Abstract
This research will involve the analysis of cloud computing as an important business resource. It will demonstrate the impact cloud computing has on costs, reliability, efficiency, security, and scalability in business-oriented companies. The method that will be used to carry out the collection of data in the field will be a random sampling of businesses that currently employ cloud computing. This will be done with the interest of seeking the impact it has had on these businesses in terms of cost, reliability, and efficiency. Results will be tabulated showing these differences in costs after a statistical analysis has been carried out. Afterward, a conclusion will be drawn based on the research questions in the introduction and recommendations made for future studies.
Cloud Computing as a Business Resource
Strategies for saving costs have been formulated in many businesses for the purposes of attaining a wide profit margin. With the continuous advancement of technology, such businesses have not been left out but rather remained in sync with the current changes. This has been achieved through the adoption of high-tech technology in their systems of operation. This research project will carry out an investigation about cloud computing and its benefits when used to run business applications, with the aim of finding out how it would contribute to the success and progression of the business. The main areas that will be of interest are its benefits in terms of costs, efficiency, and reliability.
Statement of the Problem
The use of the internet is an increasing challenge to businesses due to the high costs incurred on the hacking of data and maintenance. Cloud computing is a computing technology that uses the internet and remote servers to store data and other business applications in a central point.
(Melcon, 2010). The relationship between cloud computing and business is that the users cut costs involving capital expenditure like software, hardware, licensing, and maintenance costs (Knorr & Gruman, 2010). Furthermore, security is heightened because of data centralization since accessing audit logs is almost impossible (Cleveland, 2010) enabling companies to run applications efficiently through a computerized standpoint (Sebesta, 2010). Cost-saving is accomplished since a third party offers infrastructure and the users only pay for resources used such as electricity and subscription fee (Lewis, 2010).
Purpose of the Study
The main goal of this study is to refine our current understanding of cloud computing and the major contributions it makes towards the success of a business-oriented company. This study will focus on the key features of cloud computing in a business which include cost, reliability, scalability, security, and maintenance. A reduction of costs in any business venture will have a direct implication on the profits; meaning, there will be high gains. The reliability of cloud computing means that there will be fewer inconveniences and that data storage and factors like speed will be taken into consideration. In addition to that, the security of the data that is considered confidential to the business will be kept in place through the use of restricted access in audit logs.
The use of a third party will ensure that maintenance is infrequent and less costly and performance will also be monitored thus ensuring productivity is maintained. Therefore, the rationale for this study is to establish the relationship between cloud computing and business success by dwelling on the above-named features of this current technology. Technology has been known to contribute to the success of business in many ways and the use of cloud computing in business is no exception to this observation. Issues such as cost-saving, reliability, and efficiency are the core characteristics of cloud computing in business and these will definitely come in handy when it comes to building a business strategy. This is why cloud computing is referred to as a business resource.
Methodology
This involves the methods used in carrying out the research; that is, apparatus, sampling, and sampling methods.
Sampling
The population of this study is defined as all businesses in the Central Business District (CBD) that have adopted the cloud computing system and will be opened during working hours.
Sampling Method
The kind of sampling method that will be used is random sampling. Since there are many businesses in the CBD, only the ones that will be opened during the working hour will be selected randomly in order to represent the whole population of businesses that currently use cloud computing.
Apparatus
The kind of apparatus that will be used in this research will be questionnaires. These will be distributed to employees and the owners of the business. The most important factors that the questionnaires will dwell on are the cost savings of cloud computing, how reliable the employees have found it to be, how secure in terms of data storage, and its efficiency in terms of speed.
Flow Chart
The following flow chart represents a summary of the progression of events which begins from methodology, which is subdivided into sections, and then results and finally a conclusion.
References
Cleveland, D., (2010). Cloud Computing. Web.
Knorr E., & Gruman, G., (2010). What Cloud Computing Really Means. Web.
Lewis, A., (2010). Cloud Options For IT That IT Will Love. Cloud Computing Journal, 26 (2), 23-24.
Melcon, C., (2010). Cloud Aware or Cloud Built. Cloud Computing Journal, 34 (2). Web.
Sebesta, E., (2010). Early Experiments in Cloud Computing. Web.