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Absorption of Cloud Computing A status report

Submitted by, David Varghese Sajith P Kumar

Cloud Computing
Need for Cloud Computing Consider an executive at a large corporation. The particular responsibilities include making sure that all of the employees have the right hardware and software they need to do their jobs. Buying computers for everyone isn't enough; he also has to purchase software or software licenses to give employees the tools they require. Whenever there is a new hire, you have to buy more software or make sure your current software license allows another user. It's so expensive and stressful. Consider a situation where, instead of installing a suite of software for each computer, you'd only have to load one application. That application would allow workers to log into a Webbased service which hosts all the programs the user would need for his or her job. Remote machines owned by another company would run everything from e-mail to word processing to complex data analysis programs. It's called cloud computing, and it could change the entire computer industry. In a cloud computing system, there's a significant workload shift. Local computers no longer have to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to running applications. The network of computers that make up the cloud handles them instead. Hardware and software demands on the user's side decrease. The only thing the user's computer needs to be able to run is the cloud computing system's interface software, which can be as simple as a Web browser, and the cloud's network takes care of the rest. Why use another system through cloud

Clients would be able to access their applications and data from anywhere at any time using internet. Data wouldn't be confined to a hard drive on one user's computer or even a corporation's internal network. It could bring hardware costs down. Additional expenditure on increasing processing power, memory can be reduced. The companies don't have to buy a set of software or software licenses for every employee. Instead, the company could pay a metered fee to a cloud computing company. If the cloud computing system's back end is a grid computing system, then the client could take advantage of the entire network's processing power. Often, scientists and researchers work with calculations so complex that it would take years for individual computers to complete them.

Cloud Computing in News Cloud computing to create 2 million jobs in India by 2015, says study According to a news in economic times Cloud computing will generate some 14 million new jobs worldwide by 2015, and India alone will create over 2 million. Its according to a study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC). Pointing out to a strong linkage between cloud, innovation and entrepreneurship, the study said most companies look at migration to cloud computing as a way to free up existing resources and work on more innovative projects. Freeing up budget allows organizations to shift some of their legacy work to the cloud and invest such freed budget in IT innovation that supports business innovation and in turn create new jobs. "A common misconception is cloud computing is a job eliminator, but in truth it will be a job creator - a major one," said John F Gantz, chief research officer and senior vice-president at IDC in a statement. The Microsoft-IDC study estimates that the revenues from cloud innovation could reach as high as $1.1 trillion a year by 2015 from $400 billion in 2011, where some $28 billion was spent worldwide on public cloud IT services (as compared to over $1.7 trillion of spending on total IT products and services industry) creating 1.5 million jobs.

Tamil Nadu to support Microsofts Cloud Computing Centres Chennai, mar 6: US-based software giant Microsoft on Tuesday discussed the prospects of further investments in the fields of education and e-governance with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms J Jayalalitha while she promised support in establishing Microsoft Cloud Computing Centres. Why do we want Cloud Technology Absorption? Ideally, cloud computing models will need to continue to evolve, change and grow over time to remain cost-competitive and continue to provide a high level of ROI for clients. In order to achieve this objective, it will be important for service providers to incorporate or absorb new technology into the existing service models. The approach and techniques used to absorb new technology will be crucial to the overall success of the activity for most organizations. This, coupled with good timing, will ensure that the leading cloud service provider retain their existing client base and grow that base further. The larger cloud service providers with a wider range of service offerings will be quicker to embrace new technologies that are already tested and proven.

