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Cloud Computing and IT Services: A Critical Analysis

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Cloud Computing and IT Services: A Critical Analysis

The advent of IT services and cloud computing can be considered a big change in how

organizations are going to manage their technology infrastructure. The IT services involve a set

of thoughts on how the management of IT should be taken out of the house and placed in a

standardized and service-oriented environment. Cloud computing, an instance of this philosophy,

can also be embodied where, through outsourcing infrastructure responsibilities, the firms have

the opportunity to outsource IT needs with possible levels of scalability and operational

efficiencies. It also creates new fears around control of the technology, governance, security, and

future exposure. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing and

IT services and discusses their influence on firm governance, IT oversight, and strategic

competitive advantage.

One important feature of cloud computing is that it is cost-effective because cloud

services spend no money on investing in expensive hardware and no money on maintenance

costs. It helps organizations move away from the capital expenditure model to the operating

expenditure model; it works as a pay-as-you-use model. Such a transition offers a way for

companies to direct their resources in order to focus on conducting the main business without

necessarily worrying about the IT infrastructure (Hashem et al., 2015). Additionally, cloud

computing also provides business scalability and flexibility on resources, which can be scaled on

demand since there is no need to overinvest in IT infrastructure, which is helpful to startups and

growing businesses that need changeable IT solutions. Cloud solutions enable easy and quick

implementation of new technologies since they do not need physical configuration of hardware.

Firms can gain speed with them and, hence, use them to gain agility and greater responsiveness
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as they strive to keep pace in the business of a technology landscape that is changing quickly and

fast.

While there are many advantages to adopting cloud computing, there are disadvantages

that companies must overcome on their path to the cloud. Thus, loss control seems to be one of

the first challenges, as entrusting the data and computationally intensive tasks to the hands of the

third-party providers would mean the firm's loss of control of the whole IT infrastructure and

data. Flexibility can also be reduced through vendor lock-in by making migration to another

provider costly and complex (Zhang et al., 2018). The second important challenge is security

risks since data is stored offsite, making it susceptible to breaches, unauthorized access, and

challenges respecting data privacy regulations. Companies that are dealing with sensitive data

must confirm that their cloud supplier provides a venue that meets a private’s relationship with

security and compliance requirements.

The other issues are downtime and reliability concerns. There is much need to realize that

although major cloud providers provide strong infrastructure, outages, and service disruptions

still happen and push business operations. This inevitably means organizations must take the

time to consider how reliable a provider is and needs to plan what they will do if the backups do

not work (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2017). Also, there are hidden costs in the cloud service

because they may be cheap to begin with but will still cost more later on (Ghobadi &

Mathiassen, 2020). Excessive expenses can also be attributed to egress fees for data, licensing,

and compliance regulations. Organizations that operate within highly regulated industries are

most sensitive to regulatory and compliance issues. Cloud services must be in line with legal and

regulatory frameworks such as GDPR, HIPAA, or ISO 27001, a responsibility that still lies with
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the firms (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2017). However, failure of the organization to comply with

such regulations could lead to legal consequences and financial implications.

When Firms Should Purchase IT Services from the Cloud

Cloud computing can be considered by organizations that need scalability and flexibility

without large investment in advance. There are some businesses that otherwise have outdated or

costly to maintain IT infrastructure that may find cloud solutions more efficient. Furthermore, the

ability to offer easy accessibility and collaboration tools make cloud computing a good choice

for firms that have to support remote workforces and global operations (Marinescu, 2017).

Another factor for the growth of cloud computing is the rapid deployment of new applications

and services. Cloud computing may work flawlessly in industries where IT agility is necessary

for an edge over competitors.

Implications for IT Oversight and Firm Governance

IT in cloud computing carries unique implications for the way businesses manage their

technology resources. It is clear that the role of IT departments has changed from infrastructure

management to service integration, vendor management, and cybersecurity enforcement. As

such, the IT professional is expected to learn new skills and expertise in cloud service

management and security. The risk is higher with cloud computing, and therefore, stronger risk

management practices are necessary in the form of policies and procedures (Buyya et al., 2016).

Moreover, firms would need to codify strong data GOV and ownership policies. Data policies

should describe how data is to be stored, accessed, and retrieved in order to make sure the

companies always have control over their information assets when using cloud services.

Open-Source Environments, Security, and Competitive Advantage

Cloud computing can offer additional strategic benefits for firms moving to an Open-

Source environment. Consequently, Open-Source software increases security due to a pool of

global developers that permanently review and improve security issues. Security updates for

Open-Source software benefit from a collective rather than proprietary software, in which a lone

vendor must support security, an approach where security flaws are identified quickly and

promptly repaired. Another advantage of the open-source solution is cost reduction since it

reduces licensing fees with cost savings and allows customization. Businesses can have more

flexibility and find additional innovations with the use of open-source tools. For firms,

customization helps them to have a competitive advantage by developing a solution that is

unique and differentiates them from their competitors. Specialized technical knowledge and

knowledge for operations are required to successfully deploy in open source and to keep it open.

There is also a need for trained IT staff for the business to employ, and it has to manage and

maintain the open-source platforms executed on its end (Buyya et al., 2016). Thus, open-source

environments rely on fine-grained patching, proper access control implementation, and

continuous compliance monitoring in order to prevent open systems from being vulnerable to

potential threats. Notably, full security protocols have to be completed for the protection of data

and the defense of the system.

In summary, cloud computing is the IT services model to deliver advantages and hurdles

to enterprise organizations. However, there is an opening advantage in cloud computing which is

cost reduction in addition to access and enhanced capacity, but there are also risks in this kind of

computer based on organizational power, database security, and compliance management. To

properly assess cloud computing needs, it should be studied from a strategic perspective,

following business requirements, regulatory standards, and IT system oversight requirements.

However, businesses that choose the open-source environment should create effective security

systems to benefit from the cost reduction and flexibility provided by the solution.
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References

Rittinghouse, J. W., & Ransome, J. F. (2017). Cloud Computing: Implementation, Management,

and Security. CRC Press.

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Hashem, I. A. T., Yaqoob, I., Anuar, N. B., Mokhtar, S., Gani, A., & Ullah Khan, S. (2015). The

rise of “big data” on cloud computing: Review and open research issues. Information

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Marinescu, D. C. (2017). Cloud computing: Theory and practice. Morgan Kaufmann.

https://www.academia.edu/download/81310407/cctp_ch2a.pdf.

Zhang, Q., Cheng, L., & Boutaba, R. (2018). Cloud computing: state-of-the-art and research

challenges. Journal of Internet Services and Applications, 1(7), 1–10.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13174-010-0007-6.

Buyya, R., Calheiros, R. N., & Dastjerdi, A. V. (2016). Internet of Things: Principles and

paradigms. Morgan Kaufmann.

Ghobadi, A., & Mathiassen, L. (2020). Perceived security risks in cloud computing adoption:

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