XYZ Firm: Research Project

Started 3/30/2021 – by Kristi Divin CTU – Online – Course: IT175

Section 1: Introduce Cloud Computing

Saving Cost

  • Human Resources
  • Supply Chain
  • General Office Function

Topics to Consider

  • Speed of Deployment
  • Costs
  • Service Offerings
  • Elastic Scaling
  • Vendor Lock – In

Cloud Type

  • Public
  • Private
  • Community
  • Hybrid

Section 2: Software & Identity as a Service

  • Identify at least 1 SaaS provider that can provide services for basic office administration and collaboration functions like Web mail, messaging, document sharing, and project management.
  • Identify at least 1IDaaS provider that may be used to provide identity services for the existing on-premises services (human resources and supply chain) and possibly the soon-to-be-hosted SaaS solution, which will provide for basic office administration and collaboration functions.
  • Once you have identified the SaaS and IDaaS providers, provide some analysis on their offerings and advantages. Finally, provide a high-level plan for migration that includes the tasks to be done, risks with risk mitigation, and risk management.

Section 3: Service Oriented Architecture & Platform as a Service for Supply Chain

  • Research 1 Platform as a Service (PaaS) provider and identify why it may be considered as a potential PaaS provider for the current supply chain program.
  • Identify potential benefits and risks that may be unique to the PaaS provider.
  • Include in your analysis a general discussion on budgeting considerations.
  • Include a summary that details the PaaS provider that you would select, with justification.

Section 4: Research 1 IaaS Vendor

  • Virtualization
  • Scaling and storage
  • Clustering

Section 5: Security, Risk Management, and Governance

  • Security threats in cloud-based solutions with risk management strategies
  • Governance principles for cloud-based solutions
  • Identify management opportunities in the cloud

“Cloud is about how you do computing, not where you do computing.”

Paul Maritz, CEO of VMware

Introducing Cloud Computing to a New Business

   Since the method of cloud computing is a completely new area of study for me, I decided most efficient way to help me understand it is to begin implementing it into my own business which offers services of graphic design and web development.

   Cloud computing is defined as being an “On-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user.” (Wikipedia, 2021)

Saving Cost

   Because it is something that the user does not regularly manage, there are several ways for it to save on expenses for a business like mine that is just starting out. The first of which is using tools of cloud human resource management, and Capterra has a very precise list of software applications for HR that were rated as the top 10 last year. Look at the graph below for the names of the applications, and the services they provide!

Monday.com is the marketing tool on this list that captures my interest strongly, because not only is it capable of helping me save on costs but is a software platform that engages designers in the ways of supply chain management and general office function as well!

Supply Chain Management

   There are several ways to efficiently manage a supply chain in any given business, but how does supply chain management help with saving cost within the realm of cloud computing?

   Upon further research, I discovered that Monday.com is cloud compatible which means I can finalize my entire project’s budget from start to finish using this application without using a bunch of excess storage space on my computer, tablet, or phone.

General Office Function   

If I, or any business owner, were to push all general office function to a third – party application such as Monday.com it would take less time, resources, and finances to manage the functions of the general office because that would fall under the duties of the third – party. In turn, the finances that would have gone to the excess resources would instead be one small, monthly payment to Monday.com for its services of general office function management. Some of functions of the general office include, “Duplicating, mailing and procurement of equipment for other departments.” (A. Acharya, 2011)

Topics to Consider

   A few topics to consider when thinking about cloud computing include the speed of deployment, costs, service offerings, elastic scaling, and vendor lock – in. Look at the chart below for a detailed list of pros and cons to each topic!

As with any process, pros and cons are important factors to consider. Which is why I dug into pros and cons that specifically match each of these topics to cloud computing.

Cloud Type

   With all the resources I have investigated, and with what I have learned combined with personal experience the only type of cloud computing I would feel comfortable using would be private. Community and Public Cloud Computing do not make sense for a web designer, because it would give a lot of people access to my coding and any design templates I choose to utilize. In turn, this would make my work very vulnerable to theft and different types of cyber-attacks. I put myself at risk to these threats enough as it is by simply signing into my WordPress account to post my blogs and pictures. With Private Cloud Computing, I feel as though I would have better control of who accesses my work, when, and why.

