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¶ … Benefits Values Cloud Computing Business Enterprises." You reputable research papers, articles journals alongside ACM Communications Journal Professor Dr. Rajkumar Buyya's articles, research papers journal materials found (Prof Buyya) -line home page "www. The benefits and values of cloud computing to business enterprises Introduction to the literature review section The scope of the current chapter is that of assessing the values and benefits of cloud computing to enterprises. The literature review section is constructed through the gradual and sustained consultation of various specialized sources in the available literature.

The sources to be used at this stage are all reputable, coming from all articles, journals and books, each of these sources revealing their own advantages and disadvantages. The books and textbooks for instance possess the advantage of discussing a topic in increased detail, but the shortage of possibly being outdated. This limitation is relative and this relativity is due to the nature of the topic studied. For instance, in a historical study, the books used would have an increased relevance, regardless of the time in which they were written.

Nevertheless, in the context of research in the field of technology, this limitation is severe due to the rapid pace of technologic development and the need to consult relevant and new data. Then, the journals to be used have the advantage of discussing specific issues as these relate to the topic of cloud computing, but their disadvantage is that they might address niche subjects, of a relative relevance to the current topic.

Additionally, they could be written in a highly technical manner, which reduces the access to information of the novice technology specialist. Finally, the literature review section would also integrate data from articles, with a primary advantage that they discuss the most recent aspects of cloud computing in the enterprise context, in a quick and efficient manner. However, since they are seldom peer reviewed, they might be influenced by the bias and subjectivity of the writer.

In order to address this limitation, emphasis would be placed on the selection of reputable, reliable and objective sources of information. Aside from the nature of the sources to be integrated throughout the chapter, emphasis at this stage is also placed on the organization of the literature review section. In this order of ideas, the current chapter would be structured based on the nature of the information presented.

In this specific order of ideas, the integrant parties of the current chapter include: Definitions of cloud computing Characteristics of cloud computing Benefits of cloud computing to business enterprises. 2. Definitions of cloud computing Cloud computing is a relatively novel concept, recurrent in the technological realm, but with applications in various aspects. The notion generically refers to usage of technology more as a service, rather than an actual product.

The users would consume technology in an efficient manner, similar to the usage of a commodity, and would gain access to various resources, through a network system. Still, while this understanding of cloud computing is rather rudimentary, a universally accepted definition of the term has yet to be developed.

In such a setting, as Dough Terry at ACM Communications Journal notes, cloud computing "means different things to different people." In order to support a superior understanding of the concept, the current section focuses on the provision of several definitions, as they appear in the specialized literature. In this order of ideas, Ryan Ko approaches the definition of cloud computing from the standpoint of the consumers, who become able to simply utilize the required technologies, without other technological considerations.

In this line of thoughts, a first definition of cloud computing is represented by the following: (1) "Fundamentally, cloud computing is a concept that aims to enable end-users to easily create and use software without a need to worry about the technical implementations and nitty-gritties such as the software's physical hosting location, hardware specifications, efficiency of data processing, and so forth" (Ko, 2010). Hui Du and Yu Cong however approach the definition of cloud computing through the lenses of the services provided with the aid of the cloud.

In this order of ideas, they state that cloud computing is comprised on the provision of either one, two or all three of these types of services: storage of data, infrastructure / platform services and software applications. (2) "The computing resources provided in cloud computing fall into three broad categories of service: data storage, infrastructure/platform, and application software. Data storage is about storing and managing the volume of business data and valuable personal data for companies.

In the infrastructure/platform category, cloud computing providers offer the use of computer hardware with system software, which involves operating systems, security, and network systems. […] For application software, cloud computing allows companies to run a variety of software applications using cloud services without managing their own applications" (Du and Cong, 2010). As Du and Cong point out, the usage of cloud computing is highly relevant in the organizational context, where it can store data, use it and manipulate it.

