Cloud computing whitepaper(2)

Cloud Computing
A New and Rapidly Adopted Model
for Information Technology and Business Services

Cloud Computing: A New and Rapidly Adopted Model for Information Tehcnology and Business Services
Table of Contents
Executive Summary:
What is Cloud Computing?
Elements of Cloud:
Different Types of Cloud Technology
Virtualization:
Flexibility of the Cloud
Security:
Where Will Your Data Reside?
Leaders:
Who is Using Cloud Technologies?
Conclusion:
Enterprise IT Model You Can Afford?
About the Author
Works Citied
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Cloud Computing: A New and Rapidly Adopted Model for Information Tehcnology and Business Services 3
“The Cloud,”is an ambiguous term in an
industry normally riddled with tech savvy
acronyms. The word used to describe the most
talked about and adopted technology today
leaves decision makers wondering what exactly
is“Cloud Computing?”
Perhaps“The Cloud”refers to the physical
image of the massive clusters of servers that
are housed in data centers such as Google
and Amazon’s 300,000 server data centers; or
maybe it relates figuratively to the technology’s
elasticity, enabling technical support for
varying amounts of web traffic, storage and
networks.
Much like the clouds we see in the sky
glide to fit the day’s weather, so does
Cloud technology scale to fit the increasing
demand for faster communication and
technical reliability.

Executive Summary:
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud Computing is a new delivery model for information
technology (IT) and business services. The Cloud model enables
convenient on-demand access to data servers and software that can
be quickly provisioned with minimal management effort (2). The
model is characterized by four main components:
•“Pay Per Use”payment structure
• Location independent
• Rapid elasticity
• On demand service and server usage
This is a huge shift from traditional IT structures characterized
by expensive hardware and software purchases, licenses, and
software updates. In the traditional IT model, an IT department will
spend 75% of its budget on maintenance (2) and the organization
will spend massive chunks of money on software and hardware
purchases.
The Cloud model improves upon the traditional model by taking
advantage of third party data centers that enable the organization to
use the servers as needed and only pay for that which is used. This
creates a greater separation between the user and the infrastructure
and support processes. Thus the organization no longer has to
worry about database backups, upgrades, and patches, which are
now handled by the cloud provider (11). Such separation results in
many benefits to the organization. These benefits include:
The Cloud model
enables convenient
on-demand access
to data servers and
software that can be
quickly provisioned
with minimal
management effort.
Provisioning savings of 76%
Hardware savings of 65%
System Administration savings of 45%
Software savings of 27%

Cost Savings due to utilization of pooled resources including:
• Hardware savings of 65% through reduced infrastructure
and improved utilization
• Software savings of 27% from lower costs of ownership
and licenses
• System Administration savings of 45%
from reduced system administration and operation costs
• More efficient business processes with business
application usage and open-source coding environments
• An IT department focused on innovation
instead of maintenance of hardware and software
• Better and longer use of infrastructure
• Mobility: Ability to work via any device at any time
• Better security of data
Provisioning savings of 76% in labor and management Research by IBM
(11)
Cloud computing is being adopted rapidly in both the commercial
and government sectors with more than 90% of companies using
or planning to use cloud computing technologies. (8) The Obama
Administration’s“cloud first”policies require government agencies to
use cloud services where possible for new IT developments. Federal
agencies are looking to eliminate 800 data centers over the next
four years (3) and aim to shift 25% of the government’s $80 billion in
annual IT spending (3). The Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra
stated that the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy was propelled by
three driving forces:
1. The economies of scale regarding computing infrastructure
2. The ability to provide computing on demand
3. Ability go centralize vast collections of data for analytics (10)
Such initiative and benefits make cloud computing hard to ignore
and it is estimated that half of all federal agencies will be in the
cloud within 12 months (3).
Cloud computing is
being adopted rapidly
in both the commercial
and government sectors
with polls showing
that more than 90%
of companies and half
of all federal agencies
using or planning to
use cloud computing
technologies.

