Page 38 - DCAP609_CLOUD_COMPUTING

Unit 3: Developing Cloud Services

3.2.1 Advantages of Cloud Development Notes

The biggest advantage of cloud computing is cost efficiency. By controlling cloud’s capabilities,
companies can save on licensing fees and at the same time eliminate overhead charges such as
the cost of data storage, software updates, management etc. The cloud is in general available at
much cheaper rates than traditional approaches and can significantly lower the overall IT expenses.
There are many one-time-payment, pay-as-you-go and other scalable options available making
the cloud even more attractive.
There is Device Diversity and Location Independence as cloud computing services can be accessed
via electronic devices that are able to have access to the internet. These devices include not only
the traditional PCs, but also smartphones, tablets etc. An end-user might decide not only which
device to use, but also where to access the service from. There is no limitation of place and
medium. We can access our applications and data anywhere in the world, making this method
very attractive to people.
It is easier for developers to upgrade a cloud application than with traditional desktop software.
Instead of manually upgrading individual applications located on each and every desktop PC in
the organization, application features can be quickly and easily updated by upgrading the
centralized application. With a cloud service, a single change affects every user running the
application, which greatly reduces the developer’s workload.
Since all your data is stored in the cloud, backing it up and restoring the same is relatively much
easier than storing the same on a physical device. Additionally, most cloud service providers are
usually competent enough to handle recovery of information. Hence, this makes the entire
process of backup and recovery much simpler than other traditional methods of data storage.

3.2.2 Disadvantages of Cloud Development

Despite all the apparent advantages of adopting the cloud computing model, some significant
concerns could prevent an enterprise from moving into the cloud.
Security is the biggest concern when it comes to cloud computing. Before adopting this
technology, a company must remember that it is surrendering all the company’s sensitive
information to a third-party cloud service provider. It is then up to the cloud service provider to
manage, protect and retain the data, thus the provider’s reliability is very critical. A company
must look at all possible alternatives before making any decision about switching to cloud
computing. For the security reason even end users might feel uncomfortable submitting their
data to a third party.
Privacy in the cloud is yet another huge issue to worry about. Companies and users have to trust
their cloud service vendors that they will protect their data from unauthorized users. The various
stories in news about data being damaged or lost and passwords being leaked does not provide
much comfort to some of the most concerned users.
Another drawback of switching to cloud computing is that your small businesses become
dependent on the reliability of your Internet connection. When it’s offline, you’re offline. Even
the most reliable cloud computing service providers suffer server outages time and again.
A significant disadvantage could be if the cloud computing host goes offline. Imagine such a
situation. Even though most companies claim that this isn’t possible, it has happened in the
recent past. In a very significant instance, Amazon’s EC2 service suffered a massive outage on
February 15, 2008, wiping out some customer application data. The outage was caused by a
software deployment that mistakenly ended an unknown number of user instances. For clients
expecting a safe and secure platform, having that platform go down and data disappear is

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