Cloud Security and SDLC Models

This assignment delves into the intersection of cloud computing security and software development life cycle (SDLC) models. It examines various security threats specific to cloud environments, like data breaches and unauthorized access, highlighting the need for robust security measures. The assignment then compares different SDLC models – Waterfall, V-Model, Agile – analyzing their strengths and weaknesses in implementing secure cloud solutions. Finally, it explores how incorporating security considerations throughout the SDLC can mitigate risks and ensure the development of secure and reliable cloud applications.

Running head: SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
System Analysis and Design
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

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SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
Table of Contents
1. Introduction......................................................................................................................2
2. Non Functional Requirements.........................................................................................2
2.1 Functionality..........................................................................................................................2
2.2 Usability.................................................................................................................................3
2.3 Reliability..............................................................................................................................3
2.4 Performance...........................................................................................................................3
2.5 Security..................................................................................................................................4
3. Functional and Non-functional requirements..................................................................4
4. Strength and Weakness of cloud based solution..............................................................5
4.1. Strengths of Hybrid Cloud....................................................................................................6
4.2. Limitations of hybrid cloud..................................................................................................6
5. SDLC Approach.............................................................................................................6
5.1. Predictive Approach.............................................................................................................7
5.2. Adaptive Approach...............................................................................................................8
6. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................9
7. References......................................................................................................................10

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SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

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SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
1. Introduction
Cloud computing is gaining importance with the passage of time. It can be considered to
be an IT model or paradigm that facilitates the users to access shared resources by using the
Internet. Cloud based solutions include resources, applications as well as services to the
customers and users on the basis of their demand via Internet. Headspace organization manages
young patients who are suffering from mental illness like depression. Their aim is to develop a
health record system by using cloud based platform services. This system will be able to record
patient’s story when they are narrating it for the first time (Steele, Min & Lo, 2012).
This report gives brief overview of the non functional requirements of the system. It
depicts a comparison between the non functional and functional requirements of the health
record system. This report discusses about the pros and cons of a cloud based solution. It talks
about the strengths and weaknesses of the Adaptive and Predictive approach of SDLC. At the
end it gives recommendation about selecting either the predictive or the adaptive approach.
2. Non Functional Requirements
Non functional requirements of a system are the specific attributes that helps in
understanding about the operations and quality of the system as a whole. It is not possible to
evaluate these attributes prior to its delivery to the clients (Chung, Nixon & Mylopoulos, 2012).
The working ability of the system can be evaluated by understanding these attributes. Some of
the non functional requirements are reliability, security and functionality. The non functional
requirements of the Headspace project are discussed below.
2.1 Functionality

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SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
This requirement is one of the main non functional requirements of the health record
system. Functionality is based on the performance consistency of the system. The functionality
in case of the health record system is to record patient stories at the time of initial narration.
Another functionality of the system is its robustness and flexibility. The system be easily
accessible to the users.
2.2 Usability
Usability is the ease with which the users will be able to access as well as use the system.
It measures the degree to which the user needs will be satisfied. The system properties must be
simple for the ease of the users. The usability of the system will be high if it is able to simplify
the jobs in an effective manner. The error rate should be less. The heath record system must be
developed in such a manner so that the users do not face any issue while dealing with the system.
2.3 Reliability
A system is considered to be reliable if it functions accurately and if the chance of failure
is very low. The reliability of the health record system will be based on its ability to record the
patient story and details accurately. Time for recovery of the system should be less. The system
should be able to recover data whenever required.
2.4 Performance
System performance is completely dependent on its throughput, availability and response
time. The size of RAM and speed of the CPU plays a significant role in the performance of the
system. The performance of the health record system should be high with quick response time
and high throughput. The data processing speed of the system should be high so that the correct

