Upgradations are automatic with no cost
Almost, all companies’ uses cloud services such as online banking and social networks but the companies never realize it. The word cloud refers to a combination of different types of software and hardware that work together to offer many aspects of computing to the end user as an e-service.
Cloud computing is the use of hardware and network technologies collectively to deliver different types of services over a network. With the help of cloud computing, one can access files and applications can be used from any device but it is mandatory that this device is able to access the internet. In simpler words, cloud computing allows to store and access data with the help of internet without using the local storage of a user. It is the delivery of services through internet (NIST 2015).
SoftArc Engineering Ltd is a civil engineering company which works across Australia as well as in Indonesia, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea. Around 95% percent of the companies adopt this cloud computing process without even realizing. This company is also considering moving some of its computer infrastructures into the Cloud. The SoftArc Engineering Board is contemplating this move as a way to increase the company’s flexibility and responsiveness, as well as to achieve some savings on the cost of the maintenance of the ICT infrastructure. SoftArc Engineering has some 200 engineering and support staff that work on different civil engineering projects in different parts of the Australia and neighboring countries. There are many different and useful advantages to using cloud computing technology in the softArcg engineering. As technology keeps on changing so more and more companies are moving to their software’s online. This process is a bit slow but very beneficial for the engineering and designing industries so that they can access their work anytime, anywhere in the whole universe. If this technology is used in civil engineering then it can increase productivity and decrease the cost of the business (Erl, Puttini & Mahmood 2013).
Q2. If anyone wants to start any business, then there are two types of cost one need, initial cost and running cost. So cost is one of the major factors in decision making and getting a huge profit of cloud computing. Companies that use cloud computing have to invest less money as compare to the traditional approach. The cloud-based software is less expensive as compared to traditional ones. This image shows the annual cost comparison of a company .The cloud engineering software such as SkyCiv cloud is thrice times cheaper than the traditional software and it gives the same benefits and convenience (SkyCiv 2017) . From that perspective, the different approaches for automation for the SoftArc are,
1. Upgradations are automatic with no cost
If any company is using the traditional methods then the company needs to have regular updates and maintenance according to the performance of the software. This updates and maintenance always need cost and sometimes often disrupt business if the up gradations are not up to the mark. This can lead to great stress in the civil engineering services and on the field of construction. All the designs have timelines and deadlines. So it is very necessary to maintain the designs otherwise it will be in a mess. But cloud engineering software can update itself without any cost and maintenance (Buyya, Broberg & Goscinski 2010). Its process of updating is without cost and engineers can meet their deadlines without any hurdles in between.
Access anytime, anywhere
2. Access anytime, anywhere
It is very irritating to carry a file always. Sometimes, one can forget to carry the file. But without this file, an engineer cannot do the work. The solution is to move to the cloud computing because it allows the engineers to access any file from any computer from anywhere in the world. This is one of the most useful advantages of cloud computing. It improves the flexibility of work, that one can work from anywhere without any hurdles.
3. Faster computer
The traditional software of the civil engineers is very slow as it cannot take up more data. But with the help of cloud software, one can easily store the more files related to work. The work of civil engineers is very big so they need to store more data in the computer. The traditional software can create a problem, it can become slow because of heavy data but cloud software has a little impact in this regard. All the files and data are stored online that means it does not take any hard drive to store. It can also make all the heavy and bulky calculations on an online server (Buyya, Broberg & Goscinski 2010).
4. Improved productivity
In traditional software, the only person can work on a file at a time but in cloud software, more than one person can work on a single file, a project or task at one time. It improves the productivity of any task because a group of people can achieve the task quickly. So it is very necessary to use cloud computing in any business or in any company. There are some advantages and benefits of the cloud software. This will increase the productivity and profit of the company (Buyya, Broberg & Goscinski 2010)
Q3. Relationship between locally hosted infrastructure and infrastructure provided using an IaaS provider in a public Cloud
Infrastructure as a service ( IaaS), is a type of cloud computing that offers virtualized resources of computing through the internet. In an IaaS, there is a third party that offers hosts, hardware, software, servers, storage and other infrastructure components on the interest of its users. IaaS providers also handle the various tasks like backup, up gradations and maintenance. There are many differences in locally hosted infrastructure and IaaS provider such as;
1. Security: If any organizations are handling the most confidential and sensitive data then a locally hosted server is a way to go. It offers a great level of security; integrity and confidentiality as this server basically belong to only one organization. This is the only dedicated server that allows the only authenticated person to look the data, maintained the data at any circumstances (Dutta et al. 2013). On the other part, cloud computing software shares the information and data, but the organization does not have the same level of control that it has on a local server. Cloud software makes the sensitive and confidential data live to many companies (Krutz & Vines 2014).
