Overview of Cloud Technology Step 1-3

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As an IT analyst for BallotOnline, a company providing voting solutions to a global client

base, you are working to convince the organization to move its infrastructure to a public

cloud. With the growth the company is experiencing and the internal data centers maxed

out, you want to get the executives on board with moving to a public cloud rather than

trying to expand the current infrastructure.

This project will be completed in a series of steps, in which you will explore cloud

technologies and cloud architecture and how they can be used in the organization.

Overview of Cloud Technology

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Your presentation with audio narration will educate the executives on cloud computing

and its benefits (and drawbacks) to the company. To complete your analysis, you will need

to cover the following:

description of cloud computing

basic capabilities of the cloud

advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing

analysis of economic implications

IT business needs

SWOT analysis

There are six steps in this project. In your final narrated PowerPoint presentation, you will

be assessed on your ability to convey your understanding of cloud computing and how it

can be used to benefit your organization, explaining the advantages and disadvantages of

cloud computing and providing a detailed business analysis covering financial

considerations, business requirements, and an analysis of threats and opportunities.

This project will take about three weeks. Now that you have an idea of the task ahead, click

on Step 1 to get started.

Follow these steps to access the discussion:

Click My Tools in the top navigation bar.

Click Discussions.

Select the relevant discussion.

Once in the discussion, you can Start a New Thread, as well as respond

to threads others have created. Use the discussion to develop awareness,

share your thoughts, ask questions, and reflect. Remember that everyone

brings a valuable and unique perspective, and treat everyone with

respect.

Take Action

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Your work will be evaluated using the competencies listed below.

1.8: Create clear oral messages.

5.1: Evaluate the business IT needs of an organization.

5.2: Propose strategies the organization can employ using cloud

solutions to enhance organizational effectiveness.

5.3: Evaluate cloud adoption as a viable solution based on cost

benefits and desired outcomes.

5.4: Articulate insights to leadership on the appropriate course of

direction on the identified IT business needs.

6.1: Articulate the systems architecture of the cloud - cloud

infrastructure, cloud service, cloud platform, and cloud storage.

6.3: Assess and compare cloud services delivery models (XaaS).

6.4: Evaluate deployment models - private, public, hybrid, etc.

6.5: Investigate the underlying technologies (virtualization, data

center infrastructure, servers).

Describe Cloud Computing

Your supervisor, Sophia, BallotOnline's director of information technology, has tasked you

with creating a presentation that will convince the executives that using cloud-based

computing to accommodate BallotOnline's future growth rather than trying to expand the

current infrastructure will help the company do business faster and at lower cost while

conserving IT resources.

Competencies

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What Is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing refers to the creation and use of remote servers over

the internet, instead of via local servers or devices. According to the

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), cloud computing

is a model for enabling "ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network

access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g.,

networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly

provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service

provider interaction" (Mell & Grance, 2011).

Major cloud providers include

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

(http://docs.aws.amazon.com/gettingstarted/latest/awsgsg-

intro/gsg-aws-intro.html)

Microsoft Azure (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/get-started/)

Google Cloud (https://cloud.google.com/docs/overview/)

An important part of your presentation to the BallotOnline executives is to help the

executive leadership understand cloud service models

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-topic-

list/cloud-service-models.html?ou=622270) and cloud deployment models

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-topic-

list/cloud-deployment-models.html?ou=622270) . It will also need to cover the two

basic components of cloud infrastructure: cloud compute

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-topic-

list/cloud-compute.html?ou=622270) and cloud storage

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-topic-

list/cloud-storage.html?ou=622270) .

Key Points

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Review

In order to describe the capabilities of cloud computing, you must first have an

understanding of network basics

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-

topic-list/network-basics.html?ou=622270) and computer networking

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-

topic-list/computer-networking.html?ou=622270) technologies.

In this step, you will write a brief summary to your executive leadership describing what

cloud computing is and the capabilities of the cloud. Post it in the Discussion: Brief

Summary of Cloud Computing and engage with your colleagues. You may adapt this

summary for your final presentation in the last step.

