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As an engineering firm, Cloud Computing is actually an interesting choice in enhancing their workflow and efficiently manages data. In many ways, cloud technology can provide solutions to problems faced by engineering industry (Beach et al., 2013). The dynamicity of the engineering industry will bring an interchangeable state of economy and project handling. The biggest asset of this industry is its manpower and it is associated with huge amount of budget that gets affected in several ways. Handling of all the processes can get very much complex and therefore, cloud is the appropriate technology to comply with the dynamic nature of the engineering industry (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2016). Several reasons can be brought to notice as to why a firm should employ the cloud technology.
- For many firms, it can be a doubtful step to alter the traditional process of work as it has unpredictability and adapting to new technology can slow down the work progress (Gangwar, Date & Ramaswamy, 2015). However, it is also suggestive of the fact that as an engineering firm, nothing is traditional, engineering industry alters its ways to welcome innovations and hence, managing business will be a lot easier with the help of a technology growing at a rapid rate. Cloud can ensure growth as it does not need firms to invest a lot of money and it can provide effective infrastructure.
- Cloud technology can be utilized according to the business situations of the firm. Cloud provides an outstanding offer of flexibility that will suit the business needs with the control be at hand of the firm.
- For any firm, the accessibility is a vital aspect. Firms need to harness the utilities of the accessibility features to enhance the system of operation. Getting access to official data and being able to work from anywhere will result in improved productivity. It even suits the needs of the clients as well by being able to attend to the client requirements anytime anywhere (Botta et al., 2014). With cloud, employees can access and update data from anywhere; services can be requested from anywhere etc.
- Sharing of data can be performed by cloud technology efficiently. It can get frustrating performing compression of files, as it is extremely time consuming (Gangwar, Date & Ramaswamy, 2015). Therefore, cloud is an excellent choice as it provides instant storing of files to keep the workflow uninterrupted.
- Handling paperwork can hamper the enthusiasm among the employees and therefore, cloud distributes fantastic management software packages to handle the entire process of filing and documenting.
- Sharing of data over the internet can raise multiple security questions. However, it needs to be kept in mind that the providers of cloud solutions base their work on the reputation they acquire (Avram, 2014). Developing enhanced security features is paramount as they invest the majority of their resource in improving servers and making connections more secure.
- There are factors that can disrupt the workflow such as natural calamities, thievery and many possible others. However, cloud computing makes sure that the business operations are intact and with the association of the external server, the workflow will not stop on account of mentioned hindrances (Gangwar, Date & Ramaswamy, 2015). It will help a lot if the firm works on the basis of deadlines. Strong security and excellent speed of file sharing are the major factors that any engineering firm should be operating on cloud.
Hosting implies having a physical storage space on the servers, which can be connected via direct network. Server is nothing but a regular desktop that is accessed by the entire organization, given it is a dedicated server (Manvi & Shyam, 2014). The data in the server is available to all the devices connected in the server. Therefore, the concept of Virtual server is essential. The technology is quite similar; however, the access to the data is limited. Different sections are distributed to the different users and these sections deliver the required resources to the concerned users. However, in this case, the data is not so much secured as it is in dedicated servers.
The virtual servers are provided by the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). It provides the means to a computer to utilize its own individual network (Manvi & Shyam, 2014). The infrastructure provided by the IaaS is instant by nature and the management is done over the internet. It can be utilized by firms to reduce the complexity with separate resource allocated to separate operations.
A firm can do the followings with IaaS:
- Testing environments can be set up at a quick pace with the instant services provided by the IaaS.
- Data handled in a firm can face complex methods of storing and managing that storage (Manvi & Shyam, 2014). IaaS provides efficient handling of needs pertaining to growth of storage. Recovery of data is also simple with the IaaS.
- Using IaaS, web applications can be supported well. Deployment and scaling of the applications can be performed at relative ease with IaaS.
- IaaS can also help in providing high performance computing by supporting complicated simulations (Manvi & Shyam, 2014). One of many provisions of IaaS is the feature that effectively manages big data analysis.
Choosing IaaS can be beneficial in many ways.
- If the firm works with data that are extremely sensitive and confidential, then it is best to use a dedicated server, as it delivers the highest security level (Jia et al., 2014). The data is exclusive to the employees of the company and the usage of that data can be tracked (Patra & Barik, 2014). With IaaS, the control over data is less and it involves sharing of the data.
- Considering the accessibility factor, IaaS provides the best solution as its working principle is irrespective of time and place (Patra & Barik, 2014). There is no limit to ways in which data can be accessed using IaaS and projects that involve collaborative measures can benefit greatly from it.
- One of the major advantages of using IaaS is that there will be no interruptions in the workflow due to the age of the software (Patra & Barik, 2014). The provider will ensure that all the software packages used are updated.
- The firm does not have to spend time maintaining server infrastructure, as IaaS will let workers focus on their own core work process.
- Locally hosted or dedicated servers can barely step up with the changing demands of the technology. The development of servers is a very hectic task and this is where IaaS marks its advantage (Patra & Barik, 2014). IaaS can quickly transform itself according to the requirements of the firms if any shifting of strategies occurs.
