What cloud computing really means By Eric Knorr, Galen Gruman Created 2008-04-07 03:00AM Cloud computing is all the rage. "It's become the phrase du jour," says Gartner senior analyst Ben Pring, echoing many of his peers. The problem is that (as with Web 2.0) everyone seems to have a different definition. As a metaphor for the Internet, "the cloud" is a familiar cliché, but when combined with "computing," the meaning gets bigger and fuzzier. Some analysts and vendors define cloud computing narrowly as an updated version of utility computing: basically virtual servers [1] available over the Internet. Others go very broad, arguing anything you consume outside the firewall is "in the cloud," including conventional outsourcing. [ Stay on top of the state of the cloud with InfoWorld's "Cloud Computing Deep Dive [2]" special report. Download it today! | Also check out our "Private Cloud Deep Dive [3]," our "Cloud Security Deep Dive [4]," our "Cloud Storage Deep Dive [5]," and our "Cloud Services Deep Dive [6]." ] Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities. Cloud computing is at an early stage, with a motley crew of providers large and small delivering a slew of cloud-based services, from full-blown applications to storage services to spam filtering. Yes, utility-style infrastructure providers are part of the mix, but so are SaaS (software as a service) [8] providers such as Salesforce.com. Today, for the most part, IT must plug into cloud-based services individually, but cloud computing aggregators and integrators are already emerging. InfoWorld talked to dozens of vendors, analysts, and IT customers to tease out the various components of cloud computing. Based on those discussions, here's a rough breakdown of what cloud computing is all about: 1. SaaS This type of cloud computing delivers a single application through the browser to thousands of customers using a multitenant architecture. On the customer side, it means no upfront investment in servers or software licensing; on the provider side, with just one app to maintain, costs are low compared to conventional hosting. Salesforce.com is by far the best-known example among enterprise applications, but SaaS is also common for HR apps and has even worked its way up the food chain to ERP, with players such as Workday. And who could have predicted the sudden rise of SaaS "desktop" applications [9], such as Google Apps and Zoho Office? 2. Utility computing The idea is not new, but this form of cloud computing is getting new life from Amazon.com, Sun, IBM, and others who now offer storage and virtual servers that IT can access on demand. Early enterprise adopters mainly us.

1. What cloud computing really means By Eric Knorr, Galen
Gruman Created 2008-04-07 03:00AM Cloud computing is all
the rage. "It's become the phrase du jour," says Gartner senior
analyst Ben Pring, echoing many of his peers. The problem is
that (as with Web 2.0) everyone seems to have a different
definition. As a metaphor for the Internet, "the cloud" is a
familiar cliché, but when combined with "computing," the
meaning gets bigger and fuzzier. Some analysts and vendors
define cloud computing narrowly as an updated version of
utility computing: basically virtual servers [1] available over
the Internet. Others go very broad, arguing anything you
consume outside the firewall is "in the cloud," including
conventional outsourcing. [ Stay on top of the state of the cloud
with InfoWorld's "Cloud Computing Deep Dive [2]" special
report. Download it today! | Also check out our "Private Cloud
Deep Dive [3]," our "Cloud Security Deep Dive [4]," our
"Cloud Storage Deep Dive [5]," and our "Cloud Services Deep
Dive [6]." ] Cloud computing comes into focus only when you
think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or
add capabilities on the fly without investing in new
infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new
software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based
or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet,
extends IT's existing capabilities. Cloud computing is at an
early stage, with a motley crew of providers large and small
delivering a slew of cloud-based services, from full-blown
applications to storage services to spam filtering. Yes, utility-
style infrastructure providers are part of the mix, but so are
SaaS (software as a service) [8] providers such as
Salesforce.com. Today, for the most part, IT must plug into
cloud-based services individually, but cloud computing
aggregators and integrators are already emerging. InfoWorld
talked to dozens of vendors, analysts, and IT customers to tease
out the various components of cloud computing. Based on those

