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Living with a cloud – paradigm shift in the way we work Part 3

In this third post in this series, I will discuss abstraction more in detail. The objective here is to ultimately lead to convergence of user and the technology.

Driving the cloud engine

Carrying forward the analogy of a car driver, let’s look at cloud adaptation. Assuming that an organization has not committed itself completely to the cloud, but has a mixed portfolio of online infrastructure – some dedicated servers and a bit of cloud services. Like I have said earlier, large enterprises like to move slowly and with reason. As such, the earlier order of things was organized, in the sense that dedicated servers were reserved for specific activities. As a result, one part of the enterprise did not know what the others were doing, though infrastructure may have been controlled centrally by the technology group. Everyone was happy with this setup.

Cloud Changes The Order

Enter the cloud and there is bound to be disruption in the way things are organized. There are no dedicated servers reserved for a specific activity and this means relinquishing control of infrastructure. Moreover, management has to get used to driving the car without really understanding what is happening under the hood. This may look like a simple problem but the psychological effect can be devastating. Not knowing the mechanism of operation is something the management has the live with. This is an abstraction layer which the cloud has unwittingly introduced into the system. Instead of giving instructions to the driver, the management itself has taken over the wheel. It will take time for management to adjust to the new way of doing things.

The cloud abstraction

There is no doubt that the cloud will win. Meanwhile, managements are going to struggle with the changed order due to the introduction of cloud. The management will be forced to become the driver which is great for enterprises. They can now focus on their primary activity – that of selling their products and services rather than spending enormous amount of time managing the infrastructure. This is where a paradigm shift in the role of management will occur. Those organizations which successfully maneuver their mindset and way of working will transition smoothly into the cloud, leading to massive savings in infrastructure costs. Looking at it from a different angle, those organizations which try to balance the old way of working with the new will totter. Neither will they be able to fully absorb the new management culture, nor will they save from redundancies created in their technical setup. This is where organizations need to focus. A reorientation and revamping of roles within the management must happen along with adaptation of cloud technology.

Facilitating the changeover

Here I foresee the emergence of a new breed of consultants. They would facilitate enterprises to appreciate and adapt to operations which are more abstract and happen under the hood. There is no reason for the drivers to know the mechanism but yet feel completely in control. What happens if their motor stalls during their journey? They would do the same as you would, if your car stalls – call the mechanic.

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About the Guest Author:

Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.

Collaborative Learning Based on a Cloud Computing Platform

Cloud computing is rapidly emerging as one of the most important resources for the future of education. Its ubiquity, convenience, and ease of customization let students and teachers have on-demand access to a vast pool of resources that can be shared among all participating individuals and institutions. Essentially, the cloud turns the internet into a repository where everyone can have access to infrastructure, platforms, and software without needing to invest in expensive equipment or maintenance. Cloud computing basically allows clients to rent computer resources.

Cloud computing models available for collaborative learning

There are several types of cloud computing service models that can help collaborative learning. SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS all have applications in the market. SaaS has been used effectively for web-based email and online applications, both essential for collaborative learning. PaaS such as AWS and Azure have helped users deliver and deploy their own applications in the cloud. This is especially useful for universities and online learning centers since it allows them to create customized applications adopted for their own services. IaaS is perhaps one of the most important cloud service models in collaborative learning, because it allows online learning centers to have access to expensive processing power and storage.

Cloud computing puts valuable resources in the hands of all educational institutions

All learning centers should be able to provide their students and staff with computing resources, including hardware resources such as terminals and servers, and essential software such as email. It is often also necessary to provide researchers and advanced students with the computing resources they need to carry out research and develop their own projects and experiments. These kinds of services can quickly strain an educational institution’s budget, making allocation of internal resources a priority for most schools.

Cloud applications and services have allowed schools to save on expenses by developing their own apps on established cloud platforms and infrastructures rather than investing in costly data centers and equipment. Research can receive a boost with the help of the computing power and storage provided by an IaaS service provider. It can also allow researchers and students to have access to a variety of operating systems, configuration settings, and libraries, all especially useful for the researchers. To find out more about IaaS, you can visit GMO Cloud’s Hosting page.

Training is also a significant expense for institutions investing in traditional computing models. Because of these budget advantages afforded by cloud computing, many universities around he world have started to use cloud computing as a part of their normal activities, providing collaborative learning opportunities while saving on personnel and equipment. Paving the way in the United States is the University of California at Berkeley, which successfully deployed a SaaS that has become a standard among American Universities. The University of Westminster in the United Kingdom has also gained notoriety for its integration of cloud computing into all of its activities. It is important to remember that cloud computing allows institutions to outsource personnel and other associated costs (such as energy bills), not only equipment expenses.

The bottom line

Universities in Asia, particularly in India, have adopted collaborative learning eagerly. The savings in infrastructure and maintenance are enormous. Virtual machines, in particular, have proven useful in these markets, allowing students to have access to networking exercises and experiments that would previously have only been accessible with a significant infrastructure investment due to the need for multiple machines.

Logistics were also a problem, having to handle borrowing and signing out of machines each semester. This includes maintaining and collecting these computer systems, a significant tax on the resources of any collegiate IT department. The Cloud optimizes college IT infrastructure and resource management. It helps everyone, from lecturers to researchers, to carry out their work more efficiently and with fewer problems. Being able to deploy virtual environments also guarantees a standard platform and environment which assures teachers that students will have the same results when working on their own computer systems, since it actually exists on the cloud. This power of standardization is one of the most important reasons why a cloud-based platform is ideal for collaborative learning and a collegiate environment.

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:

Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.

This Week in the Cloud [March 8, 2013]

In case you missed it, here are a few notable stories posted on our GMO Cloud blog over this past week, ending March 8th, 2013, highlighting a few topics we focus on here at GMO Cloud. As always, you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook, or sign up for our newsletter updates here.

