Cloud Technology
Cloud technology is assisting individuals and businesses weathering the storm caused recently by the global financial pandemic. As companies are transitioning away from a piece-by-piece approach to an integrated, holistic end-to-end online transformation with Cloud in its foundation, cloud technology is becoming a high C-suite agendas item. Organizations seeking to implement this new business model will need to address several critical issues. They must first determine what components of their business functionality require cloud integration. Second, they must define a clear cloud strategy including specific cloud objectives, cloud implementation strategies, cloud partners, and governance mechanisms.
Currently cloud technology is primarily deployed as either a public or private cloud. Public cloud technology delivers hosted services and application code to customers on demand via the Internet. Private cloud technology delivers hosted service applications and business logic to a subset of customers who have selected specifically for such services and only for that purpose. Private cloud technology is much less expensive per user than public cloud computing because of lower overhead and better management.
Today’s cloud services deliver solutions that extend beyond traditional desktop and laptop computing. The cloud infrastructure consists of servers, storage, network connectivity and application service applications. Clients connect to cloud services via the Internet which acts as a data-delivery layer. The client can also request software or devices from the cloud when it is not connected to the Internet. This is referred to as “virtualization.”
To utilize cloud technology to its fullest potential, organizations will require careful planning and execution of various key pieces of the process. One of those keys is developing the right business strategy. The ability to manage infrastructure, such as virtual machines, makes it possible to gain a significant amount of traction in the data center as well as the data center. Managing storage space is critical as well. Organizations must determine their maximum allowable amount of storage space for applications, scripts and data as well as the size of the virtual machines they will utilize.
Cloud service providers must also carefully consider their cloud computing technology portfolio. They must evaluate both the needs of their customers as well as the resources they have available for deployment. In addition to these two crucial considerations, cloud computing technology must also have an efficient delivery methodologies. For instance, it is imperative that cloud service providers carefully select their virtualization software. In addition, cloud computing technology must also have the capability to automatically and reliably handle large workloads.
Another consideration for service providers taking advantage of cloud technology is how they will carry out the process of cloud migration. There are a variety of methods that service providers may use to move data stored in their own data centers to another venue, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Some of these methods, such as deduplication, allow for only part of a server to be taken over and dedicated to the AWS account. Other methods, such as part-time or permanent solutions, can reduce the time involved in cloud migration but may not reduce the cost of the services provided.
As cloud migration moves forward, service providers should also take a close look at their cloud security posture. This includes assessing any current or upcoming security measures, such as proactive scanning, patches, alerts and intrusion detection. Furthermore, a closer look at cloud security also involves looking at the types of threats that organizations currently face and developing preventive strategies for addressing those threats. Service providers need to determine if their cloud computing architecture can effectively handle all of the threats currently affecting the cloud.
Moving forward, cloud technology will continue to impact the way business enterprises conduct their day-to-day operations. The pace of change in cloud computing is staggering and is expected to accelerate even more in the coming years. Service providers must be ready to embrace this digital transformation and address the new security issues facing businesses. Only then will cloud computing provide the scalable, flexible, affordable and dynamic platform necessary for building businesses that are truly businesses of the future.