Page 88 - DCAP609_CLOUD_COMPUTING

Unit 6: Cloud Computing for the Corporation

computing. When Project Management Clouds (PM Clouds) are available at an affordable price, Notes
as and when needed, they can impact project management in the following ways:

Provides leapfrog opportunities to emerging economies and small enterprises able to
compete globally by leveraging “best-in-class” PM clouds
Fosters innovation as companies leverage more affordable PM cloud options to experiment

Minimizes the divide between small and large enterprises. Provides equal opportunities
as project management clouds become available at an affordable price
Allows for global collaboration with project talent around the world

Facilitates global and interactive learning at an affordable price
Project management applications include additional functions valuable in the management of
group projects. These features may include group to-do lists, Web-based file sharing, message
boards, time and cost tracking, and so on. And the most robust of these apps lets you manage
multiple projects simultaneously; users can schedule their time across multiple projects and
make sure they are not doing two things at once.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
9. Cloud computing is particularly useful to support a …………… and ………………. approach
to project management.
10. Project management applications include additional functions valuable in the management
of ………………….. projects.

6.4 Collaborating on Reports

This type of collaboration is useful, for example, to add a reminder to investigate low sales
figures for a particular product, or to explain an anomaly in the data that could be a cause for
concern. Collaborating on a Web-based document is surprisingly easy. Most projects start with
the team leader creating a new document online and giving it a bit of form, some sort of content
and style template. The leader then assigns sections of the report to appropriate individuals, and
provides the document URL to each individual. These contributors then work on their own
sections of the report, logging into the master document via their web browsers. When all the
individual sections are complete, the project leader then looks at the document as a whole,
editing for consistency and making sure that all appropriate data is included.
The best Web-based word processors work in conjunction with full-fledged Web-based office
suites. Google Docs, for example, encompasses word processing, spreadsheet and presentation
functions. Zoho’s suite of apps includes similar word processing, spreadsheet and presentation
functions as well as a neat little project management module.

6.5 Collaborating on Marketing Materials

Moving over finance, marketing is another area which could immensely benefit from Cloud
enabled systems.
Putting together a catalogue requires data from several different departments. For example,
effective direct mail campaign benefits from marketing, sales, and fulfillment input. Online PR
needs participation from marketing, product, and technical staff.

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