In the infrastructure and platform phase, it is often possible for the cloud computing providers to also offer hardware support to their customers; they can install the hardware, configure the system, and maintain the IT infrastructure. Last, in the application phase of the cloud computing services, economic agents become able to use a variety of services which they do not possess nor maintain. Some of these services could include software for business operations, sales applications, human resource applications and so on.

Other definitions of the concept are presented below: (3) "Cloud computing is maintaining data, applications and programs on a remote server that can be accessed through many devices, such as desktop computers, netbooks or smartphones. Proponents often describe it as the ultimate on-demand or as-needed computing service" (Salow, Meier and Goodwin, 2011).

(4) "Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models" (Mell and Grance). (5) "A model for delivering information technology services in which resources are retrieved from the internet through web-based tools and applications, rather than a direct connection to a server.

Data and software packages are stored in servers. However, cloud computing structure allows access to information as long as an electronic device has access to the web. This type of system allows employees to work remotely" (Investopedia, 2012). 3. Characteristics of cloud computing Cloud computing is already present in the life of technology users, even when these are not entirely aware of this.

Specifically, the cloud computing platform is being currently used and implemented in electronic mail or social websites, where the users can create accounts, store and transmit information without having to learn the code and program the application. Then, aside from the individual users, small size companies can also access the features of cloud computing to avoid personal servers and simply use the services of specialized tertiary parties.

"For example, end-users no longer need to learn a new language or worry about the program's memory requirements to create a Facebook or MySpace application. A small- to medium-sized enterprise no longer needs to own and maintain actual physical servers to host Web applications but are instead able to lease virtual private servers (VPS) for a monthly subscription fee.

With cloud computing, end-users and businesses can simply store and work on data in a "cloud," which is a virtual environment that embodies data centers, services, applications, and the hardworking folks at the IT companies" (Ko, 2010). In other words, the first two characteristics of cloud computing is that it is widely spread and that it can also be used in both individual as well as professional contexts. Another important feature of cloud computing is represented by the fact that it abstracts the service from the product.

This very feature of cloud computing creates points of difference and distinguishes it from other approaches to computing, such as grid computing or utility computing. "This is done by virtualizing the products (for example, the complex network of computers, servers, and applications that are used in the back end) so that computing is now accessible to anyone with a computing need of any size. By accessible, we mean that it is easy for a non-technical person to use this software and even create his or her own" (Ko, 2010).

The abstractization of the service from the product revolves around the ability of cloud computing to serve the need for a computing product through the delivery of a computing service. In other words, it virtualizes the product to ensure the satisfaction of a wide palette of customer needs, be these needs small individual ones, or large organizational ones. Additionally, it does this through a user friendly mechanism, meaning as such that computing becomes available to people without a technological background.

In other words then, another feature of cloud computing is that of increasing the access to computing for a wider category of consumers. Another aspect of cloud computing is represented by the nature of the relationship between the provider of computing services and the user of computing services.

In this order of ideas, the relationship is one of company -- customer, and it materializes in the usage of computing services, the provision of the computing services -- as well as the adjacent support services --, and culminates with the user paying for the services they have utilized. "The contracts and payment models of cloud services are the major differences of cloud computing to the classic rented servers. The use of cloud services usually pays depending on used resources, i.e.

CPU-hours, data volume or storage" (Fouquet, Niedermayer and Carle, 2009). The definition provided by Hui Du and Yu Cong has revealed that cloud computing can offer three specific types of services -- data storage, infrastructure / platform and software applications. And many cloud computing system provide all three categories of services, as these are co-dependent and the purveyor would be unable to provide software services without a pre-existent platform (Du and Cong, 2010).

In such a setting then, the next feature of cloud computing is that it is complex and reliant on internal relationships between its components. Last, the final characteristic to be addressed at this stage is represented by the risks posed by cloud computing, assessed through the lenses of the economic agent choosing to utilize cloud computing.

