Cloud Computing Adoption in SMEs

This assignment delves into the critical success factors for SMEs adopting cloud computing. It examines various aspects, such as technological readiness, organizational culture, and cost-benefit analysis. The research analyzes relevant studies and provides insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs in leveraging cloud technology. Case studies of successful cloud implementations in SMEs are also discussed to illustrate best practices.

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Cloud Computing
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Executive Summary
Webb's Store is based in New Zealand and Australia. Webb wants to flourish their business
activities and thus for better market growth, they have planned to migrate to the cloud.
They are in doubt whether the cloud computing will help them the benefits or not. Webb
hires a consultant and it is his responsibility to acknowledge Web about the potential
benefits of the Amazon AWS cloud architecture. Webb can get a competitive edge over
others while conducting their business activities in both Australia and New Zealand. The
advanced security solutions associated with Webb's switching of their SQL database to IaaS
cloud has been portrayed in details in the report. The risks, threats as well as the
advantages involved within the framework and the database has been explained in the
report. The threats correlated with the backing up of data, storage and retrieval of data has
been elaborated in the report. Also, the recommendations have been made on the
procedures that Webb must follow to carry on their business operations safely and securely
via Amazon AWS.
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Question 1..................................................................................................................................4
1. Webb’s decision to migrate their MS SQL Server 2012 R2 database to IaaS instance.........4
1. a. Security deployment to protect this migration of database to IaaS instance...............4
1. b. Benefits and issues related to deployment of these security measures.......................5
Question 2..................................................................................................................................6
2. Risks associated with migrating database to the cloud with respect to-................................6
2. a. The database..................................................................................................................6
2. b. The IaaS infrastructure...................................................................................................6
2. c. Communications between Webb’s and their IaaS database in the cloud.....................7
Question 3..................................................................................................................................8
3. Webb’s consideration for the use of the Cloud for backup and possibly also for archival of
records........................................................................................................................................8
3. a. Risks associated to..........................................................................................................8
I. Backing up data to the Cloud..........................................................................................8
II. Storage of data in the Cloud..........................................................................................8
III. Retrieval of data from the cloud...................................................................................8
3. b. Webb’s use of a Cloud backup and its impact on the company....................................9
Question 4..................................................................................................................................9
4. Recommendations to Webb for protecting access to the following services that they want
to move to the Cloud..................................................................................................................9
4.a. Their IaaS infrastructure..................................................................................................9
4.b. Their Ms SQL Server 2012 R2 cloud instance..................................................................9
4.c. Their Cloud network infrastructure...............................................................................10
4.d. Their Cloud backup and restore infrastructure............................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
Webb's Store is the retail store located in Australia. Webb wants to grow and furnish
their business activities and thus for better market growth, they have planned to migrate to
the cloud. They are in a dilemma whether the cloud computing will help them the benefits
or not (Beck, Hao & Campan, 2017). They are also concerned about how they should adopt
the cloud in a secure way.
The report will showcase the security concerns that are associated with the move of
Webb from the SQL server to IaaS cloud architecture. The benefits, as well as the issues
correlated with the database and cloud architecture, will be discussed in the report. The
backing up of data, retrieval and storage of data in the cloud will be elaborated in the
report. The recommendations will be grandstand as well and this recommendation will help
Webb whether they should adopt the cloud technology or not, what advantages they can
get as a result of this cloud technology.
Question 1
1. Webb’s decision to migrate their MS SQL Server 2012 R2 database to IaaS instance
1. a. Security deployment to protect this migration of database to IaaS instance
Webb if adopt cloud technology they will have to face the issues like data breaches
and the data breaches generally occur by means of hijacking one’s accounts, illegal access to
APIs, and malware and worms attack (Shufeng & Xu, 2012). These are the breaches are
carried out by the hackers. For this reason, to protect the database from illegal access,
following steps must be followed.
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Proper follow-through of the network: The database admins must be aware of the
data where Webb’s data will be stocked, the database admin must label those data so that
those can be acquired from the database whenever needed (Azam et al., 2013).
Network information security: A set of rules and regulations must be set for each
employee and the customers also their access to the database must be set to a certain
extent (Dinh et al., 2013).
Security Intelligence techniques and procedures: The Event Management
techniques and the Security Intelligence should be incorporated to detect any faults residing
within the defence system (Sadooghi et al., 2017). Along with that suitable cryptographic
technologies must be used to add more security to the system.
