GMO Cloud

Cloud Brokerage Services

The expansion of cloud computing has led to a happy democratization of IT services. Companies that could only afford basic IT can now go in for full-fledged ERP solutions. However, while the cost barrier has been broken, knowledge and skill barriers still remain. Not every small and medium business can afford to start out with staff that can guide the company to proper utilization of cloud based-services. Many busy CEOs may not even have the time to study the subject.

New capabilities in Cloud Computing have gone way beyond simple storage of data. With full-fledged applications being run over the cloud, there are complex issues of integration, security and relationship management. If the busy CEO does not have time to manage these issues, he would perhaps give up for the moment and decide to look at the issue when he can afford to hire IT staff. This is a pity. IT and the proper use of cloud computing can add wings to his business but he must put it on hold because he can’t afford the staff or invest his own time.

That is where cloud brokerage comes in. Brokerages serve as intermediaries between the cloud service provider and the end user. They help the end user overcome the complexity and get the service they need.

The cloud broker need not be a person. It could be software or suite of technologies that will aggregate the services a user needs (even with different vendors) and package them so that they get a complete package that fits business needs closely. If the company were to achieve the same result through its own manpower, it would have to fritter away precious resources. It is far more cost-effective to use the services of a broker if cloud computing needs are well-defined and do not need extensive customization.

There are three parts of the service that a broker provides:

 
• First, the broker would understand customer needs and research the marketplace to offer a customized solution. The broker would ensure regulatory compliance, manage security and disaster recovery and deliver a single service to the user that encompasses all of these.

 

• The cloud services broker would offer a single Service Level Agreement (SLA) to the customer. This would include every activity that is needed by the customer. At the back-end, the broker could have separate SLAs with his subcontractors.

 

• Service continuity would be the brokers’ responsibility.

Cloud brokerage becomes even more critical if you are in an industry where there are several regulatory requirements for the business to run. Using specialist brokers who understand your industry and its regulatory requirements is an industry wide best-practice.

There are three categories of cloud brokers available today: Intermediation Brokers, Aggregators and Cloud Arbitrage Services. The services they provide are described below -

 
• Intermediation Brokers – Such a broker starts with a basic existing service that the cloud provider is already making available. He then adds additional essential services that make the original service more robust and reliable. This creates a more stable and complete product. The additional services could be identity management, access control or security overlays. Using such a Broker is a simple and cost effective method of building robust capabilities.

 

• Aggregation Services – The aggregator is a cloud services broker who puts together a set of services from different vendors and builds them into a complete product. He will assure your company a specified level of performance and will put the measurement systems in place to ensure it. You pay the aggregator a single amount and he handles the accounts with the vendors he uses.

 

• Cloud Services Arbitrage – This is a business model where a broker purchases a large quantity of a resource at wholesale rates. They then parcel it out into smaller chunks and make it available to end users at a competitive rate.

 
If you are a company that is still in a rapid growth phase, using cloud brokerage would permit you to get the best of the breed cloud solutions without needing to hire a full time IT staff. Your IT solutions can grow with your company without ever becoming a non-productive drain.
 

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About the Guest Author:

Sanjay Srivastava has been active in computing infrastructure and has participated in major projects on cloud computing, networking, VoIP and in creation of applications running over distributed databases. Due to a military background, his focus has always been on stability and availability of infrastructure. Sanjay was the Director of Information Technology in a major enterprise and managed the transition from legacy software to fully networked operations using private cloud infrastructure. He now writes extensively on cloud computing and networking and is about to move to his farm in Central India where he plans to use cloud computing and modern technology to improve the lives of rural folk in India.

Case Study to Show Flexibility of Public Cloud Technology

Public cloud technology provides unparalleled flexibility and speed when compared with traditional servers. Period.

The dream of every new start-up is to grow and expand business operations over years or even months. However, due to favorable business environments, some new companies suddenly find themselves expanding at such an alarming rate as to necessitate an increase in server capacity, storage usage, and improved security systems.