In this line of thought, some aspects that need to be taken into consideration by the business enterprise include the following: The costs involved with the cloud computing mechanisms, including the hardware and software costs, licenses and maintenance costs The bandwidth available at the provider of cloud computing services The resources required by the business enterprise in the operation of cloud computing; its availability and access to these resources The integration and monitoring of the applications The provision of training and the means in which the training programs would be provided The timeline for the migration and the implementation of cloud computing (Olsaker, 2011).

Aside from these risks, Michael Miller (2009) at Inform IT points out that there also exist some specific disadvantages of cloud computing. One of these shortages is represented by the constant dependency on a powerful internet connection, followed by the possibility of slow operational speed, the limitation of the features or the possibility of the data stored to be either compromised or lost. The Cloud Computer Techie also reveals that while in the long-term, cloud computing would be cost effective, its initiation is costly for the company.

Additionally, the flexibility of operating on cloud computer is decreased. 4. Benefits of cloud computing to business enterprises As it has been deduced from the previous sections, the concept of cloud computing is rather wide and complex, with applications in numerous fields. The popularity of cloud computing is pegged to the numerous advantages it generates, but also due to intense marketing promotion and a technological involvement. Nevertheless, aside from the "marketing hype and technological redefinition, the potential benefits are clear" (Terry).

Dough Terry at the ACM Communications Journal takes a generic stand in revealing the benefits of cloud computing to enterprises. In this order of ideas, he argues that economic agents are able to centralize and store all important data in a cloud, which then allows easy access to all parties requiring the respective information. In such a setting, the enterprise becomes able to create efficiencies in terms of its usage of software applications and hardware devices. Also, efficiencies can be created at the level of resource utilization and cost reduction.

These efficiencies in turn create a context in which the economic agents can better focus on the needs and wants of the customer base. "Large datacenters permit resource sharing across hosted applications and lead to economies of scale at both the hardware and software level. Software services can obtain seemingly infinite scalability and incremental growth to meet customers' elastic demands.

The pay-as-you-go model and rapid provisioning can result in more efficient resource utilization and reduced costs" (Terry) Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo (2010) also believes that cloud computing generates a series of advantages for the economic agents, especially the small size enterprises, which have restricted resources to invest in the IT departments. In such a setting, the business enterprises become better able to concentrate on their core operations and can also create economies of scale.

"Cloud computing provides a scalable online environment which facilitates the ability to handle an increased volume of work without impacting on the performance of the system.

Cloud computing also offers significant computing capability and economy of scale that might not otherwise be affordable to businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that may not have the financial and human resources to invest in IT infrastructure" (Choo, 2010) At a more specific level, Choo points out that there are some particular means in which the usage of cloud computing generates positive impacts upon the economic agent.

These include: The business enterprises can use technology and pay for what they use, in a highly efficient economic model that allows them to better control their costs. Due to this applicability, the economic agents are better able to focus on their core operations and generate additional gains by being able to focus on their own customers, and consume fewer resources with the management of Information Technology.

Another advantage is represented by the fact that cloud computing providers the business enterprises with the ability to store data on the servers of the computing provider. This means that the company will no longer have to spend its resources and efforts on creating its own servers. Operational complexity is as such decreased, and also decreases are registered with operational expenditures. Then, the usage of cloud computing by economic agents also allows them to become customers in a highly competitive market.

In other words, the business enterprises are themselves customers to the computing companies and they can choose from these service providers those that best serve their specific needs; this often means that companies can change service providers and move to the one that offers the most cost effective alternative.

Aside from the cost related aspects of using cloud computing, Choo also points out that the business enterprises can also enjoy the benefit of decreased time and effort consumed to install and maintain the hardware infrastructure, as well as the software applications. Last, Choo believes that cloud computing improves the satisfaction of the customers by increasing the response time of the company. In other words, cloud computing allows "for the rapid provisioning and use of services to clients by optimizing their IT infrastructure" (Choo, 2010).

