Corporate Vs. Internet - Computing in the Clouds

Corporate computing has revolutionized the current business environment. Not as a mere replacement of a typewriter, computers offer versatile services and increase the productive flow of information. Many time consuming and complex tasks like inventory control, accounting, customer’s database etc have been efficiently handled by computing systems. Organizations are trying to make optimum utilization of the systems at a relatively less cost. They are finding out various ways to consolidate the computer maneuvers through which they can reduce their operational costs. Cloud computing is a new dimension in computing systems by which companies can curtail their operating expenses.

In simple terms it can be expressed as “computing over the internet”. It does not take place within the company’s premises. It is not using networks or outsourcing to run the same old applications. It consists of new and technologically updated ways of accessing and providing information, analyzing data and resources to people across the network.

Anatomy of the Process:

A cloud computing platform consists of a massive collection of cloud servers. This includes a data center, provision manager, application server, monitoring server, and virtualization components. All the clouds are interconnected, and serve as the back end of the process. Web 2.0 is being deployed on the application server, through which all requests are efficiently handled. The user selects a service from the catalog through the front end interface. This request is passed to the system, in which the right resources are identified, and the provisioning service shapes the resources in the cloud.

Software and information, both are held by centrally located servers and not on an end-user’s computer. Computer programs are hosted and operated through the internet. These applications use big data centers and servers to host web applications and services. People can access the required information by means of any device connected with an internet. It is not required that they have to access the information only from their desktop. They can even do it through their hand phones.

Applicability and Market Opportunity:

This is more beneficial especially to small businessmen for whom heavy IT expenses are out of budget. This system helps them to become more productive without spending much on in-house, technical equipments. There are certain functions which can only be accessed through desktop applications such as high power computations in spread sheets. But, a vast extent of data can be accessed through cloud computing, which is normally impossible through desktop applications. Even the latest desktop can process only about 3 billion computations per second. But cloud computing systems are capable of performing trillions of computations in the same time. It involves less maintenance issues like storage capacity, compatibility etc. This would help organizations to tackle the most complicated computing tasks. It will make information available to the masses rather than a limited number of skilled professionals.

When a user accesses information from the cloud, he will get only the latest version. This eliminates the trouble of updating the version on the user’s hard drive. Generally, a vendor sells product directly to the end user, and if this product becomes obsolete, the user has to go out of business. Now, cloud computing helps the user to get information from the latest version. With this system, a person from anywhere in the world, can create a company at a relatively cheap cost, which can compete with almost anyone.

Challenges ahead for implementing the system:

- The software and technology required to support the system is still not obtained appropriately.
- Awareness and infiltration of its usage lacks in many countries.
- As immense data of people’s personal identity will be stored through a third party, the issue become more sensitive. Much focus and attention is required to safeguard their privacy.

World’s leading companies like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and IBM are moving towards this trend, by formulating plans to tap this technology. This decade is witnessing internet as a profitable marketplace for business. With the growing need for using computing systems in business operations, cloud computing has became an inevitable part of the technology portfolio. It is a long running trend with a far out horizon.