Samba Tech is a typical example of why companies should adopt cloud technology to withstand sudden growth spurts. Samba Tech was founded in 2008 as an online video delivery, exploring the untapped market in Brazil. Within three years of operations serving international media companies like Viacom, Bloomberg, and ESPN as a platform for delivering online video content to Latin American viewers, Samba’s revenue rose by a whopping 200 percent to about $2.8 million.

Predictably, Samba began to face the serious threat to its business operations due to sudden increase in storage, server, security, and IT management requirements. The company initially had no plan to handle its IT systems. In fact it had started life with a local hosting service containing limited storage capacity, limited servers and poor IT management procedures. These eventually led to poor video quality and dissatisfied customer services.

By the time Samba management opted for public cloud, it was the only thing they could do to prevent collapse. Cloud not only provided flexibility in scaling up and down the amount of storage usage, server capacity and the introduction of enhanced IT security systems. It also helped Samba deal with a sudden hike in IT infrastructure requirements, especially additional processing power. For instance, when there were popular sporting events on ESPN or new marketing campaigns on other channels, the adoption of public cloud afforded Samba the unique opportunity of scaling up its IT systems to meet new requirements at a faster rate and affordable cost.

And here is the final summation from Samba Chief Technology Officer, Fernando Campos: “It’s difficult to foresee when we will need additional capacity, but while traditional servers can take weeks to deploy, public cloud servers take less than 30 seconds. If the cloud technology wasn’t available, we couldn’t have grown as fast as we have.”

This case study reveals two important facts about running any company:

• - Huge growth may be unexpected and structurally demanding;




• - There will be a hike in IT infrastructure requirement that may hinder smooth running of the company’s business operations.

 
But should companies copy the Samba model, waiting until unexpected growth and expansion make their businesses virtually inoperable before adopting the public cloud technology? Samba’s top brass thinks not. Strategic managers should be able to safeguard the operations of their companies by migrating IT structures to the cloud in anticipation for future growth. Public cloud technology not only provides great opportunities for companies to expand, but also reduces overhead costs in line with the cost-efficiency mantra gaining currency in the corporate world.

Flexibility is an important factor in businesses that aspire to significantly grow in the short term. Cloud hosting helps in this department as it provides automatic scaling of necessary resources. Find out more about GMO cloud’s auto-scaling features and see how it can aid company objectives of growth.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/

Maximize Redundancy for Data Protection

Data and information are the foundations on which a company stands, grows and succeeds. As technology evolves, most companies have come to understand the power of building an online presence to increase brand awareness, reach a wider demographic, and boost sales. Traditional IT systems have been utilized to secure company website data. However, as the digital age continues to progress, revolutionary virtual data centers have emerged to provide the necessary affordability and flexibility through the birth of cloud hosting.

With the proliferation of various cloud hosting service providers, companies have the option to control their systems online instead of using conventional hardware prone to technical failures. By hosting sites on the cloud, data is stored and maintained on virtual servers oft distributed in different locations. Since data is the most important tool in communicating a company’s goals, a cloud hosting provider offers companies intensified security by backing up data on several servers. With hardware systems, users could duplicate their data on disks, flash drives, or save it on several computers. Similarly, cloud hosting provides customers with security assurance by copying and saving the same data on other servers if an unanticipated problem occurs.

Since systems could crash or experience delays due to human error, malware, operational malfunction, outages or natural disasters, it is crucial for cloud hosting providers to offer safety and protection for clients through the practice of redundancy. Potential loss or damage brought by downtime on a company’s website is a source of dread for any business owner. Instead of getting more visitors to learn about their company or more consumers to patronize their product, a blank or frozen page is displayed. This is why when cloud hosting services are availed, redundancy is a vital feature to look for.

However, when data is stored by a single provider on different data centers, companies still face the risk of losing it if the whole operation bogs down. The answer to this high-risk situation comes in the usage of multiple cloud providers. This entails two or more totally separate hosts controlling your data in different regions, instigating tighter security when disruptions happen. Though you will have to deal with cloud hosting services managed differently and using their own systems, you need to look at the bigger picture. The additional costs involved by availing multiple cloud hosts could eventually be worth your money when you avoid paying for maintenance repair during crashes or profits lost during downtime.