In today’s IT environment increasing data volumes are challenging
the ability of most organizations to store and manage it all.
Continuing to add more servers and storage systems creates large
infrastructures that are extremely costly to scale, house, power and
maintain (6). As stated above, advances in cloud technologies help
solve these problems but first, one must understand the elements
that make up this innovation.
Software that is typically loaded on individual computers is instead
loaded onto back-end servers usually located with a third party
service provider. Using a simple interface, such as an Internet
browser or remote desktop connection, users are able to access
software from any device (4). Cloud services are presented in three
ways:
1. SaaS/ Software as a Service: The provider’s application or
software that is typically purchased for large upfront costs is instead
run on a cloud infrastructure accessible on various devices through
thin client interfaces such as a web browser.
2. IaaS/ Infrastructure as a Service: The provider offers
fundamental computing resources such as processing, storage and
networks to the organization. The organization can store and work
via the third party’s cloud infrastructure and does not have to worry
about underlying infrastructure of its own.
3. PaaS/ Platform as a Service: Provider takes elements of SaaS
and IaaS and provides the customer the ability to deploy the cloud
infrastructure and acquired apps and software via remote desktop
connection or internet connection. (11)
Elements of the Cloud:
Different Types of Cloud Technology
No more expensive
server and back up
purchases that only run
at minimal capacity.
No more extravagant
upfront costs for
software that has to be
downloaded onto every
computer and upgraded
every couple years. No
more hardware failures
due to over usage.

This means no more expensive server and back up purchases that
only run at minimal capacity. No more extravagant upfront costs
for software that has to be downloaded onto every computer and
upgraded every couple years. No more hardware failures due to
over usage. An organization can now pay for the server and network
space they use and rest assured that their data is safe and secure
in an independent location run by professionals in the field. They
can purchase software for a small monthly fee and no longer worry
about expensive upgrades and hidden fees. Cloud technology
will help bring the best infrastructure and software available
to organizations that before could have never afforded this
enterprise level of sophistication and support.
“Cloud computing is as big a transformation as we have ever seen”
- Satya Nadella/ President of Server
& Tools Business at Microsoft
“The fact that this resource is available to many users at highly economical
rates is part of the excitement of cloud computing”
- Charles Babcock/ Author of Management Strategies
for the Cloud Revolution

The act of virtualizing computing power has removed IT complexity
in areas of mobility and data security (11). It breaks the link between
software and a particular piece of hardware, making the software
mobile and capable of being accessed by different kinds of
hardware. Systems and data can now be accessed through a wide
range of devices available to the user. Instead of sitting in the office
or lugging a heavy laptop around, one now has the option to work
via a mobile device or newer technologies such as the IPAD. The
devices no longer need the same level of processing, memory and
storage capabilities that traditional software purchases require (11).
This process gives way to not only advancement in security and
mobility but also betters the implementation and training process
of software by enabling the cloud provider to build and upgrade
the software on a different server. Once the upgraded software
is tested and all data is copied onto the upgraded server, a live
migration can be performed in which the system is moved from
one physical server to another without any interruptions to the
organization’s daily business practices. This is an accepted and
reliable data center technique and is leaps and bounds better than
the traditional upgrade and implementation models. This same
model is used to handle peeks in traffic in an organizations network,
if the server is experiencing too much usage additional Virtual
Machines can be fired up quickly to handle all traffic (2).
“Virtualization has consolidated what used to require
10-12 physical servers into one”
- Charles Babcock/ Author of Management Strategies
“Last year was the first in which the industry created more virtual servers
than purchased actual physical servers”
- Robert Wahbe/ Corporate Vice President Server
& Tools for Microsoft
“Virtualization will allow organizations to take all resources, pull them
together to dynamically provision and scale your software and only pay for
what you are using”
- Robert Wahbe/ Corporate Vice President Server
& Tools for Microsoft
Virtualization:
Flexibility of the Cloud
The Cloud breaks the
link between software
and a particular piece
of hardware, making
the software mobile
and capable of being
accessed by different
kinds of hardware.
Devices no longer
need the same level of
processing, memory
and storage capabilities
that traditional
software purchases
require.

