Cloud Computing and Business

Cloud Computing Security Pros & Cons

Over the last ten years, cloud computing has rapidly grown and it is expected to grow even further as more businesses move online. When cloud computing was first conceived, many skeptics dismissed it as being just another tech fad that will quickly disappear. However, over the last three years cloud computing has truly changed the way we think about IT nowadays. The Cloud has significantly reduced the cost of doing business and has allowed businesses to focus on their core activities and not IT related issues (Krutz & Vines, 2010; Ali, Khan &Vasilakos, 2015). These reasons and many other which we will highlight in this essay show that Cloud computing is here to stay. However, like any other technology, cloud computing has also been associated with a few challenges and inefficiencies. This paper will look at the pros and cons of cloud computing. In the end, a conclusion will be drawn on the issues at hand.

Pros

Low Cost -- cloud computing is an affordable proposition. There is no need to spend huge sums of money up front on IT equipment or infrastructure. One simply needs to have laptops, desktops, or any other type of device that he or she will use to get online and access data. For many small business, this is quite significant because maintaining in-house networks and databases requires a significant amount of investment. Businesses have to buy and regularly upgrade software and hardware. They also have to train and maintain IT technicians and experts. This is in contrast to businesses that use cloud computing where the Cloud services provider covers most of those IT-related costs (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2016). Think of cloud computing in terms of renting versus owning. Cloud computing is like renting a service. A Cloud services provider owns and is responsible for maintaining of IT infrastructure. The client pays for access to services provided through a monthly or yearly fee. This is similar to what is referred to as Saas (Software as a Service) model.

Flexibility -- with cloud computing a business only pays for what it actually needs. This is in contrast to buying and maintaining in-house networks where a business might not be fully using its infrastructure. Thus, cloud computing is good for start-ups because it can start small and pay for more services, if needed, as it grows. Another way in which cloud services are flexible is that they can be customized as needed. It is also quite easy to set up and operate from the client's perspective (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2016; Xiao & Xiao, 2013).

Scalable -- it is fast and easy to adapt new technologies with cloud computing. Unlike in the past, when one had to first look for compatible hardware and software, with cloud computing, it is much easier to add new infrastructure or to support new applications. According to Xiao and Xiao (2013), businesses can simply leverage on infrastructure as a service (Iaas) to quickly add new hardware and software infrastructure to allow new applications. In case a business needs more services, it simply needs to pay more and avail services provided by the cloud services provider.

Accessibility -- wherever you are in the world, you can easily access your business files as long as you have internet access. You no longer need to be physically present in the office to access your most important business documents. This is in contrast to complicated remote login processes of the past that were used to access in-house networks (Ali et al., 2015).

Sustainability -- In case a business is struck by natural disaster, it can quickly reorganize and restart since its cloud-computing provider resides elsewhere.

Cons

Data security -- this is one of the biggest concerns with regards to cloud computing. With cloud computing, data that was secured within the four walls of your office premises, now resides somewhere else, possibly in another state or country. If that data contains customer files, proprietary lists, trade secrets or any other crucial info, then its security must be addressed. Anyone buying cloud services should be aware that his or her data could be compromised. Using cloud services with this in mind could help you take appropriate protective measures (Sultan, 2014). Checking your service providers' data protection record and asking them the right questions can also help a business protect its data.

Redundancy -- This term refers to the dependability of your web-based applications which operate in the cloud. One practical example would be: in case the server that your website is operating on crashes, another server continues from where the other stopped and your business carries on. This functioning explains redundancy. In the cloud, several might think that since their application are running "out there" on the internet that there actually is built-in redundancy (Nedelcu et al., 2015). However, it is a misconception. A normal cloud provider would have resources running on a single server. Others might have several servers and this is actually good; but the reality is that those several servers normally reside in a single data center. In case a problem occurs at the data center, which affects multiple servers, or even the whole data center, then your business applications could collapse with it.

Costs when under attack -- Despite the fact that cloud computing provides a good cheap option for small-scale operations, it could cost more money in case the website of a company experiences a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. This is because the typical aim of a DDoS attack is to use up resources in order to leave the server incapacitated. In case the cloud computing provider does not have adequate protection against DDoS attacks, once the site faces an attack, the provider will start increasing the resources that the site needs (because of the attack) and charge for the offered resources. It is very crucial to ask the cloud provider about the type of provisions that they have in place to protect against this kind of attack (Sultan, 2014; Nedelcu et al., 2015).

Performance -- Relies on enterprises, users share infrastructure, or network connections. Performance based on network connections or shared infrastructure is mostly inconsistent. Various regions do not have a very good internet connection and the users are not capable of accessing or using applications with high quality performance (Sultan, 2014). Additionally, even with a perfect internet connection, the cloud system could have some major dysfunctions. Even though it is true that data on the cloud could be accessed from anywhere and at any time, there are instances when this system could have various serious dysfunctions. Users should be aware that this kind of technology is always susceptible to outages as well as other technical issues. Furthermore, you will require a very good internet connection for you to be constantly logged on to the server. You will always be stuck in case of connectivity and network problems. It is known that when you are sharing infrastructure with others, you might be affected by 'noisy' neighbors. The performance on a shared infrastructure could be unreliable and Softlayer has options for you to minimize this. Softlayer gives you the chance of provisioning dedicated bare metal servers or private cloud servers as a way of alleviating performance issues (Sultan, 2014; Nedelcu et al., 2015). Additionally, performance could vary. In a cloud environment, applications normally run on servers that simultaneously offer resources to other enterprises. As the needs of the other users vary, the performance of your resources' share varies as well. Frequently, a cloud provider might claim that the resources available for you are unlimited. This might be hypothetically true, but from a realistic perspective the hardware scalability is likely to be limited. You might not be aware of how scalable it is till you get to the limits of usage on their system.