References

  1. Cloud computing. (2021, April 03). Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
  2. Human resource software. (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://www.capterra.com/sem-compare/human-resource-software?gclid=CjwKCAjwjbCDBhAwEiwAiudBy8aTXiD-H0NLwjNcJH7yzgYRDFH0xzw3aiIf1ec8c_ul7lwtgUGgchoCj3cQAvD_BwE
  3. What are the common functions of a general office? (2011, January 06). Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://www.preservearticles.com/business/common-functions-of-a-general-office/1195
  4. Work the way that works for you. (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://monday.com/
  5. Benz, K., & Bohnert, T. (2015, October 08). Elastic scaling of cloud application performance based on Western Electric rules by injection of Aspect-oriented Code. Retrieved April 07, 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050915030239
  6. Cloud computing costs & pricing comparison for 2021. (2021, March 16). Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://vnt-software.com/cloud-computing-costs-and-pricing-comparison/
  7. Opara-Martins, J., Sahandi, R., & Tian, F. (2016, April 15). Critical analysis of vendor lock-in and its impact on cloud computing migration: A business perspective. Retrieved April 07, 2021, from https://journalofcloudcomputing.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13677-016-0054-z
  8. Player, S. (2013, July 15). Using the cloud for rapid deployment OF Fp&a technology. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://searcherp.techtarget.com/feature/Using-the-cloud-for-rapid-deployment-of-FPA-technology
  9. Security, cloud delivery, performance | akamai. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2021, from https://www.akamai.com/

SaaS Providers

   The chart above is a list of the top 10 marketing providers according to Capterra. I chose to discuss this list after looking it over because between this list and the first one already revealed there is one provider in common: Monday.com, which tells me that this application can accomplish a lot more than mere finances. Capterra does a wonderful job at explaining just what Monday.com can do, the ratings it currently holds, as well as a directly link to the originating website, and the main services it provides.

   To clarify my suspicions about Monday.com I performed a simple google search using, “Basic office administration and collaboration,” as the key words and this specific application was the first one listed! The listing’s description according to Google is, “Task Management, File Sharing, Real-Time Communication & More. Try monday.com Free Today! A Tool That Lets Everyone Easily Share What They’re Working On. Start Collaborating Now! File Sharing. Reminders & notifications. 24/7 Legendary Support. Due Date Reminders.” (Google, 2021)

   While there may not be a chat bubble on the bottom of the website’s page, there are different options to contact the support team for Monday.com, which may come in handy if things go astray or a faction within the provider’s duties is not working properly.

IDaaS Provider

   After some research, I was able to find a top – 10 list of IDaaS vendors for last year provided by a technology blog known as “KnowledgeNile.” From the originating list, I navigated to a vendor I am already familiar with: “Oracle Identity Cloud Service.”

   According to this blog, Oracle Identity Cloud Service provides, “Easy and synchronized user provisioning across Cloud and on-premises services. It enforces a zero-trust strategy and implements single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and strong password enforcement in their access policies.” (KnowledgeNile, 2020)

Offerings and Advantages

   With everything I have learned with throughout my research, it is obvious there are several advantages to both applications. To put it on paper though I decided to research further and find specific lists of advantages for Monday.com and Oracle Identity Cloud Services.

   The chart below explains what both chosen applications have in the ways of services and advantages. Reading the chart from left right, the far – left column are services provided by Monday.com followed by the application’s advantages; the organization for the Oracle Identity Cloud Services is the same, just with the appropriate information. 

Plan of Action

Below you will see a flow – chart that serves as a plan of action for Urban Enterprise, my private business. Part of this plan, in fact, has already been implemented as of 4/13/2021 which is the introduction of new social media platforms to broaden the advertisement of the business.

This chart includes all the steps I need to pursue to see that my business is well – protected, and thanks to this project I have discovered new resources that can help me get all this accomplished!