Security:
Where Will Your Data Reside?
It is common for decision makers to become wary with the idea of
not having their organization’s severs and data on premise. The
act of handing such valuable information over to a third party
can be intimidating. Though security levels of public clouds can
be comparable to that of large enterprise organizations, it is now
common belief that the cloud’s security is leaps and bounds better
than most small organizations have today. Again, the power of the
cloud gives smaller organizations the ability to afford and secure
their IT environment on an enterprise level.
The main security component of the cloud is that the data will no
longer reside on the PC; it will instead be located in the cloud server
center. When the computer is shut down the data will be kept in the
cloud, not on the device. Thus when a computer is lost, dropped
or crashes the data will remain secure in the cloud. All the data
and work done before the crash can be accessed from any device,
including a friend’s laptop, a new PC or even a mobile phone. No
longer is your security and data reliant on your PC’s survival.
Additionally, data centers are divided into different“availability
zones”each being powered by different independent power
suppliers (2). Often these centers are very far apart geographically so
that failure in one center does not affect the data that is backed up in
a backup center 1000 miles away running on a completely different
power source than the one experiencing disaster. The systems
will be transferred seamlessly to the backup center with only a few
seconds of down time experienced by the end users. No longer are
your servers and data reliant on the site’s safety, instead they are
backed up in multiple locations throughout the country.
Cloud providers have the best practices in data facility backup, and
they also have firewalls and terminal protection and equip each
virtual machine with its own firewall. (2). It is easy to see how leaders
now acknowledge that putting data and software into the cloud is
a much safer model than leaving important systems at the hands of
small organization’s on-premise infrastructure and hardware.
“70 to 80 percent of cloud computing risks are no different from the
standard third-party outsourcing risks we’ve been tackling for years.”
- Charles Babcock/Author of Management Strategies
The main security
component of the cloud
is that the data will no
longer reside on the
PC; it will instead be
located in the cloud
server center. When the
computer is shut down
the data will be kept in
the cloud, not on the
device.
Leaders now
acknowledge that
putting data and
software into the cloud
is a much safer model
than leaving important
systems at the hands of
small organization’s on-
premise infrastructure
and hardware.

With the benefits mentioned above, it is no shock that almost all
leaders in the IT community are making a switch to developing the
cloud. According to research Co. IDC, spending on public cloud
computing services will grow five times faster than all global IT
spending in 2011 (7). Every major tech firm believes in the future
of cloud computing and is investing heavily in its development
including Microsoft, IBM, Google, Amazon, Dell and Hewlett Packard
(2). Microsoft plans to spend 90% or 8.54 billion of its 9.6 billion
annual research and development budget on cloud computing (9).
Dell is shifting gears from being a personal computing and business
computing supplier to becoming a cloud supplier as well and in
2009, Amazon.com’s use of network bandwidth in renting cloud
computing infrastructure surpassed its bandwidth use in online
retailing (2).
Leaders:
Who is Using Cloud Technologies?
The Federal
Government has
been quick to see the
advantages and has
made significant steps
in developments in
cloud computing.
Small
Business
Medium
Business
Large
Business
Federal
Government
State & Local
Goverment
21% 21%
37%
29%
23%
Percentage of organizations implementing
or maintaining cloud computing:

Tech firms are not the only entities investing in the cloud. The Feder-
al Government has been quick to see the advantages and has made
significant steps in developments in cloud computing, appointing
the first Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra, in 2009 to develop
and oversee the Federal Cloud Computing Initiative whose mission
statement is to drive the government wide adoption of cost effec-
tive, green and sustainable federal cloud computing solutions (2)
(1). Such developments include The General Services Administration
(1) Apps.gov website that enables federal agencies to order from
a menu of infrastructure as a service (IaaS) offerings from service
providers. Such developments and initiatives towards the cloud are
seeing results with the 2011 Federal Government’s Cloud Computing
Survey showing a big jump in the use of cloud services, with 29%
of respondents saying their agencies are using cloud services,
up 10 points from last year and another 29% planning to begin
using the cloud within 12 months; which means adoption should
surpass the 50% mark in the year ahead (3). Even the European
Commission is currently seeking views from citizens, businesses ,
public administrators and others parties on how to fully benefit from
cloud computing which will feed into a European Cloud Computing
Strategy that will be presented in 2012 (5).
“I am excited about the potential benefits of Cloud Computing to cut costs,
improve services and open up new business opportunities.”
- Neelie Kroes/ European Commission
Vice President of Digital Agenda

