Cloud computing adoption and challenges: Japan versus Bahrain

Private -- Cloud Computing Risks and Challenges -- Bahrain Gov.

Cloud Computing Experiences of Other Countries

Focus on Japan

Japan has in the past had the rather lousy record of being an unwilling (or late) adopted of non-Japanese technology. Indeed, as a matter of fact, most of the country's businesses were rather reluctant to embrace West-developed technological innovations including but not limited to Twitter and Facebook. It hence comes as a complete surprise that the country received an excellent BSA Global Cloud Computing Scorecard ranking. In the words of BSA (2013), "the scorecard examines major laws and regulations relevant to cloud computing in seven policy categories as well as each country's ICT-related infrastructure and broadband deployment." Some of the factors that carry significant weight in the said scoring system therefore include but they are not limited to cloud computing rules international harmonization, presence of effective anti-cyber crime penalties, intellectual property rights management structures, legislative readiness, etc. Based on this information therefore, one could reliably conclude that Japan is far much ahead of many other countries in not only the adoption of the cloud computing regime but also support for the same.

Currently, Japan does not face significant challenges as far as the adoption and support for cloud computing solutions are concerned. This is particularly the case given that the country's IT infrastructure is seen by many as being one of the most developed in the world. However, as is the case with many companies from across the world, there are still privacy and security concerns which should be addressed on this front. With regard to privacy, it is important to note that a number of enterprises have shied away from handing over critical data that to what they see as a third party (Harada, 2011). Further, just like many other countries, Japan has been grappling with persistent intrusions on its public clouds which in comparison to locally stored data have numerous entry points allowing for the said intrusions.

One success story as far as cloud computing in Japan is concerned is the Japanese Postal Service. This is one of the former state-owned corporations that have migrated to the cloud in the recent past. It is important to note that in the year 2007, immediately after its privatization, the service came to the realization that technology was inevitable if it was to remain relevant in the new IT dispensation (Sales Force, 2013). At the time, the service was facing significant challenges with its networks which were essentially under pressure from millions of people seeking to post various items. The need for an effective fix was evident. In addition to having the corporation privatized, it was decided that the same be modernized -- by amongst other things moving to the cloud. It was at this point that Force.com was roped in (Sales Force, 2013). In a move that may have helped maintain a healthy client base growth, a SaaS/PaaS combination was used. In the end, all the post office locations offered connectivity were able to port billions of records within a relatively short period of time. As a result, service delivery levels were pushed further upwards.

Focus on Israel

Most companies in Israel embraced cloud computing from the onset. This was aided by the fact that Israel has been, and continues to be, a software innovation hub. With SaaS applications being diversified, the Israeli SaaS market is undergoing a revolution of unprecedented proportions, with quite a good number of ISVs offering two main classes of applications -- those tailored to meet the various needs of the local markets, and those intended for the global markets. Locally, companies continue to be somewhat active in not only the implementation but also the operation, facilitation and management of cloud environments. Issues sorted out on this front have got to do with availability, performance, and security.

As I have already pointed out above, Israel has been, and continues to be a software innovation hub. Indeed, within the last one decade, the country has been able to develop a variety of technologies with significant focus apportioned to security technologies -- DLP, encryption, web application security, etc. In that regard therefore, Israel already has the necessary infrastructure to support cloud-based computing and as a result, many companies continue to show interest in the BI SaaS.

It should be noted that although Israel is still regarded a technology hub, the adoption of cloud computing has not been without its own unique challenges; with most of the said challenges mimicking those companies in other countries face. Challenges in this case include but they are not limited to performance and availability, security and privacy concerns (although minimal), and manageability.

According to Assia (2012), in cloud computing, the relevance of data protection and privacy laws cannot be overstated. This is particularly the case given that by its very nature, cloud computing surpasses jurisdictional and border boundaries, hence the emergence of issues relating to where specific data should be located. In comparison to the situation in other countries, the country's Privacy Protection Act is largely compliant with standards in Europe. In an attempt to further enhance compliance, the country now has in place the Law and Information Technologies Authority, a recently established authority charged with data protection (Assia, 2012).

Companies that have migrated to cloud computing in Israel have realized a number of benefits. This is particularly the case with regard to the minimization of costs. Firms no longer need to buy for peak needs. Instead, the said companies are making significant savings by making use of only those resources they need at the present time. Should the situation demand, the said firms now have the power as well as freedom to scale up. Some of the success stories with regard to cloud computing in Israel include but they are not limited to Libox. Established five years ago, the company permits users to not only share but also stream a variety of media files including photos, videos and music.