Software as a Service (SaaS):
Software as a Service is the means to let users get connected to the internet and utilize applications which are cloud-based. The services employing the email facilities and implementation of office automation can be managed with SaaS. The providers of cloud services distribute software packages that users can utilize through internet (Tsai, Bai & Huang, 2014). In order to set up a quick system regarding the email services and data transferring operations, SaaS can provide efficient solutions. Applications related to the productivity of the organizations such as email, automation, collaboration can be utilized at rate of subscription, which is according to the usage level (Tsai, Bai & Huang, 2014).
The firm can make use of SaaS to establish a dynamic work pattern. With SaaS, the office can be mobilized regarding the work procedures as things can get done anywhere on the go (Avram, 2014). Application provided by SaaS are utilized through the internet and hence, execution of programs on different platforms is not an issue. One of the great advantages of using SaaS is that no expertise is required to maintain the security of the data.
Features of IaaS
However, SaaS provides the users with no control over the data or the system processing the data. The number of people using the SaaS cannot be controlled and there are various parameters that make it very difficult to manage the upgrade and testing of the applications (Avram, 2014). The number of applications offered by SaaS is very low and it might not be helpful enough for a firm to employ different sorts of activities. SaaS products do not have the ability to integrate themselves with other software.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a cloud-based environment software that focuses on development and distribution of applications (Malfara, 2013). The infrastructure of PaaS is somewhat similar to that of IaaS. PaaS helps in managing multiple software operations like database management, business intelligence services etc.
A framework is utilized to develop applications for cloud with high scalability and other capabilities (Malfara, 2013). Various enhancements are made for the applications such as improved workflow, stronger security etc.
The DTS engineering firm wants to deploy the Sharepoint platform on the cloud for easier access to the employees (Malfara, 2013). It can be determined in many ways that PaaS is the appropriate model compared to SaaS. The reasons why PaaS is the best model for this are stated below:
- The software that will be run on PaaS can be controlled. The data that are accessed and exchanged can be traced.
- The number of users accessing data can be tracked and hence, it is easy to determine the users who are accessing the data and the applications.
- Compared to SaaS, PaaS provides better support for the integration of other software.
Conclusion:
This report clearly stated the various benefits of using cloud technology along with the disadvantages. Surely, cloud computing is the future in bringing the separate business operations together. Cloud technology overcomes various overheads of existing technology and it is efficient in providing smooth workflow. Different levels of cloud applications are well described in the report; IaaS can help by administering elegant development infrastructure through internet. SaaS provides many cloud-based applications, which are responsible for smooth workflow regardless of the severe conditions the systems might face. The biggest disadvantage with using SaaS is that it does not provide means to track its data and members. This problem is solved by PaaS, as it fills up the technical gaps of SaaS. Therefore, it can be concluded that cloud technology takes file sharing and storing to the next level and will keep providing efficient solutions to business problems.
References:
Almorsy, M., Grundy, J., & Müller, I. (2016). An analysis of the cloud computing security problem. arXiv preprint arXiv:1609.01107.
Avram, M. G. (2014). Advantages and challenges of adopting cloud computing from an enterprise perspective. Procedia Technology, 12, 529-534.
Beach, T. H., Rana, O. F., Rezgui, Y., & Parashar, M. (2013). Cloud computing for the architecture, engineering & construction sector: requirements, prototype & experience. Journal of Cloud Computing: Advances, Systems and Applications, 2(1), 8.
Botta, A., De Donato, W., Persico, V., & Pescapé, A. (2014, August). On the integration of cloud computing and internet of things. In Future Internet of Things and Cloud (FiCloud), 2014 International Conference on (pp. 23-30). IEEE.
Dinh, H. T., Lee, C., Niyato, D., & Wang, P. (2013). A survey of mobile cloud computing: architecture, applications, and approaches. Wireless communications and mobile computing, 13(18), 1587-1611.
Gangwar, H., Date, H., & Ramaswamy, R. (2015). Understanding determinants of cloud computing adoption using an integrated TAM-TOE model. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 28(1), 107-130.
Jia, J., Wang, W., Wang, M., Fan, C., Zhang, C. X., Yu, Y., & Cloud, C. C. (2014). Multi-Layered Incremental & Scalable Sector of Interest (MISSOI) based efficient progressive transmission of large-scale DVE scenes. Chin. J. of Comput, 37(6), 1324-1334.
Malfara, D. (2013). Platform as a Service. working paper ACC 626, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada, 3 July.
Manvi, S. S., & Shyam, G. K. (2014). Resource management for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) in cloud computing: A survey. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 41, 424-440.
Patra, S. S., & Barik, R. K. (2014). Dynamic Dedicated Server Allocation for Service Oriented Multi-Agent Data Intensive Architecture in Biomedical and Geospatial Cloud. International Journal of Cloud Applications and Computing (IJCAC), 4(1), 50-62.
Rittinghouse, J. W., & Ransome, J. F. (2016). Cloud computing: implementation, management, and security. CRC press.
Tsai, W., Bai, X., & Huang, Y. (2014). Software-as-a-service (SaaS): perspectives and challenges. Science China Information Sciences, 57(5), 1-15.
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