Follow these steps to access the discussion:

Click My Tools in the top navigation bar.

Click Discussions.

Select the relevant discussion.

Once in the discussion, you can Start a New Thread, as well as respond

to threads others have created. Use the discussion to develop awareness,

share your thoughts, ask questions, and reflect. Remember that everyone

brings a valuable and unique perspective, and treat everyone with

respect.

When you have finished, you can move on to the next step, where you will begin research

into the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing.

References

Mell, P., & Grance, T. (2011). Special publication 800-145: The NIST definition of cloud

computing. National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved from

https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-145/final

Take Action

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Research Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing

Now that you have defined important terms and summarized the basic capabilities of the

cloud, it is time to explore the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-topic-

list/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-cloud-computing.html?ou=622270) .

Currently, BallotOnline is running at full capacity and needs to expand its IT infrastructure

to accommodate its growing needs. Instead of expanding current on-premise IT

infrastructure by building or acquiring a new data center, Sophia has suggested that the

cloud may be more efficient and cost-effective than adding more traditional physical data

center space.

This information that you research will be useful in your final presentation in the last step.

When you have completed the research, move to the next step, where you will consider

the budgetary aspects of a move to the cloud and the implications for the organization.

Analyze Economic Implications

Now that you have weighed the benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing, it's time to

take a close look at the economic implications of a move to the cloud. All organizations

(for-profit, nonprofit, or government) have finite budgets. Management must allocate

these financial assets appropriately so that the leaders can make sound business decisions

and meet the objectives of the organization.

Information technology (https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-

cca610/learning-topic-list/information-technology.html?ou=622270) (IT) is a key

strategic function to help support the objectives of an organization. Businesses first used

information systems to replace paper-based methods of helping management perform

these functions, and that use continues today. Managers must be able to understand

different IT models to make the best financial investment decisions for the organization.

The financial requirements for the cloud computing model are different than the financial

requirements for an on-premise model. Cloud computing shifts budgets to a pure

operating expense model, whereas the traditional on-premise computing model requires

1/12/22, 4:46 PM Print Pages

both capital and operating expense allocations

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-topic-

list/capital-and-operating-expense-allocations.html?ou=622270) .

Several free calculators to help estimate the cost of cloud services exist on the web,

including the AWS Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator (https://calculator.aws/#/)

and Azure TCO Calculator (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/tco/calculator/) .

Alternatively, you may find other calculators to estimate your cloud cost. Most cloud

providers have their own cloud cost estimator tools. If the calculator that you selected

does not show on-premise data, then you can recalculate using one of the other

calculators that do provide this data.

For your economic analysis, enter the information from BallotOnline's IT Budget and

Infrastructure Summary (https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-

cca610/learning-resource-list/ballotonline-s-it-budget-and-infrastructure-summary.html?

ou=622270) into your chosen calculator to estimate TCO for the current physical IT

infrastructure configuration. Then estimate TCO for a comparable configuration in the

cloud to estimate the potential cost savings.

Write the summary of the economic implications, showing the savings and how you

arrived at them, and submit it after reviewing the instructions below.

In the next step, you will define the business requirements for the organization as part of

the cloud computing analysis.

Submit your assignment to your instructor for review and feedback.

Follow these steps to access the assignment:

Click My Tools in the top navigation bar.

Click Assignments.

Select the relevant assignment.

Define the IT Business Requirements

Take Action

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After considering the economic aspects of the cloud, the next logical step is to narrow the

particular requirements of cloud computing for the organization. It is important that your

presentation works toward building a business case for cloud computing

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-topic-

list/building-a-business-case-for-cloud-computing.html?ou=622270) .

Your presentation must address BallotOnline's business requirements

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-topic-

list/business-requirements0.html?ou=622270) and critical IT requirements related to

data storage (https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-

cca610/learning-topic-list/critical-it-requirements-related-to-data-storage.html?

ou=622270) . Make sure you classify the requirements into functional (behavior) and

nonfunctional, as per the requirements definition link.

The business requirements should be explicit directives specifying what

the solution should deliver for the business, formulated using imperative

language (system should, or must, or will do this and that) rather than a

general description of cloud solution features.

