Cloud computing provides businesses with flexible computing power and data storage. It allows companies to save costs and improve efficiency. Specifically, cloud computing allows Amazon to scale its resources as needed and avoid over-provisioning. It also allows other companies like Zynga to flexibly store game data in the cloud during testing and then transfer games to private servers once traffic stabilizes. However, cloud computing also faces disadvantages like security risks if private data is exposed, and reliability issues if a major outage occurs at a cloud provider like Amazon. Both Amazon and its subscribers must consider concepts like capacity planning, scalability, and total cost of ownership when using cloud computing services.

1. Should Business Move To The Cloud CASE 2.3
1 MBA_Batch2_UMK_Kch/M7/GST5803/Information Systemand E-Commerce/P14D398P
CASE STUDY 2.3
SHOULD BUSINESS MOVE TO THE CLOUD
a) What business benefits do cloud computing services provide? What problems do
they solve?
In the case they give us an example which uses cloud computing at the marketplace that is
Amazon. For Amazon they use the Web services division (AWS) to get flexible computing
power and data storage. This cloud application helps Amazon get a large amount of
computing resources. According to the customer provided information, the AWS can help
Amazon separate, allocate and arrange these resources. The AWS also can help Amazon’s
computing resources. On the one hand, Cloud computing has brought a lot of convenience for
Amazon, making them save costs and increase profits; on the other hand, cloud computing let
Amazon spend more time on other work which had more value (Laudon 234). Because of
that using cloud computing can store large amounts of data and information, more and more
companies are using cloud computing. Cloud computing helps us build a large database, and
can help us to quickly find the desired information. This improves the work efficiency. “Big
Data analytical techniques are being used to deliver more detailed data – and deliver it
quicker”(Top 10 business reasons to move to the cloud). Another example for using the cloud
is that it can help the company save cost, like the Outback company who used the cloud “to
avoid taxing in-house system unnecessarily” (Laudon 234). In the case, the Zynga Company

2. Should Business Move To The Cloud CASE 2.3
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uses cloud computing to store data and transmit data. “Storing information in the cloud gives
you almost unlimited storage capacity”(Cloud Computing – Is it Really All That Beneficial?).
When a new game is in the test phase and the company is not sure how many customers, they
use the Amazon cloud. “Then once game traffic stabilizes and reaches a steady number, they
would move the game on to their private zcloud” (Laudon 234). This cloud transfer can help
the Zynga Company solve the space storage problems, and only pay for the resources it ends
up using. Using the cloud to transfer one game’s large data, is easier than using other old
applications. In the case, the InterContinental company use the cloud to provide customers
with more convenient services. According to use the cloud, the InterContinental company lets
their customers receive data faster if the data ias located on a server that is physically close to
them (Laudon 234). With the development of society, more and more multinational
companies are using the cloud, not only because of cost savings, but because people
worldwide can access the cloud, provided they have an Internet connection(10 benefit of the
cloud computing).
b) What are the disadvantages of cloud computing?
Using the cloud computing, the two major
disadvantages are security and reliability.
In this case study, Amazon's cloud service
has shown significant outages in 2011 and
2012, causing serious consequences. There
are many large sites are using Amazon's
cloud computing, so Amazon's cloud
computing failure will not only affect
Amazon, but also spread to many other companies and have a great impact on them. (Laudon
235). According to the Paris International Group of a report, after investigation they found
that each year there are about ten hours or more the server fails. Even this small amount of
downtime can lead to large revenue losses for firms that need 24/7 availability. Another
important issue is security. “By leveraging a remote cloud based infrastructure, a company
essentially gives away private data and information, things that might be sensitive and
confidential. It is then up to the cloud service provider to manage, protect and retain them,
thus the provider’s reliability is very critical.”(Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud
Computing – Cloud computing pros and cons) In addition to these two major drawbacks,
another drawback is that cloud computing is prone to attack. “Store information in the cloud

3. Should Business Move To The Cloud CASE 2.3
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could make your company vulnerable to external hack attacks and threats.” As we know, the
Internet is virtual, so we do not know what is safe. (Cloud Computing – Is it Really All That
Beneficial?)
c) How do the concepts of capacity planning, scalability, and TCO apply to this
case? Apply these concepts both to Amazon and to subscribers of its services.
Amazon must provide hardware capacity planning and scalability. With the development of
information technology, Amazon will have more and more customers. Not just Amazon, but
Amazon's customer requires a large database to store a variety of data and information. This
will help the company grow. Amazon must bear the total TCO of its services, while Amazon
is also needed to maintain the profitability of the company. However, the services'
subscribers benefit from not having to worry about these issues.
d) What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from using cloud Computing?
Why?
As information technology and social development, there have been more and more
companies need cloud services. Online business is the biggest user cloud computing, at first
online business need to process too much data and information online.
First, the information Internet companies need to use cloud services, such as Facebook,
Google, Ebay, etc. Because the cloud computing can store large information, and share the
information.
Second, large multinational corporations, one of the advantages about the cloud computing is
that people from around the world can get a faster connection. Cloud services can help
employees of multinational corporations to establish good communication channels and share
the company's resources. This saves the cost of the work to help multinational companies,
improve work efficiency.
Logistics business needs to use cloud computing to support the services that logistics
business offers.
In addition by switching to cloud services, business could reduce their Total cost of
ownership (TCO) through greater centralization and standardization of their hardware and
software resources.