Types of Cloud Computing Major corporations including Amazon, Google, IBM, Sun, Cisco, Dell, HP, Intel, Novell, and Oracle have invested in cloud computing and offer individuals and businesses a range of cloudbased solutions. Social Networking Perhaps the most famous use of cloud computing, which does not strike people as "cloud computing" at first glance is social networking Websites, including Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, and many others. The main idea of social networking is to find people you already know or people you would like to know and share your information with them. Of course, when you share your information with these people, you're also sharing it with the people who run the service. E-Mail Some of the biggest cloud computing services are Web-based e-mail. As of January 2009, over 500 million people used Microsoft's Web-based e-mail, Hotmail or Windows Live Mail . Using a cloud computing e-mail solution allows the mechanics of hosting an e-mail server and maintaining it to be taken out of your hands. It also means that your e-mail is accessible from anywhere. Another example is gmail. Backup Services Even if you do use services to keep all your documents and photos, chances are you still has data on your personal computer. One of the biggest problems with personal computing has been the tendency to lose that data if your computer is stolen, destroyed, or the storage device damaged. This is where backup comes in. Banking and Financial Services Consumers store personal financial information to cloud computing service providers. In addition, consumers store tax records using free or low cost online backup services. Health Care In an effort to improve the nations health IT infrastructure, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

(ONC) recently selected a cloud computing platform to manage the selection and implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems across the country. Cloud Computing and Corporate IT The recent recession has prompted many executives to more closely examine the way they invest in, manage and innovate the business. One particular area of focus is IT, where a new wave of growth and transformation is becoming prominent Cloud Computing. The volatile economic environment is pushing organizations to comb their IT budgets looking for opportunities to lower costs. There is no doubt that cloud computing is creeping through corporate IT departments. As with most cutting-edge innovations, it starts out on the fringe of the organization with a few mavericks and then accelerates into the core as business value becomes clear. But, as with any technology innovation, cloudware will create suboptimal value in a large firm without a coordinated business strategy. Cloud Computing at Toyota & Ford The heads of Toyota and Microsoft announced recently that they are pooling a billion yen -roughly $12 million -- to invest in using the software giant's Windows Azure cloud computing platform to provide information to the car maker's next generation electric and pluggable hybrid vehicles. The target date for the first fruits of the collaboration showing up on showroom floors in the U.S. and Japan is sometime in 2012. However, the development is not directly related to the incar technologies that Microsoft already provides to Ford Motor Co., for one, as Microsoft Sync. Instead, whereas Sync provides a selection of features, from control of the entertainment system to GPS directions, provided within the car, Microsoft characterizes the use of Windows Azure as a platform move -- something beyond its existing deals with other auto makers. Toyota's goal is to establish a complete global cloud platform by 2015 that will provide affordable and advanced telematics services to Toyota automotive customers around the world, Toyoda said in the webcast. Cloud Computing at CERN Even the worlds largest particle physics laboratory CERN(European Organization for nuclear research) uses the Cloud Computing Technology. The system requires a processing power of 20000 CPU cores, around 100000 processors.

Status report of Cloud Computing at US government agencies The United States Government is the worlds largest consumer of information technology, spending over $76 billion annually on more than 10,000 different systems. Fragmentation of systems, poor project execution, and the drag of legacy technology in the Federal Government have presented barriers to achieving the productivity and performance gains found when technology is deployed effectively in the private sectors. In September 2009, they announced the Federal Governments Cloud Computing Initiative. Cloud computing has the potential to greatly reduce waste, increase data center efficiency and utilization rates, and lower operating costs. As they move to the cloud, they must be vigilant in the efforts to ensure that the standards are in place for a cloud computing environment that provides for security of government information, protects the privacy of the citizens, and safeguards the national security interests. We will check the status report of the Department of Defense and Social Security Administration. Department of Defense Project: Army Experience Center (United States Army) The Army Experience Center (AEC), located in Philadelphia, PA, is an Army pilot program designed to explore new technologies and techniques that the Army can leverage to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its marketing and recruiting operations. The AEC uses touch screen career exploration kiosks, state-of-the-art presentation facilities, community events, virtual reality simulators, and social networking to help potential recruits learn about the Army and make informed decisions about enlisting. The Army required a customer relationship management system that would track personal and electronic engagements with prospects and would help recruiting staff manage the recruiting process. Army's legacy proprietary data system, the Army Recruiting Information Support System (ARISS), was over 10 years old. Despite regular upgrades over the years, it was infeasible to modify ARISS to meet the AEC's requirements; including integration with Social Networking and other Web 2.0 applications, real time data access from multiple platforms including handheld devices, ability to track AEC visitor and engagement data, and integration of marketing and recruiting data. Initial bids from traditional IT vendors to provide required functionality ranged from $500,000 to over $1 million. Instead, the Army chose a customized version of the cloud-based Customer Relationship Management tool Salesforce.com as its pilot solution to manage recruiting efforts at the Army Experience Center. The Army is piloting this cloud-based solution at an annual cost of $54,000. With the new system, the Army is able to track recruits as they participate in multiple simulations at the Army Experience Center. The solution integrates directly with e-mail and