Gregory Wishusen takes a different approach to the usage of cloud computing by business enterprises in the meaning that he addresses the technological advantages pegged to this utilization. Wishusen also recognizes the economic benefits, presenting in particular the possibility of creating economies of scale but his immediate focus falls on the technological advantages of using cloud computing. From his standpoint then, cloud computing is believed to be able to generate information security benefits.

This statement is generally conflicting with that in other sources, where it is indicated that data security could be decreased as a result of cloud computing usage (Miller, 2009). Nevertheless, Gregory Wishusen firmly believes that cloud computing can generate information security advantages, through the four distinctive attributes of cloud computing: virtualization and automation, broad network access, potential for scale economies and the use of self-service technologies.

The generation of advantages through these dimensions is described below: a) Virtualization and automation The utilization of virtualization and automation has the potential to generate the implementation of secure configurations at the level of the virtual machine images. In other words, more than the traditional computing systems, cloud computing allows users to quickly replicate secure data and as such ensure confidentiality and quick operations with data and processes. This finding has been supported by players in both public and well as private fields.

"Department of Defense (DoD) officials responsible for one cloud computing program states that virtualization allows a cloud computing provider to rapidly replicate secure configurations for cloud-based virtual servers, rather than manually applying secure configurations to physical servers, which could be required in a traditional environment that has not employed virtualization techniques. Private sector representatives also stated that virtualization can allow faster deployment of secure server configurations, security upgrades, and patches for security vulnerabilities than a traditional computing infrastructure can" (Wilshusen, 2010).

b) Broad network access At the level of the security advantages created by the broad network access, these are mainly revealed through the ability of the cloud to store high data volumes, which are easily accessible via an internet connection. This feature makes it possible for the economic agents to not store their data on internal, removable media, which could expose it to higher risks. Additionally, at an internal level, the company might use the intranet, whereas in the cloud system, it would use the internet.

This separation of the technologic media would "reduce exposure of sensitive data on the agency's internal network" (Wilshusen, 2010). c) Economies of scale and distributed infrastructure Then, at the level of the scale economies and the distributed infrastructure, these refer to the fact that the cloud provider has scale advantages and can as such provide technology services superior in quality to those that would be created in-house by the bushiness enterprise. For instance, the cloud computing system would have an increased ability to store back-up data, at a decreased cost.

Then, the cloud provider would have superior mechanisms of ensuring data protection and security than the business enterprise itself. Also, "the large scale and mitigation techniques that cloud providers offer may also reduce vulnerability to denial of service attacks" (Wilshusen, 2010). d) On-demand self-service Finally, at the level of the self-service dimension of cloud computing, the data security advantages are derived from the possibility to apply additional security features upon request. These would ensure superior data security and are also highly accessible to the customer.

Additionally, cloud computing also supports a better fragmented and more flexible control of data security (Wikshusen, 2010). Overall, the approach implemented by Gregory Wilshusen in addressing the benefits of cloud computing are highly relevant in discussing the shortages of cloud computing, especially those which are linked to security threats. Fred van der Molen's approach of the benefits of cloud computing is less technical, but focuses more so on the common sense advantages of using the cloud computing system.

Specifically, he does identify some of the advantages already mentioned, but he also introduces new ones, less current in the previous sources, such as the ability to save energy. At a more detailed level, Fred van der Molen reveals the following six benefits of cloud computing to business enterprises: Scalability expansion and elasticity enhancement -- at this level, van der Moler generically discusses the economic and technologic benefits of using cloud computing, as they have been identified by the previous sources.

Decrease in the capital expenditures -- this benefit is obvious as the companies do not invest large sums of money into the development of their IT departments, but only pay for the technologies they use. Saving energy -- the migration to a cloud computing system supports environmental sustainability by allowing economic agents to operate in more environmentally friendly enterprises which require less storage, cooling and space.

Increase in end-user productivity -- this advantage is supported by the ability of the end user to access the system regardless of device and location. Improvement in reliability -- this feature is given by the ability of the cloud computing system to support numerous scenarios of data recovery.

