Definition of Cloud Computing Essay

What is your comment of cloud computing and how does it impact your business? Cloud computing has been around for a age. It has been lurking in the ICT manufacturing in sm building blocker forms and companies have generally been using the return internally without realizing it. Only a few years ago, the sudden realization that cloud computing can save an musical arrangement massive in operation(p) costs came to the fore. Organizations were getting bigger and the cost of doing business was becoming expensive. Organizations that were expanding globally, i.e. beyond their countrys borders were discovering that the radical costs per country varied and in some instances were n hotshot-existent as the country did non have the purchase power to procure the latest infrastructure. This squiffyt that organizations that had SOE (standard operating environments) and were mandated by policy to conform to specific standards began to find it more difficult to maintain their standards.T his in turn meant that compromises would sine qua non to be made to security policies and the method in which selective development was delivered to international clients had to be changed to enable this to happen. So, it was only natural that when cloud computing improvement providers began an scrappy push for their services, the world breathed a sigh of relief. Here at last was a service that could be delivered virtually bothwhere in the world and unconstipated more beneficial was the fact that the service could be delivered down to handheld devices such(prenominal) as smartphones and the iPad. In appendage to this, cloud computing enabled an organization to maintain its policies seamlessly across multiple sites which may be located in different countries. The entire syllabus could be used to virtually exchangeize the selective reading and the policies associated with it. So, exactly what is cloud computing? To the layman, the simplest definition is the repositing of d ata in a virtual cloud with the Internet being used as the moxie to access and work on data.The CloudThe CloudData FlowData FlowFor a user who is always on the move, cloud computing makes it easier to access and work on data disregardless of the location and it also allows the user to be in touch with his office because cloud computing is not restricted merely to information sharing but also allows for the bridging of the user and his colleagues by way of moving-picture show conferencing, virtual boardrooms and other features that enable a user to remain connected. From a more technical perspective, the data is stored in data farms that can be made up of SANS, virtualization, security layers and connectivity mediums that allows for the quick access to data. The benefits of cloud computing are no doubt massive but what does this mean for the pecuniary fabrication? What does this mean for an industry that is reinforced up on a steadfast set of information security policies, all with the one objective of protecting customer information and transaction records?For someone such as me, the financial industry is almost akin to the Russian iron curtain. Customer data is jealously guarded and information relating to the financial systems is kept securely under lock and key. Every single user is tasked to ensure that any information coming out of the system is used exactly and only for the purpose it is deemed and destroyed erstwhile it has been used. In addition to this, the ICT industry in the finance industry has a massive task on its hands. It is responsible for ensuring that intrusion attempts are detected and arrested on the spot and any data traversing out of the profits is secured to the point of destination. Naturally, the ramifications of any breach can be potentially fatal. Breaches of customer data can unremarkably result in * Customer legal action, i.e. being sued* Non-compliance of central bank regulations can lead to fines* sledding of reputati on* Loss of r stillueThese factors can usually be devastating for any bank. After all, customers waitress their personal information to be kept secure when dealing with a bank given that no one likes their financial information splattered across the public boards for the world to see. If an example is sought here, one need only look at the Swiss banks. When people worry about their money, they rush it to Switzerland, even when domestic laws forbid it. Switzerland never seems to have any trouble which would adversely affect the value of its funds or the safety of the money entrusted to its bankers (Vicker 3, 4). This was the general norm until recently in 2009 when the US demanded that the Swiss commit UBS turn over details of US clients who were suspected of tax evasion, fight between U.S. authorities and the Swiss banking giant, UBS, the veil is about to be pierced. UBS agreed on Wednesday to turn over identifying information on 4,450 accounts which the IRS believes retain unde clared assets belonging to Americans. Those accounts were believed to hold about $18 billionAccounting Web (08/20/2009 0826). Ultimately, this delineate a new era for Swiss banking because another country had successfully infiltrated the closely guarded secrets of the Swiss banks and managed to demand data be handed over through legal channels. So what does this mean for organizations in the financial sector where security is paramount? Naturally, no financial institution wants to lose control of its data or being in a position where it cannot control the flow of data accurately. It is therefore little that the decision to move to a cloud establish environment be studied carefully while gauging the risks involved and the potential loss of customer information if the system were ever to fail. Therefore, it is my belief that organizations in this sector are highly unlikely to move over entirely to the cloud based system.Federal and central regulations would play a crucial role in the decision as well as the security aspects. For any financial organizations contemplating this move, it would certainly not be done by way of hiring a vendor providing the service and instead the organization would build its own private cloud where it would enforce all the indispensable regulations and policies that would ensure the security of the data. It is also prudent to remember that the core applications of financial organizations are generally built around legacy based languages such as COBOL and these cannot be easily migrated to a web based system given that there are transactional processing issues such as response times, etc. that need to be factored. For financial institutions, the change would be far too massive and require an almost pad overhaul of the existing investments in the infrastructure and a change in the central policies. In addition to this, there is always the greater risk of data losses as Google experienced recently which leftover a few thousand cu stomers without access to their mailboxes and ultimately losing their data.In a cloud based environment, the risks of such occurrences particularly where customer data is concerned are far too great to be reckoned with even if the ratio is small, that risk cannot be taken. Organizations in the financial sector are dictated on industry expected practices such as data retention periods, backup methodology, archiving, backup security and a whole host of other protocols that need to be followed when dealing with customer data. In an environment such a cloud based one, these methodologies cannot all be applied given that the environment is changed from a more rigid and manageable structure to a more fluid structure.In conclusion, the concept of cloud computing is thusly a fascinating one and offers massive savings for any organization that ventures into it however for industries where customer information security is the key to survival, the prospect of going to a cloud based system un less it were a in camera built and controlled one would not induce any encouragement in the financial sector. Nonetheless, it is hoped that in the future, central regulations will be changed to encourage the migration to cloud and with the appropriate security policies and perhaps an improved security structure, this visual sense may one day be fully embraced by the financial industries around the world. * Vicker, Ray. Those Swiss gold Men. New York Scribner, 1973. * Accounting Web. Swiss Bank UBS agrees to reveal U.S. secret accountholders, http//bit.ly/iO4bX6, August 20, 2009, 0826