1. b. Benefits and issues related to deployment of these security measures
Benefits of security measures-
i. To become secured from the DDoS attack- The cloud security solutions is
responsible to secure both the database and the system from DDoS attack and thus via
security measures, the authenticity and the authorization can be assured.
ii. Security assurance of the information- Cloud security solutions are capable of
securing Webb’s data from all kinds of threats and risks.
iii. Regulatory compliance- The cloud security solutions assist Webb to monitor the
advanced cloud infrastructure, in this way the financial data residing within the database
can be secured (Varia & Mathew, 2014).
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iv. Suitable solutions- The server can get crashed and this can mishaps can be
averted by cloud solutions’ escalation. Later Webb can scale back to cut down the huge cost
while the huge cloud traffic gets over.
v. Enabling 24x7 services- Webb can communicate with the customers all the time
throughout day and night 24x7 with the help of cloud solutions (Dillon & Vossen, 2015).
vi. Cost- Webb do not have to bear extra cost for hardware and software products,
they only have to pay for the cloud platform which they will hire from Amazon.
vii. Integrity- The data integrity shows that data must be stored honestly and
securely and since Amazon is brand name offering services to customers for a longer period
of time, they can assure the data integrity solutions for sure.
The major issue they will have to face that they will have to pay the heavy amount of
money to the cloud vendors for ensuring the security of their office system and database
(Muthui & SISAT, 2013).
Question 2
2. Risks associated with migrating database to the cloud with respect to-
2. a. The database
The risks associated with the database are-
Data breaches- Webb's data can be compromised if their data gets hacked by the
hackers and the intruders, Webb can get into trouble and their reputation can suffer. Webb,
for this reason, can heavy loss.
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Account hijacking of customers and employees- Webb's database contains the
important sensitive information of the company's employees and the customers (Tsai et al.,
2014). If those data get hijacked by phishing or any other means the company, as well as
company's database, can be at risks.
Malware attack- The attack carried out by malware, virus and the worm can make
the entire Webb database susceptible to attack.
2. b. The IaaS infrastructure
The risks correlated with IaaS Cloud are-
Misconfigure- Webb's existing hardware and software can misconfigure with the
cloud vendor's framework and so they need the updated hardware and software solutions.
Vulnerable issues- The Elastic Workload protector procedure by three procedures
Remediate, Scan and Prioritize methods can detect the IaaS framework components which
are susceptible to risks.
Shadow-IT- This Shadow-IT involves the non-usage of dormant assets for a longer
period of time, the usage of Amazon AWS services which is the beta mode, usage of the
server which remains idle for a long time (Manvi, & Shyam, 2014). In this scenario, Webb
will use the cloud server provided by the cloud vendor so they will not use the database
anymore which they are using right now. Thus this unused database can be a matter of
concern.
2. c. Communications between Webb’s and their IaaS database in the cloud
Webb must use the IaaS cloud architecture provided by Amazon AWS. Amazon is
known to provide the best cloud solutions among all the vendors. Therefore, they can be
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benefitted using the Amazon web services. They will provide the required hardware and
software solutions for Webb, Webb just needs to make minimum changes in their prevalent
system framework and database to comply with the proposed cloud framework model of
Amazon (Gai, & Steenkamp, 2014). Amazon is known to cater the best cloud advanced
technology solutions along with that the security benefits and Webb are sure to enjoy the
features.
Question 3
3. Webb’s consideration for the use of the Cloud for backup and possibly also for archival
of records
3. a. Risks associated to
I. Backing up data to the Cloud
The threats and the security risks associated with backup of data are-
i. Webb will need a strong bandwidth to both upload and download data that is how they
can keep backup of their data. Webb has to keep in mind they have to spend money heavily
for the fast bandwidth.
ii. The data can be compromised while it is being transmitted.
iii. Also due to the breakdown of the server, there will be a chance of data loss.
II. Storage of data in the Cloud
i. The data if transmitted via insecure unencrypted network there is a chance of data
breaches.
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ii. During deployment of data in the cloud, Webb must be careful enough of the file they are
storing if they are not stored properly the intruders can gain access to the important data
that belongs to that file will be exposed (Manvi, & Shyam, 2014).
III. Retrieval of data from the cloud
i. The high bandwidth is required to download files and to work upon.
ii. The data downloaded from the cloud database may contain the virus contained in the file
must be checked.
3. b. Webb’s use of a Cloud backup and its impact on the company
The following benefits that Webb can acquire are-
i. Webb's database can be scaled to gain maximum throughput and along with that, the
profitable services can be gained.
ii. As Amazon will take the maximum responsibility to maintain and update the database, so
Webb will not have to think to spend on hardware and software (Manvi, & Shyam, 2014).
iii. The cloud security solutions will be catered by Amazon, so, once again Webb can stay
safe and secure and will not have to think about the data being getting compromised.
