This chapter serves as an introduction to and an exposition of cloud computing to readers. The chapter provides enlightenment on cloud computing as it impacts business operations and individual personal activities in the respect of electronic business or electronic commerce.
TopIntroduction
The era of living in the “cloud” arrives, and it is here to stay. It is only fair to incorporate cloud computing in this book, due to the fact that its evolvement has underscored the essence of information technology, electronic commerce, and electronic business. This is a bonus and short chapter that covers cloud computing and how it parallels with electronic business or electronic commerce. Now, yet again, this is another phenomenal approach in computing in recent times. Aimed at cost cutting, mitigating scalability issues, improving or enhancing on demand service and speed, virtualisation and distributed computing, cloud computing as a utility has taken the era of the revolutionisation of digital computing to another level for the purposes of business operations and individual personal activities. Institutions and business organisations are tapping into the cloud with the motive of the above mentioned.
This chapter serves as an introduction to and an exposition of cloud computing to readers. The chapter provides enlightenment on cloud computing as it impacts business operations and individual personal activities in the respect of electronic business or electronic commerce. Sections and subtopics tackled in this chapter include:
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The Motivation: The coupling of digital computing and networking and the ubiquitous nature the Internet evidently propels the essence of cloud computing. The revolutionisation of business operations by way of technology and electronic business and electronic commerce reaches a different level with this evolvement of cloud computing. Organisations and institutions once again flock to employ or partake cloud computing. In this section, readers are driven through this stance.
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The Cloud-A Look at Its Make Up: Cloud computing practically builds on technologies such as virtualisation, parallel and distributed computing, and cyberinfrastructure; the technologies and infrastructure of cyberinfrastructure that also facilitated the platform of electronic commerce or electronic business. Presented in this section, are some enlightenment regarding cloud computing.
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The Cloud-What Is It?: This section provides some insight and sheds some light on the cloud figuratively.
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The Migration of Higher Educational Institutions to Cloud Computing: In this section, some illumination will be provided regarding higher educational institutions and how much they have delved into cloud computing. In the rush to migrate to the cloud, it is imperative for institutions to be fully aware of where their data will be resided.
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Summary: This section provides a brief summary of the chapter.
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Key Terms and Definitions: Some of the key words together with their definitions are presented under this section.
TopThe Motivation
The evolvement of cloud computing without a doubt takes the revolutionisation of distributed computing and virtualisation to a new level. As Moretti, Bulosan, Thain, and Flynn (2008) stipulated in their article, distributed computing and parallel computing ultimately aim at providing easy access to large amounts of computing data. In respect of business operations and individual personal activities by way of technology and electronic commerce or electronic business in a sense as catalysts, have propelled business operations to reach this new level. In their paper, Mancini, Rak, and Villano (2009) corroborate the point made in the preceding sentence that electronic business or electronic commerce paved for cloud computing.