References

  1. Advertising agency software. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.capterra.com/sem-compare/advertising-agency-software?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpdqDBhCSARIsAEUJ0hMz_PqnrVgo0CEzMFyySlkN65HI-oP4nfZpYNj6o8N5Bz7I34iZtPUaAvK3EALw_wcB
  2. Bruce, D., About Debra Bruce Debra Bruce is an experienced “Tech-Blogger” and a proven marketer. She has expertise across topics like artificial intelligence, Bruce, A., Debra Bruce is an experienced “Tech-Blogger” and a proven marketer. She has expertise across topics like artificial intelligence, & View all posts by Debra Bruce →. (2021, February 12). 10 best IDaaS vendors as of 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.knowledgenile.com/blogs/idaas-vendors/
  3. Home. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2021, from https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/oracle-identity-cloud-service-pros-and-cons
  4. Oracle identity cloud service. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2021, from https://www.oracle.com/security/cloud-security/identity-cloud/
  5. Santos, J. (2019, December 12). The pros and cons of using monday.com software. Retrieved April 15, 2021, from https://articlesbase.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-monday-com-software/
  6. Work the way that works for you. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://monday.com/
Section 3

 

1)  Research 1 Platform as a Service (PaaS) provider and identify why it may be considered as a potential PaaS provider for the current supply chain program.

If I had to pick a PaaS that I felt would benefit my trade efficiently it would be the one in which I am most familiar: Google App Engine! There is a wonderful article written and published by DevTeam.Space that describes the capabilities of Google App Engine and how it functions. As stated by the article, “With Google App Engine, you develop, deploy, and manage your applications on a fully managed cloud platform.” (DevTeam, 2021)

Google App Engine is not only efficient to me as a PaaS but also as a possible partner to my business since there is already so much I utilize within the company. For example, Google is utilized regularly as a base – source for any questions I may have when researching tasks big or small. I utilize Google Play Store for installing applications that are mobile and designer friendly, most of which are desktop friendly as well. On a minor, but relevant, side – note I also use Google Music to find family – friendly music or E-Books for my children.

2) Identify potential benefits and risks that may be unique to the PaaS provider.

There are two unique benefits to Google App Engine, that really drive my selection home! The first of which is me not having to concern myself about infrastructure provisioning as a programmer! This fact alone, would be capable of saving a lot of time and stress. Aside from that, Google would also handle the process of scaling for the company.

The second deciding factor is this platform supporting nearly even known programming languages such as Java, Python, PHP, Ruby, etc. Since my trade of choice is primarily coding, this would be a huge help. To read more on Google App Engine, look at the cited resource below this section.

3) Include in your analysis a general discussion on budgeting considerations.

Probably the largest benefit of Google as a business partner or provider is that the tools virtually free to use! There are several instances where upgrading is an option, of course, but it is never required for anyone to access and utilize the tools which means a lot to anyone in the digital business!

4) Include a summary that details the PaaS provider that you would select, with justification.

As previously stated, a lot of what is discussed in this section is justified by me already being familiar and accustomed to using the vast array of tools and resources that Google provides, from e-mail to photo editing. I have used Google for a large variety of things over the years and will continue to do so if it remains active!

References

10 top PAAS providers of 2021. (2021, March 15). Retrieved April 21, 2021, from https://www.devteam.space/blog/10-top-paas-providers/

Section 4

Introduction to Microsoft Azure

I chose to research Microsoft Azure simply because Microsoft is a brand I am familiar with and very fond of using. Another side note is that since Microsoft is the base software to most technology it is usually easy to register a given device with the company, which can greatly add to the security and support factors.

Virtualization

Microsoft defines virtualization as, “A situation in which a simulated computing environment is created instead of a physical one.” (Microsoft, 2021) Within the marketplace for Microsoft Azure there is a virtualization manager which manages the virtual infrastructure, optimizes performance, fixes any issues, and controls the resource scope.

Scaling & Storage

A few of the different scaling resources offered by Microsoft Azure include API management, batch, Azure Database for MariaDB, Azure Policy, Azure Bot Services, and Azure SignalR Service. There are also a few web applications included with the products offered which are known as Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Queue Storage, and Azure Batch Al. In addition to all this, there are different levels of each agile platform offered by Microsoft Azure such as scale – out models and blockchain scaling.

