Cloud Computing is one of the most promising IT innovations in today’s technological market. It has become attractive for many organizations as it has a provided a model through companies can share a pool of computational resources cost-effectively and efficiently. According to Bassi and Chaudhary (2015), this technological innovation is growing at a very high rate with many IT players such as Microsoft and Google have increased revenues in subsequent years as a result of developing and offering cloud services. This means that all businesses in the world are responding to this excellent technological tool to bring the best value to their business through increased productivity. This paper will review background information about cloud computing and how its changing organizations in the business world.
Background
Before the introduction of cloud computing in many businesses, companies would use technological tools such as floppy disks or cards to process information in the computers or send to other users ( Aljabre, 2012). The computers were able to fulfill these tasks albeit with a lot of difficulties as one project could consume a lot of time before completion as others waited. The need of internet and its immense increase over the years changed the sharing of information with most of the electronic devices connecting to provide a favorable platform for sharing information to users and business organizations to share information ( Ward & Sipior, 2010). The introduction of the internet led to the development of the cloud computing operating system which enabled organization access stored data through the internet as compared to the traditional computer hardware. Today, companies can now outsource data, share information electronically through the virtual platforms at any time and place. Thus, cloud computing came as a platform through which companies could expand their businesses.
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Literature Review
Since the emergence of cloud computing, different researchers and scholars have come with various definitions to help people and business understand the meaning of cloud computing. Currently, there lacks a universal definition of cloud computing that concisely that provides the meaning of the phenomena. However, a variety of definitions from various researchers do exist depending on the field under study. According to Aljabre (2012), cloud computing is a model software that enables ubiquitous sharing and accessing of computing resources through the use of the internet with minimal interaction from the service provider. From the above definition cloud computing has several distinctive features such as the use of the internet, shared pool of resources, and self-service which makes the application appealing to the users ( Ward & Sipior, 2010). Besides, all these capabilities are accessible to the users despite the platforms they use might it be laptops, mobile devices, and tablets.
Dimitrov and Osman (2012) assert that cloud computing also can rapidly change the way business carry out either internally or externally. According to Hinchcliffe (2009 ), the economics of cloud computing had resulted in innovative companies to create products that did not exist before and if they did they were costly for most of the companies. This aspect of cloud computing has provided an opportunity for business organizations to create product formulations very quickly as well as pilot them in the market to see how they work for them( Muller, Holm, & Sondergaard, 2015). Aljabre (2012) affirms that most of the business ideas were faced with technical limitations in term of computing power or scale. Cloud computing has come with improvements that have increased market validation of technological approaches at reduced costs than before. This means organizations will now be able to come up with new technological innovations that will create new solutions to business impossibilities in the world
Traditionally, companies would use traditional methods when outsourcing their IT services ( Muller, Holm, & Sondergaard, 2015) . They would require in-house IT experts that would continuously provide the services to the companies. The team of IT experts was associated with the high cost of hiring and maintaining them in the organization leading to the organizations making low profits margins. The system was also hard for most companies when it came to issues like flexibility as changing anything was hard. Besides, the traditional computing was prone to cyber-attacks infiltrating consumers data ( Ward & Sipior, 2010). Unlike the conventional computing, cloud computing has now provided businesses with agility and control that in every way that cannot be compared to the traditional computing
. Hundreds of IT companies including Microsoft and Google are now providing their cloud computing services at a reduced cost while still maintaining and managing the companies IT systems. For most companies, this means they can continuously improve their IT systems according to their preferences as the contract with the service provider comes with other benefits. Business organizations are therefore able to increase their profit margins there no wages for many IT experts, and they are fewer delays, thus improving efficiency. Regarding security, cloud computing has come to offer better security level when it comes to protecting consumers data as well as the company's information, reducing the levels of risks ( Ward& Sipior, 2010). For instance, the traditional computing could occasionally lead to loss of companies’ information and data. The cloud computing provides data back-ups, making it easy for businesses to recover data lost. Besides, the maximum uptime makes it difficult for hackers to access the cloud computing resources. Security measures such as multifactor authentication help in sealing security loopholes making cloud computing more secure.
The emergence of cloud computing has resulted in the creation of more self-service IT from the business side. According to Manvi and Shyam (2014), the Software as a Service (SaaS) is one of the cloud computing services that is owned and developed by vendor and organization. Individuals who are interested in the software acquire if from the organization at a cost through subscription-based services and access it via the internet. This is unlike the traditional software that users had first to install it in their traditional computer to use Manvi and Shyam, (2014) further asserts that SaaS licensing is more economical as compared to a perpetual software license that requires customers continuously update their versions to continue enjoying the services. This means that business users will be able to adopt many computing facilities entirely by self-service only reducing their dependency on in-house IT department enjoying mobility benefits as well as cost savings. Regarding mobility, companies' staff can access information whenever they require allowing them to be more flexible in their workplaces.
In the 21 st century businesses at some point may be required to either scale up or down their operations depending on the needed changes. Traditionally, companies would be required to install expensive upgrades in the computer services to deal with the issues ( Aljabre, 2012) . Today cloud computing has come to offer better scalability to businesses as compared to the traditional computing. Hinchcliffe (2009) posits that the application has proper storage and network resources, allowing the organization to develop, deploy and run applications that can meet the demand of the user requirements. Similarly, it can accommodate traffic surges reducing the time spent on implementing the services required. To most businesses, their customers can acquire their services on time, thus saving time, money as well as increased efficiency.
Due to climatic and environmental changes, companies are now required to use technological infrastructure that is environmentally friendly. According to research conducted by Bassi and Chaudhary (2015) consumers now prefer using the services of companies that involved in environmental conservation regarding the amount of power they emit. Cloud computing has come to change business organizations as it offers environmental benefits. Cloud computing comes with tailor-made solutions for a business organization that enables them reduces their power consumption which in turn reduces emissions that can be dangerous for the environment. The use of the internet further allows organizations save more energy at the peak of the performance. For companies, they can keep up with green environment regulations without necessarily adopting other strategies that come up with cost.
In conclusion, the unprecedented growth and use of cloud computing in the business world have presented new opportunities that have fundamentally changed the way companies conduct their business. Cloud computing has become the basis for radical business innovation providing a platform through which new business models can be tried and improved. It has also enhanced business continuity by protecting consumers and company's data especially during a crisis minimizing loss of productivity and any downtime. This kind of benefits has resulted in crucial IT players such as IBM and Intel describing cloud computing as a paradigm shift in the business world.
References
Aljabre, A. (2012). Cloud computing for increased business value. International Journal of Business and social science , 3 (1).
Bassi, S., & Chaudhary, A. (2015). Cloud Computing Data Security–Background and Benefits. International Journal of Computer Science & Communication , 6 (1).
Dimitrov, M., & Osman, I. (2012). The Impact of Cloud Computing on Organizations regarding Cost and Security.
Hinchcliffe, D. (2009). Eight ways that cloud computing will change business. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/article/eight-ways-that-cloud-computing-will-change-business/
Manvi, S. S., & Shyam, G. K. (2014). Resource management for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) in cloud computing: A survey. Journal of Network and Computer Applications , 41 , 424-440.
Muller, S. D., Holm, S. R., & Sondergaard, J. (2015). Benefits of cloud computing: literature review in a maturity model perspective. Communications of the Association for Information Systems , 37 , 851-878.
Ward, B. T., & Sipior, J. C. (2010). The Internet jurisdiction risk of cloud computing. Information systems management , 27 (4), 334-339.
