A design of evaluation method for SaaS in cloud computing

Purpose: This paper aims to design an evaluation method that enables an organization to assess its current IT landscape and provide readiness assessment prior to Software as a Service (SaaS) adoption. Design/methodology/approach: The research employs a mixed of quantitative and qualitative approaches for conducting an IT application assessment. Quantitative data such as end user���s feedback on the IT applications contribute to the technical impact on efficiency and productivity. Qualitative data such as business domain, business services and IT application cost drivers are used to determine the business value of the IT applications in an organization. Findings: The assessment of IT applications leads to decisions on suitability of each IT application that can be migrated to cloud environment. Research limitations/implications: The evaluation of how a particular IT application impacts on a business service is done based on the logical interpretation. Data mining method is suggested in order to derive the patterns of the IT application capabilities. Practical implications: This method has been applied in a local council in UK. This helps the council to decide the future status of the IT applications for cost saving purpose.

The Impact of office productivity cloud computing on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions

Cloud computing is usually regarded as being energy efficient and thus emitting less greenhouse gases (GHG) than traditional forms of computing. When the energy consumption of Microsoft���s cloud computing Office 365 (O365) and traditional Office 2010 (O2010) software suites were tested and modeled, some cloud services were found to consume more energy than the traditional form. The developed model in this research took into consideration the energy consumption at the three main stages of data transmission; data center, network, and end user device. Comparable products from each suite were selected and activities were defined for each product to represent a different computing type. Microsoft provided highly confidential data for the data center stage, while the networking and user device stages were measured directly. A new measurement and software apportionment approach was defined and utilized allowing the power consumption of cloud services to be directly measured for the user device stage. Results indicated that cloud computing is more energy efficient for Excel and Outlook which consumed less energy and emitted less GHG than the standalone counterpart. The power consumption of the cloud based Outlook (8%) and Excel (17%) was lower than their traditional counterparts. However, the power consumption of the cloud version of Word was 17% higher than its traditional equivalent. A third mixed access method was also measured for Word which emitted 5% more GHG than the traditional version. It is evident that cloud computing may not provide a unified way forward to reduce energy consumption and GHG. Direct conversion from the standalone package into the cloud provision platform can now consider energy and GHG emissions at the software development and cloud service design stage using the methods described in this research.

Cloud computing in e-science: research challenges and opportunities

SOA (Service Oriented Architecture), workflow, the Semantic Web, and Grid computing are key enabling information technologies in the development of increasingly sophisticated e-Science infrastructures and application platforms. While the emergence of Cloud computing as a new computing paradigm has provided new directions and opportunities for e-Science infrastructure development, it also presents some challenges. Scientific research is increasingly finding that it is difficult to handle ���big data��� using traditional data processing techniques. Such challenges demonstrate the need for a comprehensive analysis on using the above mentioned informatics techniques to develop appropriate e-Science infrastructure and platforms in the context of Cloud computing. This survey paper describes recent research advances in applying informatics techniques to facilitate scientific research particularly from the Cloud computing perspective. Our particular contributions include identifying associated research challenges and opportunities, presenting lessons learned, and describing our future vision for applying Cloud computing to e-Science. We believe our research findings can help indicate the future trend of e-Science, and can inform funding and research directions in how to more appropriately employ computing technologies in scientific research. We point out the open research issues hoping to spark new development and innovation in the e-Science field.

The MELODIES project: integrating diverse data using Linked Data and cloud computing

We present an overview of the MELODIES project, which is developing new data-intensive environmental services based on data from Earth Observation satellites, government databases, national and European agencies and more. We focus here on the capabilities and benefits of the project���s ���technical platform���, which applies cloud computing and Linked Data technologies to enable the development of these services, providing flexibility and scalability.

Major differences of cloud computing adoption in universities: Europe vs. Middle East

The extensive use of cloud computing in educational institutes around the world brings unique challenges for universities. Some of these challenges are due to clear differences between Europe and Middle East universities. These differences stem from the natural variation between people. Cloud computing has created a new concept to deal with software services and hardware infrastructure. Some benefits are immediately gained, for instance, to allow students to share their information easily and to discover new experiences of the education system. However, this introduces more challenges, such as security and configuration of resources in shared environments. Educational institutes cannot escape from these challenges. Yet some differences occur between universities which use cloud computing as an educational tool or a form of social connection. This paper discusses some benefits and limitations of using cloud computing and major differences in using cloud computing at universities in Europe and the Middle East, based on the social perspective, security and economics concepts, and personal responsibility.