In fact, the demand for redundancy through multiple cloud hosting providers has spawned several vendors that act as the go-between for customers wanting to use multiple hosts but dealing with just one company. These vendors tie up with different cloud hosting providers and offer their services to the customers who could use just one interface. Data can thus be copied or transferred from one provider to another effortlessly. The mobility offered in this type of service has proved highly attractive, especially to companies who produce and control data on a fast-paced business environment.

Companies must ensure, though, that chosen cloud hosting providers for redundancy are protecting their data with a secured system. Data should remain confidential while being accessed only by authorized persons. In the process of releasing and using data through the web, several security measures must be applied by these multiple cloud hosts. These risks are present once redundancy is made through different cloud hosting providers, but should be mitigated since they are entrusted by companies to protect their data, systems, and reputation.

It is rare to find a cloud service provider with a catch-all security option. GMO Cloud America provides a multi-level security strategy consisting of physical, environmental, system, network and operations security aspects of security. Read more about this strategy on the Security page of the website.

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About the Guest Author:

Rodolfo Lentejas, Jr. is a fulltime freelance writer based in Toronto. He is the founder of the PostSckrippt, a growing online writing business dedicated to producing top quality, original and fresh content. To find out more about him, please visit www.postsckrippt.ca. Like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.

How Cloud Computing Creates Efficiency in E-Learning Strategies

Recent investigations into online education reveal an encouraging trend of cloud computing positively influencing e-learning strategies, necessitating efficiency and expanding the reach of cloud-based education to students barred by distance and busy working schedules.

Cloud computing is employed in e-learning in the following ways:

• Software as a Service (SaaS)—whereby educational software in the form of useful applications is hosted in the cloud. These applications include, but are not restricted to: word processing software, mathematical analysis and visualization tools, and/or more advanced ones like cyber-physical simulations. These kinds of software could be owned by educational institutions or by open source communities for easier and better access by the students utilizing their e-learning platforms.

 

• Storage as a Service (STaaS)—in this case, all data generated in the course of learning could be successfully stored in the cloud as either structured data (database) or non-structured data (files and binary large objects). Hence, students as well as their teachers would be able to easily access their stored data by accessing STaaS through their portals (computers, laptops, Smartphone etc). There is no limitation to the amount of data that could be stored through this procedure.

 

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)—Cloud service providers in this regard are expected to provide networking, IT, computing and storage services to those involved in e-learning for the purpose of creating conducive environments for academic collaboration, interaction and management.

The three kinds of cloud computing services highlighted above are meant to guarantee efficiency in all areas of e-learning operations. Hence, each institution that operates an e-learning program adopts cloud computing to achieve goals and purposes such as:

• Providing distance students with efficient virtual classroom tools like video, audio and virtual meeting tools. A syndicated studio infrastructure that includes a PowerPoint presentation software, demo lessons, interactive drawing tools and recorded lesson material can be successfully stored in a cloud where both students and instructors can easily access it.

 

• Cloud-based e-learning also makes virtual interaction between students and instructors or fellow students easier by providing readily accessible web communication tools: Skype, video and audio content, video conferencing, email, blogs, and documentation review tools stored in the cloud.

 

• Efficient e-learning management is possible with the adoption of cloud computing, as course management tools like online surveys, quizzes and exams, assignments, rubrics (learning expectations and goals), course feedback, news, calendars, submission procedures can all be easily accessed through the cloud on learners’ portals (be it on computers, laptops, Smartphones etc).

 

• Cloud computing also facilitates courseware and information management in an e-learning environment. This courseware includes web pages designed to reveal course syllabuses, instruction videos, course examples, required reading, sample academic papers, textbook-extended resources, data sheets, application notes, and other online documents designed to enhance the quality of e-learning. Some courseware used in e-learning can be accessed from open- source cloud like Google Docs, Google Books, and code cloud-based tools.

