink-wrapped software in India. Its services are now offered in a large virtual warehouse in the, cloud. However, to the disappointment of some customers the cost to use the software is $20 -$50 a month, some users do not like, forced renting of software because the prices could go up at any time (The Call of the 2014). Thirdly, Hybrid Computing (public/private computing) as predicted by Gartner in 2013 will be a large shift for companies; as many as half of enterprises will have a private/public cloud operation. Large enterprises are augmenting their private clouds into the public cloud along with hybrid services (Key Business Drivers 2014). What are the reasons for this hybrid computing shift? Three key business drivers are interoperability, vendor independence and data compliance. Interoperability is done through the hybrid approach because of a seamless integration of applications and infrastructure. Currently, organizations have a mixture of applications spread over a variety of legacy systems, public and private clouds. Hybrid clouds are able to address the complexity of landscape within and organization. Hybrid Computing allows competition between vendors to keep pricing in check. To mitigate risks with certain vendors enterprises need to be aware of how flexible it is to port their applications or services. The hybrid model allows for this flexibility (Key Business Drivers2014). What kinds of companies are suited for the hybrid shift? Most crucial for an enterprise is deciding what applications are most appropriate to move to the cloud. Some use cases are packaged applications and collaboration solutions. The reason that packaged applications can quickly be moved to the cloud. Email is also suited to hybrid clouds because there isnt a need to reconfigure. Also, e-commerce is suited because the platform is scalable, compliant and secure. The cloud is also effective because it can be used to backup and archive files. This can mitigate risk in the event of a technical failure. One key feature of moving to the cloud is savings the high costs of a data center. It is much cheaper to use a hybrid cloud than build a new data center. Lastly, the development of applications is more flexible in the cloud and results in a reduced time to the market (Key Business Drivers 2014). As mentioned earlier data compliance has been a long running concern for enterprises. The part of the cloud that is private can comply with sensitive data by being stored locally within the needed territory. That way certain fields such as healthcare and retail keep data safe and comply with the laws within a given industry. The lower costs of processing resources can be used by the public cloud (Key Business Drivers 2014). So the combination of a hybrid cloud leverages different forms of computing solving many issues.Next, an exciting development that IBM announced is their development of Bluemix Garages (Platform-as-a-Service) which is a collaborative location where developers can create new apps and learn new development skills. This may accelerate the pace of cloud computing and transform industries. Bluemix also may solve an old problem of integrating development by allowing open technologies and third-party development. Enterprise developers and born-on-the-web developers will help benefit from and open environment with a choice of tools IBM Details New BlueMix (2014).Moreover, Cloud computing will open a gateway for new startups, particularly in India as entry in some areas is easier. BlueFlock is a new company that was launched at DEMO Enterprise in 2014. It is a company that collects data using mobile devices which it claims to be 96% accurate. This will help other companies because their information with result in more effective operational intelligence. BlueFlock is using a variety of elements to do business like cloud computing, enterprise, mobile, consumer and social media. Additionally, like other trends happening in cloud computing are the business alliances. BlueFlock is working with Samsung and Saphana to enhance the value of experiences to their customer base (Blueflock Launches First 2014)

To add to the cloud market share contest is HP who has just invested a sum of 1 billion into their new cloud portfolio called Helion. HP has already a large infrastructure of data centers across the world. They have also chosen to support open technology so that developers have more freedom to get to the market faster. Their new service is supported by open source cloud infrastructure called OpenStack and their services will include Platform-as-a-Service and Infrastructure-as-as-Service. The big players in the cloud game are IBM, HP, Google, Amazon and Microsoft. All these players are now going after the enterprise market with a vengeance (Sverdlik 2014)

Some difficulties in cloud computing remain, as always privacy of data is big. Especially in terms of negligent employees or malicious threats like viruses or hackers. The threat needs to be managed. Also, standardizing services is important because of the hodge-podge of software. Current cloud solutions also have a limited amount of support. Another worry is that there are many competitors in the cloud market, so choosing a vendor who is solid or being able to manage if a vendor disappears needs to be addressed.

Another issue with hybrid clouds are managing them because of the complexity. Policies and processes on how to govern them need to be put into place.(Key Business Drivers 2014).Hybrid cloud computing is becoming more known among high level executives which is resulting in hype. Not only is cost important, agility and speed are critical benefits of cloud computing, this holistic view needs to be addressed. This year hybrid clouding computing is gaining prominence because of getting the maximum amount of control. Collaboration should also be explored because of the communities of users who could be exposed to new products. Furthermore, advances in mobile enablement should not be ignored as more people will have Smartphones than computers in coming years. Another emerging trend will be that the cloud itself will create jobs, because of the need for specialists in cloud computing (10 Emerging Trends2013). Emerging Trends reports a, study conducted by IDC for Microsoft, Cloud computing is expected to create over 2 million jobs in India (and 14 million worldwide) by 2015 (2013). To sum up, the big players in the cloud industry are investing large sums of money to offer enterprise services. Companies are switching to hybrid cloud computing versus private computing to capitalize on cost and developing products quickly. Enterprises are building alliances to make sure their product is tailored to their customers. Lastly, Smartphones will continue to be a popular tool connected to the cloud and physical items like packaged software will be moving to the cloud instead of being sold retail.

Sources Cited:

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Document URL http://go.galegroup.com.ezp-01.lirn.net/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA353755280&v=2.1&u=lirn81754&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=4dbcd227baa694047ba2d7972779329e Digital Realty Partners with Nimbix to Deliver Cloud-Based Solution for Oil & Gas. (2014, April 8). India Banking News. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezp-01.lirn.net/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA364367852&v=2.1&u=lirn81754&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=439dd2c7582994d1322317b18cdb0cc6IBM Details New BlueMix Services to Help Developers Build Applications in the Cloud. (2014, May 1). Entertainment Close-up. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA366508978&v=2.1&u=lirn81754&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=c47920de6bf4533b958399f83c7f85aeKey Business Drivers for a Hybrid Cloud. (2014, April 8). PC Quest. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezp-01.lirn.net/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA364253560&v=2.1&u=lirn81754&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=ef221b2c23b95f235c99b93a612f5786Khan, S., Khan, S., & Galibeen, S. (2011). Cloud computing an emerging technology: Changing ways of libraries collaboration. International Research : Journal of Library and Information Science, 1(2) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1267541922?accountid=158764"The Call of the Cloud." Open 21 Apr. 2014. Gale Power Search. Web. 7 May 2014.

Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA365661751&v=2.1&u=lirn81754&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=a6e0f2ebd596568ebd5907b3297a3ccaSverdlik, Y., (2014) HP Ramps up Enterprise Cloud Play with $1 Billion Investment Retrieved from http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2014/05/07/hp-ramps-enterprise-cloud-play-1-billion-investment/We are helping service providers by bringing the power of cloud to the network edge. (2014, May 5). Express Computers. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA367152418&v=2.1&u=lirn81754&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=06e0d8c043d345917a4d74c037d77f16