Cloud Computing for MetaSoft: IaaS as the Chosen Cloud Architecture

This article discusses the benefits of cloud computing for MetaSoft and recommends IaaS as the chosen cloud architecture. It also evaluates the differences between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS and recommends SaaS for SharePoint 2013 instance.

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Cloud Computing
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Table of Contents
Answer 1.........................................................................................................................................2
Answer 2.......................................................................................................................................11
Answer 3.......................................................................................................................................14
Answer 4.......................................................................................................................................17
References....................................................................................................................................20
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Answer 1
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Slide Note: With the increase in the complexity of the different business processes of the organisation, it
is needed to improve the flexibility and scalability of the business processes.
Therefore, the decision of MetaSoft to move to cloud is justified as it will improve the process of data
storage and data accessibility.
Slide Note: There are a number of advantages of making use of cloud computing in business. It improves
the cash flow and improves the efficiency of the business processes as well. The use of cloud computing
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reduces the IT costs and improves the flexibility of work practices. On addition to that, the automatic
updates make the use of cloud more user-friendly.
Slide Note: A number of business organisations have been benefited with the use of cloud as it helps in
stream lining the major business processes of the organisation.
IaaS, PaaS and SaaS are the cloud infrastructure that is increasingly used by the companies across the
globe.
SaaS provides a cost effective solution but is not secure while IaaS although is expensive, provides a
secure service. PaaS is less secure than IaaS.
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Slide Note: The advantages of the disadvantages of each of the cloud infrastructure are needed to be
evaluated in order to propose a suitable architecture for MetaSoft.
IaaS has a number of advantages. It is flexible and scalable and the client has a full control of the data
stored in cloud.
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Slide Note: PaaS provides a platform for deploying cloud. It provides a cost effective solution for the
clients and can be deployed quite easily. It is less expensive than IaaS.
SaaS on the other hand works on a subscription basis and therefore easy to deploy. However, there is
certain security issues associated with SaaS and therefore this architecture will not be considered for
MetaSoft
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Slide Note: IaaS is the chosen cloud architecture for MetaSoft. IaaS will considerably reduce the
infrastructure cost of MetaSoft and offers a virtually limitless scalability and agility.
Although it is expensive it will provide a more secure architecture is MetaSoft as compared to IaaS and
PaaS.
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Slide Note: The presentation provided an overview of the benefits of making use of cloud computing. It
further discusses three different architecture of cloud and recommends IaaS for MetaSoft for its
improved security and flexibility.
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Answer 2
1. The first undertaking of MetaSoft is to provide their staffs with the ability of accessing the
office automation including word processing, spreadsheet capabilities and online storage of the files.
Since the organisation is considering the use of cloud, the best way of migrating to cloud is to be
proposed. The two approaches that have been proposed for office automation in cloud are Ad hoc
approach and Structured approach (Dinh et al., 2013). These two approaches of cloud can be
successfully implemented under appropriate circumstances. These two processes can be combined and
tailored in order to meet the requirements of the organisation.
The Ad hoc approach is an event specific and can be easily personalized. And therefore it is
recommended for MetaSoft. The Ad hoc approach mainly works for the companies whose data
processing units have become obsolete yet it has the capacity to meet the increasing demands. Similar is
the case of MetaSoft and therefore an Ad Hoc approach is proposed. The implementation of office
automation through Ad Hoc approach is performed though a number of stages, which are planning,
design, development, implementation and operation.
The Structured approach on the other hand has a number of advantages as well. In Structured
approach the planning and implementation of a task undergoes a series of quantitative system analysis
in order to understand the requirements and the objectives of the organisation (Jain & Paul, 2013).
Therefore both the proposed approach is suitable for MetaSoft.
2. The significant benefits and issues with Ad hoc approach that has been proposed for MetaSoft
are as follows (Manvi & Shyam, 2014)-
Benefits-
1. The implementation process following the Ad hoc approach is easy and fast.
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2. The Ad hoc approach provides an option of easy personalization of the applications and the
processes.
3. The use of Ad hoc approach does not require documentation and therefore this approach can
be implemented quite easily.
4. The implementation of office automation in ad hoc approach is less time consuming.
Issues-
1. Lack of proper process is one of the significant disadvantages of this approach (Azodolmolky,
Wieder & Yahyapour, 2013).
2. With Ad hoc approach, the organisation will have to remain dependent to the tester which is
its significant disadvantage.
