Question

You are the IT director for XYZ Manufacturing. Your company is a B2B (business-to-business) organization that supplies auto parts to General Motors. There are 200 employees at XYZ Manufacturing with a headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, and field offices in Omaha, Nebraska; Austin, Texas; and Orlando, Florida. There are over 10,000 items in the inventory for XYZ Manufacturing and you receive raw material (i.e. steel, plastic, wiring, etc.) from China.

XYZ Manufacturing has been struggling for years with inadequate computer resources to track inventory and handle user requests from internal management, orders and invoices from General Motors, orders and invoices from your suppliers, and management reports. There is clearly an inability to store and retrieve complex “big data,” and recently there have been frequent security breaches. Your CIO is extremely frustrated with this situation and is looking for an alternative approach to providing IT services. She has asked you for input on this investigation.

Write a paper that describes advantages and disadvantages that cloud computing offers to XYZ Manufacturing. Include a sensible, detailed strategy to migrate to cloud computing, addressing the issues of performance, scalability, and economic factors.

Your paper should be 8-10 pages in length. Include at least five credible references.

Answer 1

CLOUD COMPUTING

The internet is changing the way we conduct business and interact as a society. Traditionally, hardware and software is fully contained on a user's computer. This means that you access your data and programs exclusively within your own computer.Cloud computing allows us to access our data and programs outside of our own computing environment. Rather than storing data and software on personal computer or server, it is stored in 'the cloud'. This could include applications, databases, email and file services.Cloud computing has 4 models in terms of different access and security options. Before moving data into the cloud, we need to consider which model works best for your business and data needs.

Private cloud

A private cloud is where the services and infrastructure are maintained and managed by you or a third party. This option reduces the potential security and control risks, and will suit if data and applications are a core part of business and need a higher degree of security or have sensitive data requirements.

Community cloud

A community cloud exists where several organizations share access to a private cloud, with similar security considerations. For example, a series of franchises have their own public clouds, but they are hosted remotely in a private environment.

Public cloud

A public cloud is where the services are stored off-site and accessed over the internet. The storage is managed by an external organization such as Google or Microsoft. This service offers the greatest level of flexibility and cost saving; however, it is more vulnerable than private clouds.

Hybrid cloud

A hybrid cloud model takes advantages of both public and private cloud services. By spreading options across different cloud models, we gain the benefits of each model.

Cloud computing provides a way for our business to manage computing resources online. The term has evolved over recent years, and can be used to describe the use of a third party for storage and computing needs.Cloud computing allows businesses to access their information virtually, creating a flexible and global way of accessing your data any place, any time.

Advantages of cloud computing

Cloud computing offers business many benefits. It allows us to set up what is essentially a virtual office to give the flexibility of connecting to business anywhere, any time. With the growing number of web-enabled devices used in today's business environment (e.g. smartphones, tablets), access to data is even easier. There are many benefits to moving business to the cloud:

Accessibility:

Files in the cloud can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection. This allows us to move beyond time zone and geographic location issues.

Reduced IT costs:

Moving to cloud computing may reduce the cost of managing and maintaining IT systems. Rather than purchasing expensive systems and equipment for business, we can reduce costs by using the resources of cloud computing service provider. We may be able to reduce operating costs because:

• the cost of system upgrades, new hardware and software may be included in contract
• no longer need to pay wages for expert staff
• energy consumption costs may be reduced
• there are fewer time delays.

Scalability:

With cloud storage, we only pay for the amount of storage require. If business experiences growth, then the cloud operator can help accommodate corresponding growth in data storage needs. All have to do is vary how much we pay to extend the storage we have. This also works in the same way if business shrinks and require less storage space at a reduced rate.

Business continuity:

Protecting your data and systems is an important part of business continuity planning. Whether we experience a natural disaster, power failure or other crisis, having data stored in the cloud ensures it is backed up and protected in a secure and safe location. Being able to access data again quickly allows us to conduct business as usual, minimizing any downtime and loss of productivity.