One can clearly see the importance of considering and planning
a cloud strategy for you organization. The cloud offers enterprise
level technology to small organizations at a cost they can afford.
One of the cloud’s biggest allies is today’s economic climate. The
economic downturn has made it hard for any organization to afford
the software and IT environment needed to perform at its best. The
cloud breaks down these economical barriers by enabling IT services
to be obtained in small increments on a pay-as-you-go basis (11).
When comparing traditional IT models to the cloud it becomes
impossible to ignore this innovation:
Conclusion:
Enterprise IT Model You Can Afford
The cloud breaks down
these economical
barriers by enabling IT
services to be obtained
in small increments on a
pay-as-you-go basis.
Almost every major IT firm is investing in development in the
cloud, 90% of companies in America already use or plan to use
cloud technology in some way and even the Federal Government
is investing in cloud technology. For the first time, small
organizations have the ability to have the best technology
available on the market due to the incredible elasticity and
economies of scale of the cloud environment. Do not get left
behind, talk to others in your organization and start the process
of forming a cloud strategy. It is a vital part of your organization’s
future and success.
“The cloud changes the economies of IT, suddenly IT can do a lot more
to enable end users to get the software they want without requiring a lot
more in budget or staff resources”
– Forrest Norrod/ VP & GM
of Dell’s Data Center Solution Unit
“If you don’t get into the habit of making use of large amounts of resources,
if you stick to the attitude that computing power is a scarce and precious
resource, your company will be outflanked by those that figure out how to
tap into the cloud”
– Charles Badcock/ Author of Management Strategies
TRADITIONAL MODEL CLOUD COMPUTING MODEL
Labor Intensive
Many different servers and computing
hardware suplied by different manufactures
Over invested in hardware
to avoid machine failure
All servers and computing hardware the same
Tolerates hardware failures
and routes work around them
Ties together low cost parts
and manages them as a single resource

This Whitepaper was written by UOS Global. UOS Global uses the
power of the cloud to provide utility solutions to small government
entities throughout America. State of the art software such as CUSI’s
UMS.net utility billing software, Microsoft Office tools, GIS and asset
tracking and IVR programs are set in a platform (PaaS) and delivered
via a remote desktop that can be accessed on any computing device.
UOS Global has 30 years in the meter reading and utility industry
and is a partner to cities by providing them with, in addition to
the platform, accurate training, outsourcing of operations such as
bill printing and back office management if needed, and a trusted
consultant to any utility issues the city may face. Our focus is to
help make technology usable and reliable so it moves cities forward
and doesn’t hold them back by helping maximize productivity
and eliminate financial stress and uncertainty. UOS Global has
developed a system to handle all utility needs so the staff can focus
on their work by offering:
Support: a network of genuinely sincere and accessible
professionals dedicated to making your day less stressful
Protection: disaster-proof data with security you can always depend
on
Quality: the best billing and collections software delivered to your
city using cloud computing technology that lowers energy usage
and eliminates hardware costs
About the Author

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Initiative | Info.apps.gov.”Home | Info.apps.gov.
GSA. Web. 17 Aug. 2011. <http://www.info.apps.
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for the Cloud Revolution. United States: The
McGraw Hill; 2010.
3. Biddick, Michael.“Cloud Computing’s
Tipping Point -- InformationWeekCloud
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- Computers, Hardware, Software and IT Solutions
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cdw.com/content/solutions/cloud-computing.
aspx>.
5. “Commission Seeks Views on How Best to
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Shows a Lack of IT Preparedness, Especially on
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Technology News, Analysis, Comments and Product
Reviews for IT Professionals | ZDNet. 09 May 2011.
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gardner/open-group-cloud-survey-shows-a-lack-
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clouds-true-costs-and-benefits/4157>.
9. Harris, Derrick.“Microsoft Plans $8.6B in
Cloud R&D, but Where Should It Go? — Cloud
Computing News.”GigaOM — Tech News, Analysis
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<http://gigaom.com/cloud/microsoft-plans-8-6b-
in-cloud-rd-but-where-should-it-go/>.
10. Page, Lewis.“DARPA Wants Weapons-
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2011. Web. 17 Aug. 2011. <http://www.theregister.
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