Faster computer
2. Accessibility: There is no doubt in accessing the data anywhere anytime in the world if using cloud resources. It is the best way in which people can connect their data and work collectively if they are a far distance from each other. It increases and ameliorates the ability to reach the data (Krutz & Vines 2014).
So, it really depends upon the SoftArc engineering that what kind of service they like as per the work of the organization. It depends upon the organization to choose the better service according to the needs and requirements of the organization whether it is a hosting service or a cloud computing service. If any organization wants to minimize the operational expenses and increase the accessibility then cloud resource is a better option (Zissis & Lekkas 2012). On the other part, if organization need more security over privacy then, the local server is the best option (Antonopoulos & Gillam 2012).
Cloud computing is a model to make the work convenient, an on-demand network that can be accessed anywhere and anytime in the world. There are some characteristics of the cloud computing are,
- On-demand network: It is very reliable and a user can get the services without any long delays (Hwang, Dongarra & Fox 2013).
- Broad network access: It has the ability to access the services through any standard platform such as a laptop, mobile phones, computers etc.
- Pooling: Resources can be pooled with different users.
There is a stack in cloud computing that is depicted by the below diagram, it shows the three different categories of cloud resources, Software as a Service, Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service.
It is a software that can be accessed over the internet.with the help of saas, an organization gets the opportunity to make more revenue without any maintenance charge. Saas is growing rapidly in the market and it predicts the growth fast and sometimes in the double digit. This leading growth of the Saas can give us a hint that it can be used by all the organizations in the near future. It is very important for the buyers and sellers how to use Saas, and where it is beneficial. It is very beneficial in delivering technologies (Aljawarneh 2012).
Paas helps in creating the web applications very rapidly and easily. It breaks the complex process into simpler ones, it does not have any complexity of buying, making updates and maintaining the software. There are different tasks that are prepared by the PaaS like developing, testing, deploying, hosting and maintenance applications (Dutta et al. 2013).
It is an on-demand service. It has some basic characteristics that are why it very useful in SoftArc engineering. It distributes its resources as services. It allows the dynamic scaling. Multiple users can operate on a single device (Aljawarneh 2012).
IaaS model is the best model for SoftArc engineering because it is based on consumption as like water and electricity.
References
Aljawarneh, S 2012, Cloud Computing Advancements in Design, Implementation, and Technologies, Information Science Reference.
Antonopoulos, N & Gillam, L 2012, Cloud Computing, Springer New York.
Buyya, R, Broberg, J & Goscinski, AM 2010, Cloud Computing: Principles and Paradigms, Wiley.
Dutta, A, Chao, G, Peng, A & Choudhary, A 2013, ‘Risks in Enterprise Cloud Computing: The Perspective of IT Experts’, Journal of Computer Information Systems, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 39-48.
Erl, T, Puttini, R & Mahmood, Z 2013, Cloud Computing: Concepts, Technology & Architecture, Pearson Education.
Hwang, K, Dongarra, J & Fox, GC 2013, Distributed and Cloud Computing, Morgan Kaufmann, New York.
Krutz, RL & Vines, RD 2014, Cloud Security, Wiley, NJ.
NIST 2015, Cloud Computing, NIST, viewed 17 April 2017,
<https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/cloud-computing>.
SkyCiv 2017, SkyCiv, SkyCiv, viewed 17 April 2017, <https://skyciv.com/>.
Zissis, D & Lekkas, D 2012, ‘Addressing cloud computing security issues’, Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 583–92.