With an abundance of books available that cover the technical aspects of cloud computing, the time is right for a book that helps managers and CIOs understand exactly how cloud computing affects operations in their companies and departments. A guide to managing a cloud project, Cloud Computing Strategies provides the understanding required to effectively evaluate the technology and determine how it can be best applied to improve business and enhance the overall corporate strategy. Based on extensive research, the book examines the opportunities and challenges that loom in the cloud. It explains exactly what cloud computing is, what it has to offer, and calls attention to the important issues management needs to consider before passing the point of no return regarding financial commitments. Illustrated with numerous examples and case studies, the text examines security, privacy, data ownership, and data protection in the clouds. It also: Explains how and why your company can benefit from Open Software and onDemand Services Identifies various cloud providers, their services, and their content as a basis for evaluating cost effectiveness Provides authoritative guidance on how to transition from legacy systems to the clouds Includes helpful tips for managing cloud vendor relationships and avoiding vendor lock-in Whether you’re already in the cloud or just considering it, this book provides the unbiased understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of cloud computing needed to make informed decisions regarding its future in your organization. The book’s strength is that it supplies authoritative insight on everything needed to decide if you should make a transition to the clouds, and if you decide to do so, how to effectively manage relationships with your cloud providers.
Author(s): Dimitris N. Chorafas
Edition: 1
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 352
Cover......Page 1
Cloud
Computing
Strategies......Page 2
ISBN 9781439834534......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Foreword......Page 10
About the Author......Page 14
Section I: Cloud Technology and its User Community......Page 15
1.1 For and against Cloud Computing......Page 16
1.2 OnDemand vs. OnPremises IT......Page 19
1.3 The Four Pillars of Cloud Computing......Page 23
1.4 A Bird's-Eye View of Cloud Computing Vendors......Page 27
1.5 A New Industry Is Being Born......Page 31
1.6 Competition in the Cloud Is Asymmetric......Page 35
1.7 The Multi-Billion-Dollar Opportunity: Internet Advertising......Page 38
2.1 Public Clouds, Private Clouds, and Clients......Page 42
2.2 Cloud Applications and Platforms......Page 46
2.3 Providing the Cloud Infrastructure......Page 49
2.4 Cloud Computing, Spectral Efficiency, Sensors, and Perspiration......Page 53
2.5 The Technology of Enabling Services......Page 57
2.6 At the Core of the Cloud Is Virtualization......Page 61
2.7 Strategic Products and Tactical Products......Page 65
3.1 Strategic Inflection Points in Information Technology......Page 69
3.2 Cloud Computing and Its Slogans......Page 74
3.3 User-Centered Solutions and Cloud Computing......Page 78
3.4 For Cloud Vendors an Inflection Point Is Risk and Opportunity......Page 82
3.5 Cost Is One of the Dragons......Page 86
3.6 The Problems of Opaque Pricing......Page 90
3.7 Salesforce.com: A Case Study on Pricing on Demand Services......Page 93
4.1 Potential Customers of Cloud Technology......Page 97
4.2 The Cloud Interests Small and Medium Enterprises......Page 100
4.3 Virtual Companies and the Cloud......Page 104
4.4 Virtual Networked Objects......Page 107
4.5 Consumer Technologies and the Cloud......Page 111
4.6 Social Networks and Multimedia Messaging......Page 115
Section II: What User Organizations Should Know......Page 119
5.1 The Computer Culture as We Know It Today May Disappear......Page 120
5.2 The CIO’s Career Is at Stake......Page 123
5.3 Centralization May Be a Foe, Not a Friend......Page 127