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data is available at the correct time. A summary button can be added for getting a quick overview
of the patient details.
2.5 Security
Security concerns of information systems are increasing at a fast pace. Sensitive
information about the patients will be stored in the health record system. It must be protected
with strong security policies for preventing any unauthorized users to gain access to the sensitive
data (Kulkarni et al., 2012). The integrity and confidentiality of the data needs to be maintained.
Security is an essential non functional requirement of the health record system.
3. Functional and Non-functional requirements
Functional requirements describe the system functionality. It says what should be done
by the system. It is responsible for specifying the function and behavior of the system. This
requirement is an essential part of the contract as it points out the actions to be performed by the
system. These requirements are focused on technical functionalities.
One main functional requirement of the health record system is its authentication factor.
Authentication will allow only authorized users to access the sensitive information. A system of
biometric authentication can be implemented (Jain & Nandakumar, 2012). This requirement is
related to the security feature of non functional needs of the system. Professionals belonging to
different levels must have access to different information (Pearce & Bainbridge, 2014). Another
functional requirement is that the system should have the ability to give accurate summary about
the patient details. This is related to the functionality aspect of the non functional need or
requirement.

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SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
Functional requirements describe the services or functionalities of the system but the non
functional requirements deal with certain attributes for judging the system operation and
performance after its delivery to the customers.
4. Strength and Weakness of cloud based solution
Cloud based solutions provides several benefits to the users. The major strengths of cloud
based solutions are discussed below:
Cost Effective: Cloud based solutions are inexpensive. The operational as well as the
capital expense of the organization will be minimized by deploying cloud models. The cost of in-
house storage is saved by using cloud based solutions (AlZain et al., 2012). The users need to
pay small amount of money depending on the on demand services provided by the cloud.
Reliability: The cloud based solutions are more reliable than the storage facility that is in-
house (Galibus & Vissia, 2015). The backup mechanism is quick in cloud platform. When there
is server failure, then the cloud services can be used in other servers are not down.
Competitive Advantage and Manageability: The IT system can be managed by the cloud
services in a simplified manner. The vendors take the responsibility for maintaining the software
on a regular basis. The organization that adopts cloud based solutions gain competitive
advantage. The users can focus on the productivity of the business and save time by using cloud
based platforms.
There are few cons of cloud based solutions:
Downtime: When the cloud servers are down then it affects the business activities
ultimately leading to business loss.

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SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
Security: The cloud platforms are susceptible to various security attacks like phishing
attacks, DoS, Trojan horses and virus attacks. The system can even get hacked for accessing
sensitive data (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2016).
Limited Control: The third party vendors have full control over the system. The users do
not have backend control over the cloud platform.
4.1. Strengths of Hybrid Cloud
The users have a direct access to the private infrastructure of the hybrid cloud (Li et al.,
2013). The users take much less time to access the hybrid clouds in comparison to access time of
the public cloud. Hybrid clouds are known for offering user designs that are flexible in nature (Li
et al. 2015). Hybrid cloud has a computational infrastructure that can support business workload
in an effective manner.
4.2. Limitations of hybrid cloud
The users have to spend more on hybrid cloud than in public cloud (Chen & Zhao, 2012).
The expenditure involved in public cloud infrastructure is much less. Security issue is a major
limitation of the hybrid cloud infrastructure. The hybrid clouds are not compatible with every
infrastructure and this is another major issue of the hybrid cloud.
5. SDLC Approach
Software development life cycle or SDLC is used for describing the various phases of
developing a system or software. SDLC contains many phases for the purpose of determining the
feasibility of the system, planning for the development, implementing the plan followed by

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testing and system maintenance program. The predictive and adaptive SDLC approach has been
described below.
5.1. Predictive Approach
The predictive approach of SDLC determines all the phases that are needed for the
development of software. These stages and sequential steps are determined before the
implementation process. This approach includes a fixed delivery schedule (Tuteja & Dubey,
2012). This type of approach is best suited for projects whose requirements are understood in a
clear manner prior to its development. It can be used for projects that have been developed
previously.
Pros of predictive approach are:
 The objective as well as the scope of the project is clear. The requirements are
fixed.
 Proper documentation is done for tracking the activities.
 Most of the projects that use this approach tend to complete it within the deadline.
 Chance of failure is low as the needs are clear.
Cons of predictive approach are:
 Failure of the system leads to huge loss.
 There is huge difficulty in adding new features as this will lead to the disruption
of the entire plan.
 It is not a flexible approach.
 Absence of feedback mechanism leads to huge difficulty.

