Statement of Need
Don & Associates offers financial consulting services to small and medium-sized companies. The firm intends to expand into the Northeast region but experiences challenges in infrastructure. Cloud computing incorporates networking systems, database/storage, memory, and central processing units (Golightly et al., 2022). Cloud computing technology offers scalability needed by Don & Associates in terms of acquiring computing resources required to expand their business. The company will receive the cloud infrastructure at reduced costs and improved efficiency.
Types of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing deployment is divided into three main options; private, public, and hybrid. A private cloud indicates the technology is deployed and managed by a single organization where only the legal owner can utilize the cloud-based environment (Golightly et al., 2022). Benefits of private clouds include high processing capabilities, large storage capacity, more security, easy maintenance, and scalability-based company resources (Golightly et al., 2022). The downside to private cloud occurs because of high operational costs in licensing and initial investments, high administrative fees, and exposure to physical damage.
Public cloud services imply that cloud infrastructure provides services to multiple clients. It offers shared pool resources for people to use via the Internet. Public cloud benefits are ease of use, unlimited quantity, simplicity to integrate, robust data security for the data centers, and lower hardware and software costs (Golightly et al., 2022). The public cloud has disadvantages such as the inability to control loud organization, high dependence on vendor availability, and reliance on Internet services. A hybrid cloud combines private, public, or community cloud technologies. For instance, a company with existing on-premise infrastructure (private clouds) can acquire public clouds to handle certain services. The benefits of hybrid are improved data security, reduced migration, and data utilization costs (Golightly et al., 2022). Its downside is high deployment costs and considerable risk to data security.
Cloud Service Providers
Major cloud service providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). AWS operates in 26 regions and 84 availability zones with over 200 cloud services, including computing, storage, database, analytics, networking, machine learning, data collection, and more (Zhang, 2023). Microsoft Azure offers hybrid cloud services in 60 regions and 116 zones with products such as artificial intelligence, developer capabilities, cooling, networking, and security (Zhang, 2023). Google Cloud Platform operates in 34 regions and 103 zones with multiple cloud services, including developers’ platforms, scalable infrastructure, and applications (Zhang, 2023). Don & Associates can purchase cloud services from any of these three firms.
Major Cloud Computing Models
There are three major cloud computing models known as infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). IaaS delivers on-demand computing resources such as hardware, networking, servers, and memory/storage services. PaaS offers integrated solutions with hardware, operating systems, and storage accessed via the Internet. It enables firms to develop, test, and distribute applications or system solutions over cloud platforms. SaaS allows businesses access to subscription-based applications and processes such as Office 360 or Google Workspace (Watts & Raza, 2019). Consumers do not control or manage underlying infrastructure for SaaS, and apps update automatically.
Recommended Plan
Don & Associates will benefit most from AWS cloud services being the most affordable, robust, and powerful in the market. Over 100 products on AWS have free plans that integrate with paid services to help the business run. The firm can acquire Amazon S3 for $0.023 per GB per month and integrate with free analytics, lambda, and other platforms to store and analyze market data for insights (Amazon, 2023). Amazon has free online classes, documentation, and videos that guide companies transitioning to cloud computing.
Impact of Recommended Plan
AWS will help the company quickly expand toward the Northeast region at low costs. Benefits such as data transfer and storage monitoring/management will enable Don & Associates easily migrate to cloud services with minimal risks. The firm can scale to meet its operational demands by purchasing or reducing space. Potential cloud computing risks include misconfiguration that exposes the data to cyberattacks or unauthorized access.
References
Amazon. (2023). Amazon S3 simple storage service pricing – Amazon web services. Web.
Golightly, L., Chang, V., Xu, Q. A., Gao, X., & Liu, B. S. (2022). Adoption of cloud computing as innovation in the organization. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 14. Web.
Watts, S., & Raza, M. (2019). SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS: What’s the difference & how to choose. BMC Blogs. Web.
Zhang, M. (2023). Top 10 cloud service providers globally in 2022. Dgtl Infra. Web.