5.4 Budgeting for Cloud Computing......Page 130
5.5 Outsourcing, Infrastructural Interdependencies, and the Cloud......Page 133
5.6 Service Level Agreements......Page 136
5.7 Is Cloud Computing a Lock-In Worse than Mainframes?......Page 139
6.1 Strategic Objectives and Reengineering......Page 143
6.2 Organizational Solutions Are No Sacred Cows......Page 147
6.3 The Number One Asset Is Human Resources at the CIO Level......Page 150
6.4 Promoting Greater Productivity through Reorganization......Page 154
6.5 The Transition from Legacy to Competitive Systems......Page 158
6.6 Avoiding the Medieval EDP Mentality......Page 161
Section III: Any-to-Any Public and Private Clouds......Page 166
7.1 The Controllability of Computer Applications......Page 167
7.2 Platforms Rising: Google Tries to Be a Frontrunner......Page 170
7.3 Salesforce.com and Its Force......Page 172
7.4 Microsoft Is Now on the Defensive......Page 175
7.5 Amazon.com Leverages Its Infrastructure......Page 178
7.6 EMC, VMWare, and Virtual Arrays of Inexpensive Disks......Page 181
7.7 Wares of Other Cloud Challengers......Page 183
8.1 Searching for an Open Architecture......Page 189
8.2 Challenges Posed by Big Systems......Page 193
8.3 Infrastructure as a Utility......Page 196
8.4 The Cloud's System Architecture and Its Primitives......Page 199
8.5 The User Organization's Business Architecture......Page 202
8.6 Financial Services Applications Architecture: A Case Study......Page 206
8.7 The Architect's Job: Elegance, Simplicity, and Integration......Page 209
9.1 Who Owns Whose Information on the Cloud?......Page 212
9.2 When Responsibility for Security Takes a Leave, Accountability Goes Along......Page 215
9.3 Data Fill the Air and Many Parties Are Listening......Page 218
9.4 Many of the Cloud’s Security Problems Date Back to the Internet......Page 221
9.5 Security as a Service by Cloud Providers......Page 225
9.6 Fraud Theory and Intellectual Property......Page 227
9.7 A Brief Review of Security Measures and Their Weaknesses......Page 230
9.8 Security Engineering: Outwitting the Adversary......Page 233
10.1 Business Continuity Management in the Cloud......Page 238
10.2 System Reliability, Human Factors, and Cloud Computing......Page 241
10.3 Case Studies on Designing for Reliability......Page 244
10.4 The Concept of Fault Tolerance in Cloud Computing......Page 248
10.5 With the Cloud, Response Time Is More Important than Ever Before......Page 251
10.6 Improving the Availability of Cloud Services......Page 253
10.7 The Premium for Life Cycle Maintainability......Page 257
Section IV: Case Studies on Cloud Computing Applications......Page 260
11.1 The Advent of Open-Source Software......Page 261
11.2 An Era of Partnerships in onDemand Software......Page 264
11.3 Frameworks, Platforms, and the New Programming Culture......Page 267
11.4 Finding Better Ways to Build IT Services......Page 270
11.5 The Case of Software Dependability......Page 274
11.6 Auditing the Conversion to Software as a Service......Page 277
11.7 Software Piracy Might Enlarge the Open Source's Footprint......Page 280
12.1 Logistics Defined......Page 283
12.2 Customer Relationship Management......Page 286
12.3 Enterprise Resource Planning......Page 289
12.4 Wal-Mart: A Case Study in Supply Chain Management......Page 292
12.5 Just-in-Time Inventories......Page 295
12.6 Machine-to-Machine and RFID Communications......Page 300
12.7 Challenges Presented by Organization and Commercial Vision......Page 302
13.1 Cloud Software for Private Banking......Page 306
13.2 Leadership Is Based on Fundamentals......Page 309
13.3 Cloud Software for Asset Management......Page 313
13.4 Cloud Technology Can Improve Fund Management......Page 316
13.5 Criteria of Success in Asset Management Technology......Page 318
13.6 Functionality Specifics Prized by the Experts......Page 321
13.7 Institutional Investors, High Net-Worth Individuals, and the Cloud......Page 325
Epilog: Technology's Limit......Page 329