Question 4
4. Recommendations to Webb for protecting access to the following services that they
want to move to the Cloud
4.a. Their IaaS infrastructure
Webb adopting the Amazon AWS cloud services definitely can stay ahead of their
times. They can get a competitive edge. Moreover, they do not have to bear heavy expenses
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for the hardware and the software (Sharma et al., 2017). They just need few hardware and
software changes to integrate their existing framework model to their Amazon cloud
framework model. Since Amazon is a global brand they just need to trust Amazon.
4.b. Their Ms SQL Server 2012 R2 cloud instance
Amazon RDS for SQL server caters the facility so that Webb can utilise the
capabilities of their SQL database to the utmost. The physical security must be assured to
safeguard al hardware, software elements from illegal access (Dillon & Vossen, 2015). The
digital certificate also comes handy while question arises for the database security.
4.c. Their Cloud network infrastructure
Amazon is known for catering smart solutions for clouds and also the advanced
security. The latest configuration system is required by Webb to enhance their business
operations (Varia & Mathew, 2014). The latest configuration systems include latest software
and hardware components and integration is absolutely necessary to execute the apps and
performs the associated tasks.
4.d. Their Cloud backup and restore infrastructure
Webb's data will be transacted through a secure channel over the internet thus all
kind of data breaches and intruders' attacks can be mitigated with the help of Amazon
AWS's advanced cloud solutions (Sharma et al., 2017).
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above discourse that Webb can get immense benefits
simply by switching to the cloud. The Amazon AWS has a lot to offer to Webb and the
consultant Webb hire must acknowledge Web about the potential benefits of the Amazon
AWS cloud architecture. Webb can get a competitive edge over others while conducting
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their business activities in both Australia and New Zealand. The advanced security solutions
associated with Webb's switching of their SQL database to IaaS cloud has been portrayed in
details in the report. The risks, threats as well as the advantages involved within the
framework and the database has been explained in the report. The threats correlated with
the backing up of data, storage and retrieval of data has been elaborated in the report. Also,
the recommendations have been made on the procedures that Webb must follow to utilise
the Amazon AWS cloud fruitfully in their premises.
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References
Azam, Abdollahzadehgan; Ab Razak Che Hussin; Gohary , Marjan Moshfegh Gohary &
Mahyar Amini (2013), The OrganizationalCritical Success Factors for Adopting Cloud
Computing in SMEs, Journal of Information Systems Research and Innovation (JISRI),
Volume 4, Issue 1, pp. 67-74.
Beck, M., Hao, W., & Campan, A. (2017, January). Accelerating the Mobile cloud: Using
Amazon Mobile Analytics and k-means clustering. In Computing and Communication
Workshop and Conference (CCWC), 2017 IEEE 7th Annual (pp. 1-7). IEEE.
Dillon, S., & Vossen, G. (2015). SaaS cloud computing in small and medium enterprises: A
comparison between Germany and New Zealand. International Journal of
Information Technology, Communications and Convergence, 3(2), 87-104.
Dinh, H. T., Lee, C., Niyato, D., & Wang, P. (2013). A survey of mobile cloud computing:
architecture, applications, and approaches. Wireless communications and mobile
computing, 13(18), 1587-1611.
Gai, K., & Steenkamp, A. (2014). A feasibility study of Platform-as-a-Service using cloud
computing for a global service organization. Journal of Information Systems Applied
Research, 7(3), 28.
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.
Muthui, M., & SISAT, C. (2013). Amazon Web Services.
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Sadooghi, I., Martin, J. H., Li, T., Brandstatter, K., Maheshwari, K., de Lacerda Ruivo, T. P.
P., ... & Raicu, I. (2017). Understanding the performance and potential of cloud
computing for scientific applications. IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing, 5(2),
358-371.
Sharma, P., Lee, S., Guo, T., Irwin, D., & Shenoy, P. (2017). Managing Risk in a Derivative IaaS
Cloud. IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems.
Shufeng Gao & Xu, Ai, (2012) Boosting Electronic Business Applications by Digitally Enabling
SMBs with Cloud Computing Model, 11th International Symposium on Distributed
Computing and Applications to Business, Engineering & Science, pp-214-218.
Tsai, W., Bai, X., & Huang, Y. (2014). Software-as-a-service (SaaS): perspectives and
challenges. Science China Information Sciences, 57(5), 1-15.
Varia, J., & Mathew, S. (2014). Overview of amazon web services. Amazon Web Services.
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