The benefits and issues with Structured approach that has been proposed for MetaSoft are as
follows-
Benefits-
1. The use of structured approach of implementation of office automation is user friendly.
2. The Structured approach follows a structured approach and therefore it can be easily
executed.
Issues-
1. The use of Structured approach might give erroneous data.
2. The use of Structured approach is time consuming.
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These are the benefits and issues with each of the proposed approach
3. The recommended approach for MetaSoft is Ad hoc approach as it provides a cost effective
solution for the organization (Almorsy, Grundy & Müller, 2016). Furthermore, the implementation
process in this approach is quite fast and therefore with this approach MetaSoft can easily transfer their
office automation services to cloud. Therefore, the choice of office Ad hoc approach for office
automation is justified.
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Answer 3
The MetaSoft is considering moving its Web infrastructure to the public cloud, however, they
are unsure whether it can be moved to IaaS or PaaS. The differences between the infrastructure
provided by IaaS and PaaS are as follows-
IaaS PaaS
IaaS offers a computation infrastructure that
involves the use of servers, storage, virtualization
platform, network, connectivity and Operating
systems and therefore it provides and effective
cloud solution
In Iaas the hardware as well as the resources is
maintained by the service provider and thus it is
easier to operate.
IaaS provides improved flexibility in moving to the
cloud environment (Kavis, 2014).
Infrastructure as a service or IaaS is mainly used
when infrastructure space is unavailable.
PaaS or Platform as a service provides a platform
for developing, testing and deploying the host for
maintenance of the applications.
It gives an access to a multiple users at the same
time.
In PaaS, customization of the hardware and the
software is not necessary as it is controlled by the
service providers.
It can be deployed quite easily.
It provides an ability to use the software
components that can be controlled by the service
providers.
The above table gives an idea of the significant differences between Infrastructure as a service
and Platform as a service. The issues associated with both of the approaches are discussed below-
Issues with IaaS-
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One of the significant issues associated with the use of IaaS is that it is expensive and many not
be afforded by small organizations.
In IaaS, the backups are needed to be controlled by the client which is a significant
disadvantage.
Issues with PaaS-
Among a number of advantages there are some significant disadvantages associated with the
use of PaaS.
The major issue associated with PaaS is its security (Hashizume et al., 2013). The use of PaaS is
less secure in comparison to that of IaaS. Therefore, security is considered to be a major issues
associated with the use of PaaS (Pearson, 2013).
Another significant disadvantage of making use of PaaS is that one has no control over the
platform.
These are the most significant issues associated with the use of IaaS and PaaS. The approach
that is recommended for the MetaSoft will be based on the evaluation of the issues associated with IaaS
and PaaS.
An IaaS approach is recommended for MetaSoft as it is more secure in comparison to that of
PaaS. Since the web infrastructure will be moved to public cloud, it is essential to consider the security
aspect of the same. IaaS will provide an infrastructure space for deployment to cloud platform and
therefore it is recommended. However, MetaSoft will have to control the backup requirements of the
same which is a major issue (Puthal et al., 2015). However, the use of IaaS has a number of other
advantages as well including having a control on the data. Furthermore, the use of Infrastructure as a
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service provides an advantage of scalability and flexibility. It provides the powerful storage
infrastructure for the servers and the networking technology that accommodates the need of the
customers and therefore an IaaS approach is proposed of MetaSoft.
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Answer 4
MetaSoft is considering whether they should make use of PaaS or SaaS to provide services to the
employees. In order suggest which approach will be better, it is needed to evaluate the characteristics of
each of the approaches. MetaSoft will be moving its SharePoint 2013 Instance to cloud with an aim of
improving its access particularly in the remote and overseas locations.
1. The significant differences between the use of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS is discussed in the
following table-
IaaS PaaS SaaS
IaaS is a cloud computing service
that provides virtualized
computing resources over
internet. It provides an
infrastructure for deployment of
cloud.
IaaS is one of the most flexible
computing model which is its
significant advantage.
In IaaS, the hardware can be
purchased that is based on
consumption.
Clients are provided with a
complete control on the
infrastructure, which is its
paaS is a cloud computing model
that provides a platform for
cloud deployment. It provides a
cost effective solutions to the
clients.
PaaS therefore provides a good
framework for the developers
for creation and customization of
the different applications.
With the help of PaaS, business
can be able to design and create
applications that can be easily
accessed by the clients.
One of the significant advantage
of making use of PaaS is that
SaaS is a cloud delivery model
and provides cloud services on a
subscription basis.