Some of the aspects maintained by the storage faction of Microsoft Azure include accounts, explorer, archives, data lake, premium files, azure blob, and azure disk. The most efficient benefit to everything is that there are no upfront costs for any services provided by Microsoft Azure, in fact, the only time you must pay a dime is when you choose to!

Clustering

While there may not be as many products offered for the clustering process, that does not mean they are any less useful. HDInsight for example is the perfect tool for managing a lot of data when the user needs an open – source platform. A few platforms HDI supports include Apache Hadoop, Spark, Hive, Kafka, and others.

The second product on the list of clustering models is Azure CycleCloud which provides more than a few services including the deployment of clusters and additional resources, computing VM’s, storage, networking, and cache.

Finally, there is a tool called Azure FXT Edge Filer which is known as, “A hybrid storage optimization solution for HPC environments.” (Microsoft, 2021) FXT is unique because it does not work with hardware storage, but network – attached storage too which means you would have the cloud anywhere you go under a single e-mail address!

ReferencesCloud computing Services: Microsoft Azure. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2021, from https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/

Security Threats

The diagram above details a list of the top 7 threats to cloud computing within the year of 2011! Despite this list being older, each threat is still real and sometimes carried out unnoticed or unreported until after the crime has already been committed, by which time there may be very little to nothing that can be done. That said, I decided the best way to research risk management for threats like these was to decide on prevention policies.

  • Nefarious use of cloud computing.

The best possible way to fight hackers and cybercrime from using information the wrong way is to partner with a cloud provider that prides on high security, one that is known for having a strong IDS and/or IPS, utilizes firewalls wherever possible, has cloud monitoring and balancing tools, and utilizes fraud prevention methods.

  • Unknown Profiles & Account or Service Hijacking

“Identity and Access Management is role-based accesses to applications and files.  Securely isolating users to only allow access to information pertaining only to them and their role within the organization.” (WHOA.com, 2020)

  • Data loss or leakage.

The top 3 ways to prevent data breaches are outer and inner firewalls, utilizing encryption when your data is idle, and authentication for data access always!

  • Insecure interfaces or API’s.

“To limit the severity of this risk, it’s important to treat APIs and UIs as the first line of defense for any cloud solution. Threat modeling applications and systems, including data flows and architecture/design become important parts of the development lifecycle under this philosophy.” (WHOA.com, 2020)

  • Shared Technology Issues

From personal experience, I feel as though the best way to prevent shared technology issues is to limit doing so. This way you will be better able to keep any account information to yourself. You will also be able to protect any company or personal data you may have stored.

  • Malicious Insiders

Some prevention methods against malicious insiders include the revoking of credentials upon termination, restricting access where possible on certain levels, and utilizing firewalls for individual people and applications.

Governance Principles

CloudHealth Tech is a technology – based blog published in June of 2019 that specializes in cloud – based solutions. As such, they have an article that digs into 6 of the most important governance principles including financial management, cost optimization, operational governance, performance management, security and incident management, finally asset and configuration management. This 4 – minute read article gives a brief description of each step of cloud computing governance and why they are important! There are also services this company provides to make sure businesses thrive in all these aspects and more.

The biggest management opportunities within cloud computing lie with the technologies used to perform the vast array of services at hand! It so happens that Rachel Dines, a senior director and writer of product marketing for CloudHealth Tech, published an article on this topic in January of 2021! This article lists different ways 2020 has changed cloud usage, and what has happened to implement the changes which includes computing costs decreasing, cloud services finally proving themselves valuable, and cloud computing is setting up to be as important as cost management come the end of 2021.

“2020 was a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent government-imposed restrictions introduced new realities for everyone. For some businesses, the economic pressure of these restrictions would make cost-cutting measures the top priority. For others, the implications of the pandemic led to a fundamental shift in priorities, whether that meant a surge in demand for core products or the need to respond to unexpected behavior in the market.” (R. Dines, 2021)

References

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