Disaster recovery:

Our company should invest in an emergency backup plan and cloud storage can be used like this by creating a second copy of important files.We can store these files at a remote location and they can be accessed through an internet connection.

Collaboration efficiency:

collaboration in a cloud environment gives company the ability to communicate and share more easily outside of the traditional methods. If you are working on a project across different locations, could use cloud computing to give employees, contractors and third parties access to the same files. We could also choose a cloud computing model that makes it easy for us to share our records with our advisers.

Flexibility of work practices:

Cloud computing allows employees to be more flexible in their work practices. For example, employees have the ability to access data from home, on holiday, or via the commute to and from work. If employees need to access their data while they are off-site, they can connect to virtual office, quickly and easily.

Access to automatic updates:

access to automatic updates for IT requirements may be included in service fee. Depending on cloud computing service provider, system will regularly be updated with the latest technology. This could include up-to-date versions of software, as well as upgrades to servers and computer processing power.

Speed:

Tests have shown that when the cloud is supported by the right enterprise technologies, the speeds achieved can rival onsite scores. For example, an our company can have multiple servers backing up data simultaneously much quicker than backing up onto disk.

Storage immortality:

The cloud offers the opportunity to bypass the risk of purchasing hardware that will soon be obsolete. Instead, can pay for the capacity and performance business requires, and provider can upgrade the environment to keep pace with the latest technology. This is brought on by competitive pressures from other cloud providers.

Disadvantages of cloud computing

Security and privacy in the cloud:

There are concerns with valuable and important data being stored remotely. Before adopting cloud technology, we should be aware that we are giving sensitive business information to a third-party cloud service provider and this could potentially put our company at risk. This is why it is important to choose a reliable service provider that we are confident will keep our information secure.

Bandwidth limitations:

Depending on what service we choose, there may be a bandwidth allowance. If our company surpasses the allowance, then charges could be costly. Some vendors provide unlimited bandwidth and this is something to think about when choosing the right provider.

Vulnerability to Attacks:

With our company information stored in the cloud, there is a vulnerability to external hack attacks. The internet is not completely secure, and for this reason, there is always the possibility of stealth of sensitive data.

Data Management:

Managing data in the cloud can be a hassle because cloud storage systems have their structures. The existing storage management system of our company may not always integrate well with the cloud vendor’s system.

Lifetime costs:

With public cloud storage, the price costs over the years might increase and tend to add up. This is the same as buying a new vehicle with a large upfront cost. The convenience of lease payments might look appealing at the beginning but we may have to owe for mileage overage and have to pay a lot to keep the car. This is when the lifetime costs will hit you. If our applications are local and your data is in the cloud, then it can add to networking costs.

Steps for Effective Cloud Migration

1. Select the Cloud Provider:

The first step is of course, to select the right cloud provider.

service model:

we need to opt for the right cloud service model before migration: IaaS, PaaS or SaaS. IaaS is also known as Infrastructure as a Service, PaaS is Platform as a Service and SaaS is Software as a Software. Each of these cloud models has their own sets of benefits that would be suitable for different kinds of businesses.

In IaaS, the cloud provider gives us a whole range of computing infrastructure like networking hardware, storage, servers, maintenance and support. IaaS cloud services include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Compute Engine.

PaaS simplifies enterprise software development, and provides servers, storage and networking resources that’s manageable either by the company, or by the platform provider. PaaS services include AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service and Google App Engine.

SaaS allows quick access to cloud based web applications. The vendor handles the computing stack, and we can access it with a web browser. Examples of SaaS include Google G Suite, Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox, etc.

Cloud type:

he different types of clouds are private, public and hybrid. Hybrid solutions is a blend of public and private cloud services. Many companies choose public clouds because it is considerably cheaper, requires low maintenance, allows for greater levels of scalability and provides impressive reliability in case of network or bandwidth glitches.

Private cloud, on the other hand, consists of computing resources, provided exclusively by one business or organization. This service can be located at the company’s office or hosted by a third party service provider.

