Cloud Computing Comparison: IBM Cloud and Google Cloud Platforms

This report provides a comparative analysis of IBM Cloud and Google Cloud platforms, focusing on their Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings. The report begins with an executive summary and an introduction to cloud computing, including its infrastructure and various service models like IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. It then identifies several cloud service providers offering PaaS, with a detailed examination of IBM Cloud and Google Cloud. The comparison covers key aspects such as the core platforms, quality of design, navigation, and pricing models. The report highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each platform, particularly in areas like hosting, storage, machine learning, big data analytics, and networking. The analysis includes insights into their respective developer tools and services, such as application engines, cloud functions, and SDKs. The conclusion summarizes the findings and provides an overall assessment of the two platforms, offering a comprehensive understanding of their suitability for different applications. The report is well-structured, including tables of contents, references, and a clear discussion of the services offered by each provider.

Running head: Cloud Computing
Comparison and contrast between IBM Cloud and Google Cloud
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Executive Summary
In many cloud service delivery services, it is undebatable that IBM will always win. IBM has an
expansive coverage over the market as regards to quality of cloud services that it offers. In
addition, IBM services integrate well with each other, producing a good synergy. On the other
side, Google Cloud is not so much dependable as the number and quality of the cloud services
that it offers is limited. The basic concept of cloud computing is the fact that a person does not
have to know everything about the service they are trying to access before they can benefit from
it.

Running Head: Cloud Computing
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................2
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................4
Cloud Computing Infrastructure.............................................................................................................4
Examples of Cloud Computing.............................................................................................................5
Cloud Computing Today.......................................................................................................................5
Platform as a Service (PaaS) Framework............................................................................................6
Cloud service providers who offer PaaS platform................................................................................6
Comparison and Contrast...................................................................................................................14
Quality of Design and navigation of the PaaS system........................................................................15
The Core Platforms.............................................................................................................................15
Pricing..................................................................................................................................................18
Results and Discussion............................................................................................................................21
My Opinion..........................................................................................................................................21
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................22
References................................................................................................................................................24

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Introduction
Cloud computing is a technology that involves the processing of data in a distributed manner, in
which scalable information resources and capacities are provided as a service in the cloud
(Bernstein 2014). Online cloud services can be accessed through smart devices even from the
remotest areas. The basic concept of cloud computing is the fact that a person does not have to
know everything about the service they are trying to access before they can benefit from it.
Cloud computing technology separates the user of a service from the infrastructure and its
operating procedures, as this are not relevant to the end user (Höfer & Karagiannis 2011).
Cloud Computing Infrastructure
More than one person can access services hosted in the cloud, hence we talk of distributed data
processing in cloud computing. Cloud computing architectures can be categorized in three broad
categories as follows:
i. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) – this framework makes it possible for
individuals or organizations to rent computing infrastructure such as servers (physical or
virtual) for storage and networking. Iaas is applicable to businesses or individuals that
would want to control their servicers for themselves.
ii. Platform-as-a-Service (Paas) – this framework comes next after IaaS. It involves
provision of storage and networking services from the cloud. All the storage and
networking resources that developers need in developing applications and software are
provided in this architecture.

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iii. Software-as-a-Service (Saas) – this architecture provides for access of hosted
services from the cloud. The used doesn’t need to understate the underlying operating
infrastructure of the framework; the user only needs to access the services they need.
SaaS architecture is normally based on a ‘one- per user’ basis. This means that a user
individually access the cloud to access the services they need from a remote area.
Cloud computing technology makes a wide variety of services available to the user, ranging from
storage capacity, networking and hosting services. Furthermore, integration of artificial
intelligence (AI) and natural language processing technology with cloud computing makes it
even more beneficial to users, as it can then can offer more complex services and resources. .
Examples of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing entails a wide range of services that we use in a day to day lives. For example,
services like Gmail, or our smartphone’s cloud based photo backup and several others are all
based on cloud computing technology. Many business enterprises and organizations also rely on
cloud computing in order to carry out their day to day tasks. Netflix for example relies heavily on
cloud services in order to sustain its business (Zhang et al. 2010).
Cloud Computing Today
More than half of IT spending globally is spent on enhancing cloud computing infrastructure so
as to accommodate more advanced cloud frameworks. At the same time, the traditional in-house
packaging of computing workloads is fast being faced away as more people and businesses are
shifting their services to the cloud (Hoefer & Karagiannis 2010).