Cloud computing - Moving to the cloud

Cloud computing inneb��r anv��ndning av datorresurser som ��r tillg��ngliga via ett n��tverk, oftast Internet och ��r ett omr��de som har vuxit fram i snabb takt under de senaste ��ren. Allt fler f��retag migrerar hela eller delar av sin verksamhet till molnet. Sogeti i Borl��nge har behov av att migrera sina utvecklingsmilj��er till en molntj��nst d�� drift och underh��ll av dessa ��r kostsamma och tids��dande. Som Microsoftpartners vill Sogeti anv��nda Microsoft tj��nst f��r cloud computing, Windows Azure, f��r detta syfte. Migration till molnet ��r ett nytt omr��de f��r Sogeti och de har inga beskrivningar f��r hur en s��dan process g��r till. V��rt uppdrag var att utveckla ett tillv��gag��ngss��tt f��r migration av en IT-l��sning till molnet. En del av uppdraget blev d�� att kartl��gga cloud computing, dess best��ndsdelar samt vilka f��r- och nackdelar som finns, vilket har gjort att vi har f��tt grundl��ggande kunskap i ��mnet. F��r att utveckla ett tillv��gag��ngss��tt f��r migration har vi utf��rt flera migrationer av virtuella maskiner till Windows Azure och utifr��n dessa migrationer, litteraturstudier och intervjuer dragit slutsatser som mynnat ut i ett generellt tillv��gag��ngss��tt f��r migration till molnet. Resultatet har visat att det ��r sv��rt att g��ra en generell men samtidigt detaljerad beskrivning ��ver ett tillv��gag��ngss��tt f��r migration, d�� scenariot ser olika ut beroende p�� vad som ska migreras och vilken typ av molntj��nst som anv��nds. Vi har dock utifr��n v��ra erfarenheter fr��n v��ra migrationer, tillsammans med litteraturstudier, dokumentstudier och intervjuer lyft v��r kunskap till en generell niv��. Fr��n denna kunskap har vi sammanst��llt ett generellt tillv��gag��ngss��tt med st��rre fokus p�� de f��rberedande aktiviteter som en organisation b��r genomf��ra innan migration. V��ra studier har ��ven resulterat i en f��rdjupad beskrivning av cloud computing. I v��r studie har vi inte sett att n��gon tidigare har beskrivit kritiska framg��ngsfaktorer i samband med cloud computing. I v��rt empiriska arbete har vi dock identifierat tre kritiska framg��ngsfaktorer f��r cloud computing och i och med detta t��ckt upp en del av kunskapsgapet d��r emellan.

A representa����o social do cloud computing na vis��o dos profissionais de TI brasileiros

Este estudo visa desenvolver uma investiga����o explorat��ria e quali-quantitativa, a cerca da representa����o social do Cloud Computing, na vis��o dos profissionais de TI brasileiros. Objetiva expor quais as percep����es dos usu��rios da ��rea de TI a respeito do paradigma computacional Cloud Computing. Para suportar o estudo te��rico, foram coletados dados emp��ricos, por meio de question��rios online respondidos por 221 profissionais da ��rea de TI. Com o uso da t��cnica de evoca����o de palavras e da teoria da representa����o social (TRS), os dados coletados foram sumarizados. Ap��s o tratamento dos dados mediante o uso da t��cnica do quadro de quatro casas de Verg��s, obteve-se como resultado, a identifica����o do n��cleo central e do sistema perif��rico da representa����o social do Cloud Computing. Por fim, os dados foram analisados utilizando-se as an��lises implicativa e de conte��do, de forma a que todas as informa����es fossem abstra��das para melhor interpreta����o do tema. Obteve-se como resultado, que o n��cleo central da representa����o social do Cloud Computing �� composto pelas seguintes palavras ���Nuvem���, ���Armazenamento���, ���Disponibilidade���, ���Internet���, ���Virtualiza����o��� e ���Seguran��a���. Por sua vez, as palavras identificadas como parte do sistema perif��rico da representa����o social do Cloud Computing foram: ���Compartilhamento���, ���Escalabilidade��� e ���Facilidade���. Os resultados permitem compreender qual percep����o dos profissionais de TI a respeito deste paradigma tecnol��gico e sua correla����o com o referencial te��rico abordado. Tais informa����es e percep����es podem auxiliar a tornar o n��o familiar em familiar, ou seja, compreender como o Cloud Computing �� representado, visto e, finalmente, reconhecido pelos profissionais da ��rea de TI.

Increasing Moodle Resources Through Cloud Computing

The increase of higher education offer is a basic need of developed and emerging countries. It requires increasing and ongoing investments. The offer of higher education, by means of Distance Learning, based on the Internet, is one of the most efficient manners for the massification of this offer, as it allows ample coverage and lower costs. In this scenario, we highlight Moodle, an open and low-cost environment for Distance Learning. Its utilization may be amplified through the adoption of an emerging Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Cloud Computing, which allows the virtualization of Moodle sites, cutting costs, facilitating management and increasing its service capacity. This article diffuses a public tool, opened and free, for automatic conversion of Moodle sites, such that these may be hosted on Azure: the Cloud Computing environment of Microsoft.

Cloud computing in Latin America: Current situation and policy proposals

Includes bibliography.

The advance of cloud computing

The ���Implementation of the National Data Centre��� project, Augusto Esp��n, Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society, Ecuador .-- Cloud computing and public policy in Brazil, Rafael Henrique Rodrigues Moreira, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Brazil .-- ���The cloud is being taken up more quickly in Latin America than in the rest of the world���, interview to Lalo Steinmann, Microsoft .-- The impact of education and research networks on the development of cloud computing Eduardo Vera, University of Chile .-- ���The cloud helps to narrow divides by providing access to technology resources that used to be unaffordable���, interview to Luis Urz��a, Movistar Chile .-- ���Cloud computing will be a strategic sector of the economy in the coming years���, interview to Jean-Bernard Gramunt, France���s digital strategy .-- ���If take-up in Latin America is as strong as predicted, it will be a good opportunity to create and export technology���, interview to Flavio Junqueira, Yahoo! Labs.