Information Management and the Digital Firm Essay

Information Management and the Digital Firm - Essay Example Cloud computing comes in different forms, and example includes; SECaas, which refers to security as a service, IaaS, which deals with infrastructure and DBaas which mainly deals with databases. (Wang,, 2012). Cloud computing has five essential characteristics, and they are (Smoot and Tan, 2012), 1. Capability of pooling resource. Cloud computing can pool the resources of the providers computer in order to serve a high number of customers, through the use of a multi-tenant model. This model has different virtual and physical resources which are dynamically assigned according to the requirements of the customer. 2. It has a broad network access. The cloud computing system has a variety of capabilities which are available over the host network, and accessed through devices that promote the use of heterogeneous thick and thin platforms such as laptops, work stations and mobile phones. 3. It has an on-demand self-service system: The system allows the customer to control its capabilities s uch as server time, network storage system, and other application, and it does not need the human intervention of the system producer/ provider.The system allows customers to configure, deploy and obtain cloud computing services by their own initiative through guidance from the cloud computing catalogues. On this note therefore, developers of cloud computing technology have templates which contain configurations that the customer can use in setting up the system. These templates contain information on the cloud computing infrastructure, and information concerning servers contained in the system. These servers can perform specialized work like hosting of websites and databases (Hwang and Fox, 2012). 4. It has a measured service system. The system allows customers to monitor, control, report and provide a feedback concerning the use of the technology. The system also automatically controls and optimizes the use of the computing resources by creating a lever on the metering capability of the system. The creation of the lever on the metering capability of the system is dependent on the type of service the clouding system provides. These services might include provision of a system that allows customers to create active online accounts with the organization, storage or processing services (Hwang and Fox, 2012). 5. Its elasticity is rapid. The cloud computing system has capabilities that are provisioned elastically, and in some instances, its capabilities are automatically provisioned. Cloud computing provisions that are available for provisioning are unlimited, and it is possible to appropriate them in whichever quantity, and time is not an issue. In my own opinion, there are only some specific elements of the cloud computing system that are used in a digitally enabled business environment. The type of cloud computing system that is applicable in a business set up is the software as a service system (SaaS). In this system, it is possible to enable customers an acce ss to the databases and applications of the software. In this system, the role of the providers is to manage the platform, and infrastructure upon which the software is installed on. This system allows a business organization to reduce the costs associated with its information