Increased organizational capacity to invest in other projects -- this final benefit addressed by Fred van der Molen is represented by the fact that when the business enterprise migrates to cloud computing, it frees up space, resources and infrastructure that can be further invested in other strategic directions (van der Molen, 2010).

Seyed Amir Beheshti continues the train of thoughts of Fred van der Molen, and argues that the reduced consumption of electricity due to the migration to cloud computing could also materialize in a reduction of the carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. The author nevertheless also gives credit to the economic advantages of using a cloud computing system. The statement is that cloud computing allows them to share in hardware and software scale economies, for personal financial and economic advantages.

Additionally, the business enterprises are less confined to the need to continually upgrade their technological infrastructure, and this also creates financial as well as operational advantages; they spend less on IT and are better able to focus on their core operations. In order to more objectively settle the case of the benefits generated by the usage of cloud computing, a study was conducted in 2008 and its aim was that of identifying the possible benefits of cloud computing at the level of the business enterprises.

The results are revealed in the chart below: Source: Seyed Amir Beheshti, 2011 According to this study, the most recurrent benefit of cloud computing usage within the business community is represented by easy deployment, followed closely by the ability to only pay for what they use and the ability to reduce the expenditures associated with the IT department.

Other important benefits include the lower levels of monthly payments, the ability to use the latest functionalities, the encouragement of more standard IT, the simplification of system and information sharing and well as the belief that cloud computing is a system of the future (Beheshti, 2011). Archana Mantri, Suman Nandi, Gaurav Kumar and Sandeep Kumar place a decreased emphasis on green IT and do not directly recognize the environmental benefits of cloud computing.

The authors however reveal their belief that cloud computing does generate a series of obvious advantages for economic agents. In this specific direction, they identify advantages at five levels, as follows: costs, access, scalability and capacity, resource maximization and collaboration.

At the level of costs, Mantri, Nandi, Kumar and Kumar point out that cloud computing is a highly useful tool especially in times of economic uncertainty, as it reduces the "cost of acquiring, delivering and maintaining computing power." Then, in terms of access, the cloud system ensures quick and easy access to a wide array of applications and services, in a manner which facilitates telework and continuity of operations.

The third advantage reveled by Archana Mantri, Suman Nandi, Gaurav Kumar and Sandeep Kumar is represented by scalability and capacity, materialized primarily in the ability of cloud computing to provide users with services adapted to their changing needs, in a quick and efficient manner. "Infinitely scalable, cloud computing allows IT infrastructure to be expanded efficiently and expediently without the necessity of making major capital investments. Capacity can be added as resources are needed and completed in a very short period of time.

Thus, agencies can avoid the latency, expense and risk of purchasing hardware and software that takes up data center space -- and can reduce the traditional time required to scale up an application in support of the mission" (Mantri, Nandi, Kumar and Kumar, 2011). Finally, at the levels of resource maximization and collaboration, cloud computing has the advantages of reducing the IT resource consumption, as well as ensuring a superior sharing of information. John Shaw and Simon Evans normally restate the benefits of cloud computing which have already been mentioned.

They for instance forward the cost savings generated by cloud computing, the decreased impact upon the environment or the maximization of resource usage.

Aside from these benefits however, the authors also pin point to more specific benefits, as follows: Decreased initial investment, compared to an increased initial cost to setting up an internal IT department The reduction of the time traditionally consumed to process data, due to the elimination of parallel processing, and as such technological redundancies The increase of the available space office, which is no longer occupied by servers The creation and utilization of just in time infrastructure, which ensures that the business enterprises are continually able to access the services they need, at the changing rate they require (Shaw and Evans, 2008).

In other sources, this benefit is referred to as scalability. Tim Clark and Margaret Dawson introduce a new stand in the assessment of the benefits of migrating to cloud computing in the meaning that they recognize the multitude of advantages described in other sources, but they also point out that these advantages are directly and indirectly obvious at the level of the customers and the business partners. In other words, cloud computing supports improved communications, superior customer satisfaction, alignment between the overall company goals.