 
It is evident that cloud computing offers increasing possibilities for institutions to develop their e-learning programs in a way that efficiency will be guaranteed. The advantages of using a public cloud service are:

1. - The process of learning can remain undisturbed no matter the amount of data processed from one end of the spectrum to another;
2. - Unlimited storage capacity can facilitate quick access to vital lesson materials in real-time, unlike traditional hosting that may restrict the frequency of access to vital courseware and other educational or instructional materials.

Just like other frequently used applications and programs, online learning calls for scalability, which requires high availability functions. Visit the Features page and see what other advantages are offered from the high availability function of public cloud.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing seems unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/

Cloud Data Encryption: Managing Data Security in the Public Cloud

Cloud computing is becoming more widely used by enterprises due to reduced costs and increased efficiency in a difficult economy.  Yet there remains concern over data security and encryption, especially in the public cloud, despite public cloud services having implemented strategies for protecting data. Many enterprises are currently looking for specific management strategies for public cloud environments. 

The basic choices currently offered by public cloud service providers include encryption services which require trust in either the cloud service provider (CSP) or a third party service.  The other option is to create an encryption management system on a server in-house. Alas, trusting encryption to a third party or management system back to an in-house data center takes away the flexibility of using a public cloud environment.  So what’s the answer?

Cloud Specific Technology

Using the public cloud environment especially with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Platform as a Service (PaaS) requires data security and encryption management to be cloud-specific.  By using cloud-specific technology, concerns related to data security and encryption shift to a system specifically designed for cloud infrastructure.

One new (as yet unreleased) cloud-specific encryption technology is known as homomorphic encryption, which provides cutting edge cryptography for improved data security.  This type of technology will reassure enterprises that sensitive data is never exposed when using a public cloud infrastructure.

Homomorphic encryption allows a computer to perform mathematics on data which is encrypted without having to review the data itself.  As experimentation progresses, homomorphic encryption will become of a viable option for enterprises seeking to manage sensitive data.

Another type of cloud-specific data security technology underway is known as “split-key encryption,” allowing for encryption key management in the public cloud without sacrificing trust.  Adding partial homomorphic encryption makes split-key technology much more secure.

Split-key encryption technology works similar to the key system used for a safe depository in a bank.  There are two keys, one of which is provided to the deposit box holder and the other which is held by the financial institution.  The contents of the box can only be accessed using both keys.

With split-key encryption, one key is kept with the public cloud service provider. The second is held by the user for each specific disk or data object.  The encryption key kept by the cloud service provider utilizes partial homomorphic encryption, thus left in its unencrypted form and completely effective when used with split-key encryption technology.  The virtual master key held by the public cloud service provider can perform math without any knowledge of the actual data, allowing the computer to perform calculations with the encryption key held by the enterprise.

Homomorphic encryption in conjunction with split-key encryption technology is currently an advanced cloud-specific security strategy which provides enhanced data protection.

The key that is held by the enterprise is not known to the cloud service provider. The encryption key held by the cloud service provider does not reside anywhere in the cloud yet is effective when used in conjunction with the specific disk encryption key held by the enterprise. As the application accesses the stored data, the CSP uses both parts of the key to encrypt and decrypt the data. Since the key held by the CSP contains partial homomorphic encryption, the data is protected from intrusion or theft.

In today’s stage of cloud technology maturity, security is vital to any organization. Although encryption is highlighted in this article, there are other effective security measures. GMO Cloud America provides several security options on various levels including firewall and SSL. Read more about this service on the Security section of this website.

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Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Aeyne Schriber has more than two decades of accumulated experience in IT security, computer technology, and internet marketing, including technology education and administration field both on the public school and college level. She works worldwide helping companies establish an online presence from small businesses to large enterprises.  Her skills as a published copywriter and marketer also include consulting and training corporate personnel and entrepreneurs. To find out more, visit  www.digitalnewmediamarketing.com