Platform:

AWS is the clear leader in the market for being the best platform in terms of flexible computing storage and networking. Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud closely follow AWS in popularity factor. Each of the platforms comes with best features for hosting different kinds of applications in the web. And they come equipped with some unique features too. However, all these platforms let you deploy virtual machines in the cloud and scale them as and when required.

For example, for high speed in cloud computing solutions we can choose Azure. However, developers looking for extra buffer of security prefer to choose Google Cloud. On the other hand, AWS has turned out to be the ultimate choice for successful enterprise mobile app development team.

2. Plan for Migration:

Assess what needs to be migrated:

he following factors need to be considered when deciding what needs to be migrated to the cloud.

Database complexity - Database migration is a complex and multiphase process, so it should be done with careful planning. In fact, planning takes up more time than the actual process.

Networking capacity - The networking capacity of the cloud migration can be analyzed through an asset discovery tool that could be either open source or commercial. The tool would help us identify the server configurations within a particular network, complete with connectivity details and all. It gives us the bird’s eye view of the system in totality.

Application design complexity - The application architecture must be loosely coupled in order for it to be suitable for cloud migration. If not, the application’s design and architecture might require some sort of modification before it is migrated to the cloud, especially if does not follow the distributed cloud architecture. This mostly happens with traditional applications that are tightly coupled. A migration can be successful only when the app follows distributed architecture and can be scaled as and when required.

Integration complexity - Analyze the integration points like payment gateways, SMTP servers, web services, external storage, and third party vendors before planning to migrate. Or else, it would begin to affect the dependencies leading to authentication or connectivity challenges.

Host OS compatibility - Have an idea of the host operating system, and check whether you can deploy the application on the same OS. If there are compatibility issues, then you will have to look for a substitute solution or change the cloud provider.

Create a migration plan:

You can hire a manager to plan and oversee the entire migration process to help cover all the critical aspects. Planning and preparation are the most important concepts in migration.

You can start by deciding what needs to be moved first. And you also need to decide whether to go for a single provider or choose different vendors for different requirements (multi-cloud option). We can start by moving the easier applications and the critical ones later. This way, we can test the waters before plunging.

The changes required in application architecture also need to be considered at this point. We can update parts of our system so they migrate well. There are servers, networks and data services that may work one way in computing environment and differently in the cloud.

Additionally, we will need to have a plan in place to deal with:

Code changes - Significant code changes may have to be performed to ensure the app works optimally after migration.

Performance issues – Lack of proper resources can affect the performance of the application. And it can also happen when the application architecture is not properly distributed over the cloud resources.

Downtime - Downtime is a crucial and commonly faced challenge during migration. We can counter this problem by having a backup environment and allocate resources to run the app until the migration is truly completed.

Security compliance - It is important to increase security and adhere to compliance standards while migrating sensitive data. All the standards, guidelines, regulatory and compliance requirements must be addressed.

Brief the team:

Ultimately, it is the team’s expertise and skill that translates the entire migration process into a successful act, so make sure they are sufficiently briefed well in advance.

3. Migrate Data and Applications

Planning the actual migration process can make the entire exercise smooth and hassle-free. There are different techniques to copy the files and databases, and this depends on their size and complexity. For very large data sets, then it would be a good idea to compress them. If the data is still big enough, we can ship them over to the cloud service provider and control bandwidth costs. We can also back up the data and applications before migrating.

Once we set up the cloud environment, ensure provisioning, components and connections are in order.

Security is also very important during migration. You are sending a lot of information and code, so even the temporary storage must be highly secured, so there should be no leak of any sort. Using cloud migration tools would help greatly in moving all the data and applications securely.

4. Post Migration Validation

Once the migration has been successfully completed, we need to make sure that everything is good. There is an automated testing strategy to ensure the following:

• Were we able to transfer all the data?
• Are the internal components able to communicate optimally

• How is the monitoring of the app in the cloud going on?

• Is our app accessible to all?

References

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