Facebook, allowing recruiters to connect with participants more dynamically after they leave the Army Experience Center. By using Salesforce.com's mobile solution, Army recruiters can access recruit information from anywhere. The Army is currently in the second year of a two year pilot of the customized Salesforce.com application. Using the cloud-based solution, the Army was able to have fewer recruiters handle the same workload as the five traditional recruiting centers the Army Experience Center replaced. The cloud application has resulted in faster application upgrades, dramatically reduced hardware and IT staff costs, and significantly increased staff productivity.

Social Security Administration Project: Online Answers Knowledgebase (SOASK) The Social Security Administration (SSA) handles millions of questions and inquiries from citizens every year. For example, inquirers want to know what they can do online, or how to get a social security number, file for benefits, locate a field office, get a retirement estimate, or request a proof of income letter. In order to provide the public with a convenient means to answer to their questions, anytime and anywhere Internet access is available, the agency provides an online database of Frequently Asked Questions. The SSA is leveraging a cloud-based solution from RightNow Technologies to provide this service. Visitors to socialsecurity.gov can search for answers by category, keyword or phrase, which helps them quickly find the information they are looking for. Over a thousand questions and answers are included in the knowledge base. SSA keeps the information contained in the knowledgebase up-to-date and relevant, eliminating the need to call or visit SSA for basic information. In 2009, the number of answers provided through SSAs Frequently Asked Questions grew to over 34 million. Given current agency staffing levels, it would not have been possible for office staff and 800-number agents to answer even 10 percent of these additional inquiries. By contrast, the Internet solution is highly scalable, allowing SSA to meet increasing demand for online information without impacting service in the office and on the phone.

Present Scenario of Cloud Computing Most large corporates are now starting to invest in cloud computing, understanding the importance of Cloud Computing. Its still in the beginning stage. This is a technology which will create a lot of savings in IT departments for the corporate world. Opportunities are immense in this field. Companies like Infosys are seriously planning to get more from this technology. More and more companies are starting using this technology.

Appendix Notes Since most of the industries are in the initial stages of implementing Cloud Computing there is no status report available. So this report has been made with the available data. Data limitation was a real constraint for researching on this topic. The sources from which data has been taken is mentioned below.

References:

The Economic Times: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-0306/news/31127083_1_public-cloud-job-creator-global-innovation-hub

The Hindu News Paper The details of cloud computing in US: http://www.cio.gov/documents/StateOfCloudComputingReport-FINALv3_508.pdf CERN: http://www.stanford.edu/group/hpc/cgi-bin/hpcday2010/wpcontent/uploads/2010/08/CERN-cloud-infra-structure.pdf How Cloud computing works: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cloudcomputing/icloud.htm Cisco: http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/us_government/cloud_computing.html
Infosys: http://www.infosys.com/cloud/resource-center/documents/relevance-enterprise.pdf Cloud Computing: http://www.tcbmag.com/industriestrends/technology/118874p1.aspx Cetrom: http://www.cetrom.net

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