SaaS can be managed from a
central location and can be
hosted from a remote server.
It can be easily accessible over
the internet
Another advantage of making
use of SaaS is that the users are
not responsible for the hardware
and the software updates.
SaaS can be easily accessed by
web as well as from mobile
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significant advantage (Gupta,
Seetharaman & Raj, 2013).
IaaS is highly scalable and the
resources can be easily
purchased when needed.
With IaaS, the resources are
available as a service.
The services offered by IaaS are
highly scalable and it typically
incorporates multiple numbers
of users in a single piece of
hardware (Avram, 2014).
It offers a dynamic and flexible
environment of cloud
deployment.
The service providers of IaaS
include Linode, AWS, Microsoft
Azure and so on.
ensures an easily development
and deployment of the
applications.
Apart from that, the services
offered by PaaS are highly
scalable and allows easy
migration as well
Another advantage of making
use of PaaS is that a number of
users can easily access the
application simultaneously
(Sridhar, 2016).
Example of the service providers
of PaaS includes Windows Azure,
Aws Elastic, Google Engine and
so on.
devices.
The most commonly used SaaS
models are Google Apps,
Dropbox and so on.
The above table provides an idea of the significant characteristics and the major differences between
Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and Software as a Service.
2. The cloud model that is recommended for MetaSoft to move its SharePoint 2013 is SaaS. A
software as a Service model is recommended for the organization mainly because of the number of
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benefits that it offers. One of the most significant advantages of making use of SaaS is that, it eliminates
the need of downloading and installing applications in each of the individual computers or devices of the
employees. Furthermore, any technical issues arising in SaaS cloud will be managed by the vendors.
Thus it will provide a number of advantages to MetaSoft by considerably reducing the time and the
money that is needed to spend on MetaSoft (Marinescu, 2017). Thus the company need to employ a
considerably a lesser number of IT staffs thereby reducing the cost of deployment. Therefore, the
recommendation of making use of SaaS is justified.
3. Although the use of SaaS will provide a number of advantages to MetaSoft, the use of
software as a Service will give rise to a number of issues as well. The most significant being the security.
There is a number of security issues associated with the use of SaaS. Furthermore, the customer has no
control over the processing of data which is a significant disadvantage. However, these issues can be
eliminated by ensuring a proper security and choosing a right vendor. Furthermore, the use encryption
algorithms will ensure secure data transfer (Arora, Parashar & Transforming, 2013). The use of SaaS will
improve the communication among the employees and the data can be easily accessible with the help
of SaaS.
References
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Almorsy, M., Grundy, J., & Müller, I. (2016). An analysis of the cloud computing security problem. arXiv
preprint arXiv:1609.01107.
Arora, R., Parashar, A., & Transforming, C. C. I. (2013). Secure user data in cloud computing using
encryption algorithms. International journal of engineering research and applications, 3(4),
1922-1926.
Avram, M. G. (2014). Advantages and challenges of adopting cloud computing from an enterprise
perspective. Procedia Technology, 12, 529-534.
Azodolmolky, S., Wieder, P., & Yahyapour, R. (2013). Cloud computing networking: Challenges and
opportunities for innovations. IEEE Communications Magazine, 51(7), 54-62.
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.
Gupta, P., Seetharaman, A., & Raj, J. R. (2013). The usage and adoption of cloud computing by small and
medium businesses. International Journal of Information Management, 33(5), 861-874.
Hashizume, K., Rosado, D. G., Fernández-Medina, E., & Fernandez, E. B. (2013). An analysis of security
issues for cloud computing. Journal of internet services and applications, 4(1), 5.
Jain, R., & Paul, S. (2013). Network virtualization and software defined networking for cloud computing:
a survey. IEEE Communications Magazine, 51(11), 24-31.
Kavis, M. J. (2014). Architecting the cloud: design decisions for cloud computing service models (SaaS,
PaaS, and IaaS). John Wiley & Sons.
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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.
Marinescu, D. C. (2017). Cloud computing: theory and practice. Morgan Kaufmann.
Pearson, S. (2013). Privacy, security and trust in cloud computing. In Privacy and Security for Cloud
Computing (pp. 3-42). Springer, London.
Puthal, D., Sahoo, B. P. S., Mishra, S., & Swain, S. (2015, January). Cloud computing features, issues, and
challenges: a big picture. In Computational Intelligence and Networks (CINE), 2015 International
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Sridhar, S. (2016). Cloud computing. computing.
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