Is Asia Ready for Cloud Computing?

For cloud-services providers and businesses interested in integrating cloud technology into their business practices, it is necessary to understand if the required environment for cloud technology is available in their t …

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A Cloud Computing Architecture for E-learning

The Asian market seems to be tailor-made for cloud-based e-learning businesses. This is because of the huge availability of affordable computers in the region, the higher-than normal average broadband Internet speeds, an …

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How Progressive is the Gaming Industry When it Comes to the Cloud?

While cloud computing has revolutionized the IT segment as a whole, the gaming industry specifically has reaped enormous benefits from innovative cloud technology. High scalability and low latency are the two important r …

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Why Game Development is Better in a Hybrid Environment

Game development is a complex process. The life cycle of a game can extend for years and some may go on for decades. Some of the game development processes can be easily moved to the cloud whereas others seem to hit a ro …

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Cloud Computing and Big Data – Predicting Pregnancy in Customers!

When you collect big data, there can really be a number of of ethical issues involved with its management. While these are not related to the technical aspects of handling big data, these ethical issues can be even more …

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A Cloud Computing Architecture for E-learning

The Asian market seems to be tailor-made for cloud-based e-learning businesses. This is because of the huge availability of affordable computers in the region, the higher-than normal average broadband Internet speeds, and the large demand for educational content, specifically in the areas of language study and higher learning. The potential for cloud computing to transform education in Asia is enormous and may necessitate a complete redesign of the region’s existing education systems. The cloud can help us solve complicated issues more effectively, resulting in improved speed and lower costs.

The benefits that cloud computing can bring to e-learning

There are several reasons why cloud computing is ideal for e-learning applications. Here we take a look at some of the main benefits that a cloud computing architecture can bring to an educational system:

1. Some important benefits associated with the use of cloud computing in e-learning is raw computing power and a phenomenal increase in storage capacity that it affords educational institutions. With the ability to store data in numerous distributed computer systems and thousands of individual clouds, educational institutions get a boost that would otherwise have required an investment in costly, impractical infrastructure. Essentially, students can have all this computing power and storage space at their fingertips by simply accessing the Internet.

2. Perhaps the biggest advantage the cloud offers e-learning is continuous availability. The integration of enormous computing power and increased storage space means that e-learning services can vastly increase the quality of their service. With an architecture in place that allows automatic detection of a failed node and its automatic exclusion, this means that the e-learning system can be available for longer periods and with fewer delays and interruptions than systems in local servers or traditional data centers. Learn more about high availability systems and see how GMO Cloud has improved this particular feature by visiting the Features page.

3. Cloud computing brings higher security to e-learning systems. It is important to note that cloud computing’s reputation of having inferior security to traditional systems is entirely undeserved. Technological advances and a specific focus on solving security issues mean that cloud computing security is on par, or even superior to traditional computing architectures. The reason why data on the cloud is more secure than normal is because of highly controlled redundancy and specific management. By enabling managers to handle data across different machines and establish security protocols, security can be guaranteed for participating institutions and individuals. This is especially true if personnel is hired to carry out real-time security monitoring on the system.

4. One of the reasons why many institutions in Asia are attracted to a cloud-based educational system is the degree of virtualization that it allows its users. With cloud computing, physical platforms and applications do not need to be related directly. Virtualized platforms allow the building up resources by sharing and distributing more effectively existing servers, storage space, and networking capabilities.

5. Thanks to the increases in efficiency that this model affords, the costs can be kept considerably lower than traditional e-learning systems. With a cloud computing model, students in remote locations or with fewer resources than normal have access to high processing power at lower costs. While the up-front investment in the technology would require a higher initial cost, the long-term benefits outweigh these expenses by far.

Cloud computing enables interactivity in e-learning

With traditional e-learning, teachers rely on assigning tasks and conducting lectures. However, a cloud computing architecture allows teachers to answer questions and address specific points directly.

Students can also create their own curriculum and schedules and decide on the best learning plan for themselves. Group projects and cooperation among students can be carried out more effectively than with traditional learning. This interactivity is one of the most important demands institutions are placing today on e-learning providers and a cloud-based architecture is the best possible model to provide institutions with the tools they need to carry it out.

There is no doubt that the rapid increase in e-learning in the Asian market will drive changes in traditional education systems, and cloud computing will be a major force in the future advancements in this field.

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:

Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.

This Week in the Cloud [March 1, 2013]

This Week in the Cloud [March 1, 2013]

In case you missed it, here are a few notable stories posted on our GMO Cloud blog this past week. As always, you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook, or sign up for our newsletter updates here.

Network Based E-learning Market is Moving Towards the Cloud

From the time Compaq originally coined the term ‘Cloud Computing’, this new technology has been creating a lot of hype. Several industries have experienced revolutionary growth by implementing cloud-based technologies.

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E-Learning and the Asian Market

Experts predict that the Asian e-leaning market will grow tremendously before the decade is over. This poses a significant opportunity for cloud technology, often an essential component in providing e-learning services.

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Why Japan Continues to Use In-House Capabilities For 3D Rendering and Research

While Japan continues to see major advances in 3D computer graphic rendering, it has surprised many that this user base in not moving aggressively to the cloud. Research carried out by industry experts and by IT companies …

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Cloud-based 3D Rendering Farms and the Japanese Market

Large-scale 3D rendering of computer-generated imagery and video is one of the fields where cloud technology has allowed smaller companies to level the playing field. Just a few years ago, the capacity to render high quality …

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Bringing Business Intelligence to the Cloud

BI, or business intelligence, is perhaps the fastest growing sector in the cloud computing space. There is a reason for this. In some ways, cloud architecture is ideal for collating, analyzing and experimenting with data …

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