2. discussions, here's a rough breakdown of what cloud computing
is all about: 1. SaaS This type of cloud computing delivers a
single application through the browser to thousands of
customers using a multitenant architecture. On the customer
side, it means no upfront investment in servers or software
licensing; on the provider side, with just one app to maintain,
costs are low compared to conventional hosting. Salesforce.com
is by far the best-known example among enterprise applications,
but SaaS is also common for HR apps and has even worked its
way up the food chain to ERP, with players such as Workday.
And who could have predicted the sudden rise of SaaS
"desktop" applications [9], such as Google Apps and Zoho
Office? 2. Utility computing The idea is not new, but this form
of cloud computing is getting new life from Amazon.com, Sun,
IBM, and others who now offer storage and virtual servers that
IT can access on demand. Early enterprise adopters mainly use
utility computing for supplemental, non-mission-critical needs,
but one day, they may replace parts of the datacenter. Other
providers offer solutions that help IT create virtual datacenters
from commodity servers, such as 3Tera's AppLogic and
Cohesive Flexible Technologies' Elastic Server on Demand.
Liquid Computing's LiquidQ offers similar capabilities,
enabling IT to stitch together memory, I/O, storage, and
computational capacity as a virtualized resource pool available
over the network. 3. Web services in the cloud Closely related
to SaaS, Web service providers offer APIs that enable
developers to exploit functionality over the Internet, rather than
delivering full-blown applications. They range from providers
offering discrete business services -- such as Strike Iron and
Xignite -- to the full range of APIs offered by Google Maps,
ADP payroll processing, the U.S. Postal Service, Bloomberg,
and even conventional credit card processing services. 4.
Platform as a service Another SaaS variation, this form of cloud
computing delivers development environments as a service. You
build your own applications that run on the provider's
infrastructure and are delivered to your users via the Internet

3. from the provider's servers. Like Legos, these services are
constrained by the vendor's design and capabilities, so you don't
get complete freedom, but you do get predictability and pre-
integration. Prime examples include Salesforce.com's Force.com
[10], Coghead [11] and the new Google App Engine [12]. For
extremely lightweight development, cloud-based mashup
platforms [13] abound, such as Yahoo Pipes [14] or [7]
Dapper.net. 5. MSP (managed service providers) One of the
oldest forms of cloud computing, a managed service is basically
an application exposed to IT rather than to end-users, such as a
virus scanning service for e-mail or an application monitoring
service (which Mercury, among others, provides). Managed
security services delivered by SecureWorks, IBM, and Verizon
fall into this category, as do such cloudbased anti-spam services
as Postini, recently acquired by Google. Other offerings include
desktop management services, such as those offered by
CenterBeam or Everdream. 6. Service commerce platforms A
hybrid of SaaS and MSP, this cloud computing service offers a
service hub that users interact with. They're most common in
trading environments, such as expense management systems that
allow users to order travel or secretarial services from a
common platform that then coordinates the service delivery and
pricing within the specifications set by the user. Think of it as
an automated service bureau. Well-known examples include
Rearden Commerce and Ariba. 7. Internet integration The
integration of cloud-based services is in its early days.
OpSource, which mainly concerns itself with serving SaaS
providers, recently introduced the OpSource Services Bus,
which employs in-the-cloud integration technology from a little
startup called Boomi. SaaS provider Workday recently acquired
another player in this space, CapeClear, an ESB (enterprise
service bus) provider that was edging toward b-to-b integration.
Way ahead of its time, Grand Central -- which wanted to be a
universal "bus in the cloud" to connect SaaS providers and
provide integrated solutions to customers -- flamed out in 2005.
Today, with such cloud-based interconnection seldom in

4. evidence, cloud computing might be more accurately described
as "sky computing," with many isolated clouds of services
which IT customers must plug into individually. On the other
hand, as virtualization and SOA permeate the enterprise, the
idea of loosely coupled services running on an agile, scalable
infrastructure should eventually make every enterprise a node in
the cloud. It's a long-running trend with a farout horizon. Bu
Running head: JUSTIFICATION REPORT PART 2
JUSTIFICATION REPORT PART 2
1Justification Report Part 2
Evaluation of Alternatives
Question 1
Georgia Power, an Atlanta-based company, dealt with racial
discrimination through swift action where they engaged in swift
and decisive action when the racial discrimination allegations
were made. The company did not attempt to downplay the
allegations but admitted the possibility of racial discrimination
in the workplace. The company took swift and decisive action
against the employees who were found harassing others based
on their racial backgrounds. The company expressed sympathy
with those who were victims of racial discrimination, which
averted any feelings of hostility towards the company in terms
of legal action against them (Wooten and James, 2004). This is
an alternative solution to initiating policies against those found
discriminating against other employees.
An alternative to the solution of providing safety procedures

5. and policies is the example provided by United Airlines 747
near crash. When one of its airplanes blew out the door, the
captain abandoned standard procedures and landed the plane
safely (New Zealand Law Foundation, 2000). Therefore, safety
policies and procedures are not enough. There should be
breathing room for the employees to react according to
circumstances that are novel and not covered by the procedures
and policies.
Question 2 and 3
Under the importance to measure and report, the quick response
to discrimination charges suggested as an alternative works
effectively. It is easy to measure discrimination and report on it
when employees cease to report on discrimination at the
workplace. In allowing for novel circumstances as an alternative
safety measure, this is difficult to measure and report since the
company would not have prior experience with the novel
circumstance that necessitates departure from standard policies
and procedures.
In terms of the scientific acceptability, the first alternative to
discrimination, which is to make sure there is quick and swift
response, the employees could be subjected to surveys to
measure scientifically whether the safety measures at the
company are working. In the alternative to safety, which is
allowance for novel circumstances, there is no possibility of
measuring scientifically the noel circumstances, which would be
new to the organization and demand departing from standard
policies and procedures.
In terms of the feasibility criterion, the first and second
alternatives on discrimination respectively are feasible since
they would be applicable to most organizations. Punishing
employees for discriminatory behavior and adopting safety