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5.2. Adaptive Approach
Adaptive and predictive approach is different from each other. Adaptive approach is a
flexible approach where there is no fixed execution schedule or delivery plan (Balaji &
Murugaiyan, 2012). This is not a sequential approach. Improvisation and modification of project
plan is possible in this approach at any stage.
Pros of adaptive approach are:
 Effective testing is carried out at every phase.
 Improvisation and modification of project plan is possible in this approach at any
stage.
 It is adaptable to the constantly changing environment.
 Constant feedback is considered from the clients in order to improve the project
and clarify the requirement.
Cons of adaptive approach are:
 Project might not get completed within the right deadline.
 Proper documentation is absent in this approach. This creates problem in tracking
any activity.
It can be suggested that the adaptive approach will be best suited for the Headspace
project. It will help to modify and improvise the project plan as per the user needs and
requirements (Mahalakshmi & Sundararajan, 2013). The feedback mechanism of this approach
will help to reduce the chance of failure of the system.

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SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
6. Conclusion
It can be concluded from this report that the health record system should adopt the
Adaptive SDLC approach because of its various advantages. This report presented a comparison
between the functional and non functional requirement of the system. It explained the pros and
cons of a cloud based solution. The advantages and limitations of the hybrid cloud are also
discussed in this report. This report also gave a brief overview of the limitations and advantages
of the predictive as well as the adaptive SDLC approach.

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7. References
AlZain, M. A., Pardede, E., Soh, B., & Thom, J. A. (2012, January). Cloud computing security:
from single to multi-clouds. In System Science (HICSS), 2012 45th Hawaii International
Conference on (pp. 5490-5499). IEEE.
Balaji, S., & Murugaiyan, M. S. (2012). Waterfall vs. V-Model vs. Agile: A comparative study
on SDLC. International Journal of Information Technology and Business Management,
2(1), 26-30.
Chen, D., & Zhao, H. (2012, March). Data security and privacy protection issues in cloud
computing. In Computer Science and Electronics Engineering (ICCSEE), 2012
International Conference on (Vol. 1, pp. 647-651). IEEE.
Chung, L., Nixon, B. A., Yu, E., & Mylopoulos, J. (2012). Non-functional requirements in
software engineering (Vol. 5). Springer Science & Business Media.
Galibus, T., & Vissia, H. E. R. M. (2015). Cloud storage security. Proc NSCE, 2014, 123-127.
Jain, A. K., & Nandakumar, K. (2012). Biometric Authentication: System Security and User
Privacy. IEEE Computer, 45(11), 87-92.
Kulkarni, G., Gambhir, J., Patil, T., & Dongare, A. (2012, June). A security aspects in cloud
computing. In Software Engineering and Service Science (ICSESS), 2012 IEEE 3rd
International Conference on (pp. 547-550). IEEE.
Li, J., Li, Y. K., Chen, X., Lee, P. P., & Lou, W. (2015). A hybrid cloud approach for secure
authorized deduplication. IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, 26(5),
1206-1216.

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Li, Q., Wang, Z. Y., Li, W. H., Li, J., Wang, C., & Du, R. Y. (2013). Applications integration in
a hybrid cloud computing environment: Modelling and platform. Enterprise Information
Systems, 7(3), 237-271.
Mahalakshmi, M., & Sundararajan, M. (2013). Traditional SDLC Vs Scrum Methodology–A
Comparative Study. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced
Engineering, 3(6), 192-196.
Pearce, C., & Bainbridge, M. (2014). A personally controlled electronic health record for
Australia. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(4), 707-713.
Rittinghouse, J. W., & Ransome, J. F. (2016). Cloud computing: implementation, management,
and security. CRC press.
Steele, R., Min, K., & Lo, A. (2012). Personal health record architectures: technology
infrastructure implications and dependencies. Journal of the Association for Information
Science and Technology, 63(6), 1079-1091.
Tuteja, M., & Dubey, G. (2012). A research study on importance of testing and quality assurance
in software development life cycle (SDLC) models. International Journal of Soft
Computing and Engineering (IJSCE), 2(3), 251-257