Upload your list of requirements for feedback after reviewing the instructions below.

Submit your assignment to your instructor for review and feedback.

Follow these steps to access the assignment:

Click My Tools in the top navigation bar.

Click Assignments.

Select the relevant assignment.

Take Note

Take Action

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Prepare a SWOT Analysis

In this step, you will apply the information gathered in the business analysis to assess the

benefits and possible drawbacks of adopting cloud infrastructure for BallotOnline.

What Is a SWOT Analysis?

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-

cca610/learning-topic-list/what-is-a-swot-analysis.html?ou=622270)

Iamnee/Essentials Collection/iStock

Your supervisor, Sophia, recommends that you include a SWOT analysis

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-cca610/learning-topic-

list/swot-analysis.html?ou=622270) in your presentation, since the BallotOnline

company executives will want you to go over both the advantages and disadvantages of

cloud adoption and any important internal and external factors that may influence the

success of the project.

Take Note

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Demonstrate your critical-thinking abilities by identifying the strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of adopting cloud computing.

First, articulate each of these areas for the SWOT analysis:

1. Identify the key strengths (advantages) of adopting cloud

computing.

2. Identify the major weaknesses (disadvantages) of adopting cloud

computing.

3. Are there any opportunities that cloud computing enables the

organization to take advantage of?

4. What are the threats that an organization considering adopting

cloud computing needs to consider?

Next, evaluate how to achieve the following outcomes to add to the

SWOT analysis:

1. How can you use strengths to take advantage of opportunities?

2. How can you overcome weaknesses to take advantage of

opportunities?

3. How can you use strengths to avoid threats?

4. How can you minimize weaknesses and avoid threats?

Use the SWOT analysis template

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/dam/course-content/tgs/cca/cca-

610/document/SWOTAnalysisTemplate_checked.docx?ou=622270) to

organize your ideas.

When you have completed the SWOT analysis, move to the last step, which is the final

presentation.

Prepare a Presentation on Benefits and Possible Drawbacks of Adopting Cloud Infrastructure

Take Action

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In this step, you will prepare your presentation for the BallotOnline executives. This

presentation should present them with a compelling business case and cover the benefits

and possible drawbacks of adopting cloud infrastructure, data on cloud economics, and a

demo of some basic cloud capabilities.

These asynchronous presentations

(https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/cca/2218-

cca610/learning-topic-list/asynchronous-presentations.html?

ou=622270) must include an audio narrative.

Your presentation will include an executive summary along with the following from

previous steps:

Overview of cloud computing

summary of service and deployment models

summary of cloud compute and storage infrastructure components

advantages and disadvantages

economic analysis

IT business requirements (provide a concise description of what each bullet should

ensure)

SWOT analysis

When the assignment is ready for grading, submit your narrated presentation after

reviewing the instructions below.

Take Note

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Before you submit your assignment, review the competencies below,

which your instructor will use to evaluate your work. A good practice

would be to use each competency as a self-check to confirm you have

incorporated all of them. To view the complete grading rubric, click My

Tools, select Assignments from the drop-down menu, and then click the

project title.

1.8: Create clear oral messages.

5.1: Evaluate the business IT needs of an organization.

5.2: Propose strategies the organization can employ using cloud

solutions to enhance organizational effectiveness.

5.3: Evaluate cloud adoption as a viable solution based on cost

benefits and desired outcomes.

5.4: Articulate insights to leadership on the appropriate course of

direction on the identified IT business needs.

6.1: Articulate the systems architecture of the cloud - cloud

infrastructure, cloud service, cloud platform, and cloud storage.

6.3: Assess and compare cloud services delivery models (XaaS).

6.4: Evaluate deployment models - private, public, hybrid, etc.

6.5: Investigate the underlying technologies (virtualization, data

center infrastructure, servers).

Check Your Evaluation Criteria

1/12/22, 4:46 PM Print Pages

Submit your assignment to your instructor for review and feedback.

Follow these steps to access the assignment:

Click My Tools in the top navigation bar.

Click Assignments.

Select the relevant assignment.

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