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It is predicted that in the next five years, more than a third of the IT budget will be spent in
ameliorating cloud services and proving for hosting more resources in the cloud. By the year
2021, more than half of all global IT enterprises shall have shifted completely to the cloud.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) Framework
Platform as a service (PaaS), as mentioned earlier, is a framework of cloud computing that
makes it possible for individuals and companies to access infrastructural services from the cloud.
PaaS enhances the speed and ease of accessing resources by separating the end user from the
physical interface of the service provider (Madhavaiah & Bashir 2012). This model of cloud
computing enables customers in designing, running and managing applications without having to
worry about the underlying infrastructure. In Paas, the provider supplies all that is needed for
development of software, such as servers, operating systems and storage facilities. The user
accesses these services and resources without having to worry of configurations and adjusting
settings (Sultan 2011).
The original intention of the PaaS framework was to simplify the process of writing code for
developers and software designers. Originally, all the PaaS features for most companies were
hosted in the public cloud. However, because of security concerns, more business enterprises are
adopting the hybrid and private clouds so as to enhance security of their data and resources
(Mollah, Islam & Islam 2012).
Cloud service providers who offer PaaS platform
Globally, there are many business enterprises using services to users based on PaaS platform.
Developers have the right to choose which PaaS providers they want depending on the services
they need. Different companies specialize in offering of a particular type pf servicesand

Running Head: Cloud Computing
resources. The services offered by these PaaS-based cloud computing companies include coding
environments, testing and deployment kits as well as web and database integration features.
Theses providers include the following:
i. IBM Cloud Platform
IBM is an international ICT company that is based in Armonk, United States of America. The
company operates in more than 107 countries in the world. IBM Cloud platform integrates both
PaaS and Saas to provide the best platform that supports small scale and large scale
organizations globally (Alshuwaier, Alshwaier & Areshey 2012). IBM cloud is one of the most
developed cloud platform across the world, with branches and networks across several countries
throughout the world.
IBM Cloud platform provides the following cloud services:
i. A console that offers a platform for creation and management of cloud resources.
ii. An authentication system that verifies users on how they access and use services
across the IBM cloud.
iii. Tagging and search feature for filtration and identification of resources that
clients would need to access.
iv. Billing and accounting system to approximate exact billing prices and provide
security for transactions by using fraud protection techniques.
Microsoft Cloud Platform
Microsoft is a long-term cloud service provider and is one of the world’s biggest and most
advanced (Vecchiola, Pandey & Buyya 2009). Since the firm launched its Azure platform, the

Running Head: Cloud Computing
company has continued to register a consistent popularity and is currently the leading player in
the computing cloud space. It offers the following services:
a. An intelligent cloud, which includes windows operating systems, Servers, SQL
and Azure servers
b. Business platforms like Microsoft Office
c. Personal Computing features such as Bing Search, X-box, Windows client and
Surface.
Amazon Web Service
A subsidiary of Amazon.com, Amazon Web Service is an enterprise that offers cloud computing
services to individuals and enterprises on demand (Höfer & Karagiannis 2011). It offers a good
platform for developing software that offers solutions to business problems using advanced web
integrated services. Amazon web services offers just more than PaaS services. It provides end
users with access to a number of cloud services such as content delivery systems and storage
services. Users can also access the company’s ‘AWS Elastic Beanstalk,’ a service that provides
developers with an easy way of deploying their services (Zhang et al 2010).
Amazon remains one of the top market leaders in the cloud computing space, especially after
introducing artificial intelligence features to its array of cloud services. According to IT analysts,
AWS is the most strategic and most popular cloud service provider for many organizations.
Amazon Web Services has data centers strategically located across Europe Australia and Japan
(Neto 2011).

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Google Cloud Platform
Indisputably, Google Search is the leading player in internet searching. Having initially started as
a PaaS provider, Google Cloud platform would later advance to offer IaaS and SaaS based
services. Google Cloud Platform offers services in computing, databases and storage areas. The
major beneficiaries of the services offered by Google Cloud platform are the finance section,
gaming, health care, entertainment and the media. The key features of the services offered by this
company include hybrid clouding, API management, data analytics, device management and app
development (Gong et al. 2010).
Red Hat
The company provides all the three types of clouds, that is, public, private and hybrid.
Governments, financial institutions, healthcare facilities and telecommunications fields highly
benefit from Red Hat. The cloud company offers a wide range of services for ease of
management tasks and provides proficient tools for business administration (Sefraoui, Aissaoui
& Eleuld 2012).
Selection of a service provider
I choose Google Cloud platform to compare with IBM Cloud PaaS. I choose GCP because of the
following reasons:
i. Google Cloud Platform is just as popular as IBM cloud, hence they will compare
more favorably.
ii. Google Cloud Platform is one of the most advance companies that have specialized in
cloud computing, with branches all over the world. It is therefore of much interest
with many people and organizations as opposed to other companies.

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The Google Cloud
AI Machine learning
API Management

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Cloud services Platform
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