6. mechanisms that allow for novel circumstances are doable for
most organizations.
The usability criterion also validates both discrimination and
safety alternatives offered. The employees can ascertain the
usability of the alternatives since the results would speak for
themselves. The outcomes of the two alternatives are clearly
visible and therefore employees can ascertain their usability.
In the fifth criterion, the competing factor to discrimination,
which is a slower response, is worse than the quick and swift
response and therefore it is a better alternative. In the safety
alternative, allowing for novel circumstances is better than the
competing factor, which is to institute rigid policies and
procedures, which would create indecision when novel safety
situations arise.
Findings and Analysis
Question 4
The major discoveries that emerged from the evaluation of the
discrimination alternative is that the response to the situation is
more important than the actions in place, such as policies and
procedures, to deter discrimination. When Coca Cola was
accused of discrimination at the workplace, the company did not
respond quickly, which created a media problem and a public
relations problem (Unger, 1999). When policies and procedures
are in place, they might help the companies manage its
discrimination problems but when such problems arise, they
should make quick responses in order to avoid negative public
relations consequences.
The major discovery made in the safety alternative is that
policies and procedures might help create a feeling of safety but
they might not cover novel situations where the safety policies

7. and procedures cannot apply. The organization should therefore
leave room for novel circumstances and continually update their
safety policies and procedures to cover the emergent
circumstances that they might not have foreseen (Baker and
Sinkula, 1999).
Question 5
Figure 1
Criteria
Policies Option
Quick Response option
Importance to Measure and Report
High
High increase
Scientific Acceptability
Moderate
Negligible increase
Feasibility
High
High increase
Usability
High
High increase
Comparison to Competing Factors
High
High increase
TOTAL Feasibility* of Alternatives based on Criteria?
High
High
Figure 2
Criteria
Procedures and Policies
Novel Circumstance Allowance
Importance to Measure and Report
High
Negligible increase
Scientific Acceptability

8. High
Negligible increase
Feasibility
High
Negligible increase
Usability
High
Negligible increase
Comparison to Competing Factors
High
Negligible increase
TOTAL Feasibility* of Alternatives based on Criteria?
High
Low
References
Baker, W., and Sinkula, J. (1999). The synergistic effect of
market orientation and learning
Orientation on organizational performance. Journal of Academy
of Marketing Science, 27, 411-427.
New Zealand Law Foundation. (2000). Health & Safety at
Work: All practicable steps and the
current state of knowledge. Retrieved May 6, 2015 from
www.webresearch.co.nz/morphfolia/filelistings/healthsafetyatw
ork.pdf
Unger, H. (1999). Discrimination lawsuit: Coca-Cola accused of
companywide patterns. Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, H1.
Wooten, L. and James, E. (2004). When Firms Fail to Learn:
The Perpetuation of Discrimination
in the Workplace. Journal of Management Inquiry, 13(23), 23-
33.
Week 5 questions
"File Compression" Please respond to the following:

9. · Research the Internet or create your own files which meet the
following criteria:
a) gzip compresses by more than 80 percent
b) gzip compresses by less than 10 percent
c) gets larger when compressed with gzip
Use ls –l to determine the sizes of the files in question. Then,
determine whether or not you can characterize the files in a, b,
and c. Document your personal findings and include your
references if you used any.
· Determine whether or not you would recommend using gzip
over other compression utilities like the Microsoft Windows zip
tool. Justify your response.
"Distributed Software Architecture" Please respond to the
following:
· From the first e-Activity, briefly summarize your chosen
example’s function and design. Next, determine whether or not
you believe the example could function as effectively in a non-
distributed architecture as it had in a distributed architecture.
Justify your response.
· From the second e-Activity, suggest what you believe are the
two (2) most beneficial characteristics of cloud-computing from
an organizational perspective. Further, explain at least one (1)
challenge an organization could potentially face when
implementing an existing in-house application or system into
the cloud. Justify your response.
"Incorporating Graphics Into the Justification Report" Please
respond to the following:
· This week, you are to add a graph to your Justification Report.

10. Discuss how you'll approach this part of your assignment, and
state the main reasons why you feel that graphs are a necessary
part of a formal report.
· From Part 1 of this discussion, determine the main benefits of
using graphs in the report presentation. Next, explain the matter
in which a creatively constructed graph might help you to better
manage and present your data.