Pricing the Cloud: An Auction Approach

Cloud computing has changed the processing and service modes of information communication technology and has affected the transformation, upgrading and innovation of the IT-related industry systems. The rapid development of cloud computing in business practice has spawned a whole new field of interdisciplinary, providing opportunities and challenges for business management research. One of the critical factors impacting cloud computing is how to price cloud services. An appropriate pricing strategy has important practical means to stakeholders, especially to providers and customers. This study addressed and discussed research findings on cloud computing pricing strategies, such as fixed pricing, bidding pricing, and dynamic pricing. Another key factor for cloud computing is Quality of Service (QoS), such as availability, reliability, latency, security, throughput, capacity, scalability, elasticity, etc. Cloud providers seek to improve QoS to attract more potential customers; while, customers intend to find QoS matching services that do not exceed their budget constraints. Based on the existing study, a hybrid QoS-based pricing mechanism, which consists of subscription and dynamic auction design, is proposed and illustrated to cloud services. The results indicate that our hybrid pricing mechanism has potential to better allocate available cloud resources, aiming at increasing revenues for providers and reducing expenses for customers in practice

Library purchasing consortia in the UK: activity, benefits and good practice.

Following a brief introduction in Section 1, Section 2 sets out the operational context of library purchasing consortia. A range of key factors have shaped recent developments in the four LIS sectors under consideration (FE, HE, health and public libraries); some have exerted a common influence over all (e.g. information technology, European Commission purchasing directives, new central government, decline in bookfunds); some are sector-specific (e.g. purchasing arrangements, regional administrative frameworks, collaborative partnerships). The structure and markets of the book and periodical publishing industry in the UK are reviewed, with attention paid to historical as well as more recent practice that has had an impact on library supply. Although each component of the LIS purchasing consortia jigsaw displays individual characteristics that have evolved as a response to its own environment, the thread that links them together is constant change. Section 3 presents the results of a survey of identified library purchasing consortia in the four library sectors. It treats common themes of relevance to all consortia arising from information gathered by seminar input, questionnaire and interview. These include models of consortium operation, membership and governance, ‘typical’ composition of consortia in each sector, and links to analogous practice in other library sectors. Common features of the tendering and contract management process are elicited and attention paid to any contribution of procurement professionals. Finally, levels of consortium expenditure and cost savings are estimated from the published statistical record, which readily demonstrate in financial terms the efficiency of the consortial purchase model for all types of library in the United Kingdom. Section 4 presents the results of a survey of suppliers to libraries in the United Kingdom of books and periodicals, the two sectors most commonly represented in current contracts of library purchasing consortia. It sets out in some detail the operating context governing the highly segmented activities of library booksellers, as well as that pertaining to periodicals suppliers (also known as subscription agents). Detailed responses to questions on the effects of library purchasing consortia on suppliers of both materials have been gathered by questionnaire survey and selected follow-up interviews. Results are presented and analysed according to supply sector with attention given to the tendering process, current contracts under way, cross-sectoral clientele, and advantages and inhibitors of consortia supply. Further responses are reported on issues of how consortia have affected suppliers’ volume of trade, operating margins and market stability as perceived in their own business, the library supply sector and the publishing industry. Finally, overall conclusions are drawn and projections made as to future implications for both types of library suppliers. Section 5 synthesises findings, details enabling and inhibiting factors for consortia formation and models of best practice amongst consortia. The scope for cross-sectoral collaboration is discussed and found to be limited at present. Pointers are given for future activity

Institutional Repositories in Scholarly Communication: a literature review on models, issues and current trends

This work is report on relevant sources about IR, and some references about the environment they came from. It gives an overview concerning causes, consequences and impact of IR application in the scholarly communication channel and it is trying to understand current trends in changing scholarly communication models through IR. It provides a critical overview about benefits, but also obstacles, problems and issues that need to be faced in developing IR and earns deeper understanding on the role librarians play in the implementation, management and advocacy of IRs

Everything in Its Right Place: Social Cooperation and Artist Compensation

The music industry\u27s crisis response to the Internet has been the primary driver of U.S. copyright policy for over a decade. The core institutional response has been to increase the scope of copyright and the use of litigation, prosecution, and technical control mechanisms for its enforcement. The assumption driving these efforts has been that without heavily-enforced copyright, artists will not be able to make a living from their art. Throughout this period artists have been experimenting with approaches that do not rely on technological or legal enforcement, but on constructing web-based business models that engage fans and rely on voluntary compliance and payment mechanisms. Anecdotal reports of such efforts have occasionally surfaced in the media. Here we present the first extensive sales-data evidence, gleaned from hundreds of thousands of online voluntary transactions, from three web-based efforts over a period of several years. This Article examines the effectiveness of these voluntary models as compared to the baseline-forcing system advocated by the industry and adopted and enforced by Congress and successive U.S. administrations over the past fifteen years. Platforms for artist-fan cooperation are complex and dynamic systems, sensitive to a variety of design factors that can either increase participation and prosocial behavior or dampen participation and enable anti-social behavior. In addition to providing substantial evidence for copyright policy, our study reports field observations of the design characteristics that support cooperation. A growing literature experimentally and theoretically explores prosocial behavior that significantly and systematically refutes the self-interest hypothesis characterizing most rational actor modeling. This literature has not yet been translated into a design approach aimed specifically at designing systems of cooperation. Building on experimental and theoretical literature in diverse fields of behavioral sciences, we synthesize a series of design levers that should improve the degree to which individuals cooperate. We then specify how these design levers might be translated into specific user interface features, describe the ways in which these design levers have been utilized in the sites under study, and present hypotheses about additional features that could improve cooperative outcomes. The Article contributes to the Internet copyright policy debates by offering empirical evidence showing that well-designed voluntary cooperation models compare favorably to more aggressive and widely criticized enforcement policies based on copyright law and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It provides an empirical foundation for challenging the guiding assumptions of those policies

Everything in its Right Place: Social Cooperation and Artist Compensation

The music industry’s crisis response to the Internet has been the primary driver of U.S. copyright policy for over a decade. The core institutional response has been to increase the scope of copyright and the use of litigation, prosecution, and technical control mechanisms for its enforcement. The assumption driving these efforts has been that without heavily-enforced copyright, artists will not be able to make a living from their art. Throughout this period artists have been experimenting with approaches that do not rely on technological or legal enforcement, but on constructing web-based business models that engage fans and rely on voluntary compliance and payment mechanisms. Anecdotal reports of such efforts have occasionally surfaced in the media. Here we present the first extensive sales-data evidence, gleaned from hundreds of thousands of online voluntary transactions, from three web-based efforts over a period of several years. This Article examines the effectiveness of these voluntary models as compared to the baseline-forcing system advocated by the industry and adopted and enforced by Congress and successive U.S. administrations over the past fifteen years. Platforms for artist-fan cooperation are complex and dynamic systems, sensitive to a variety of design factors that can either increase participation and prosocial behavior or dampen participation and enable anti-social behavior. In addition to providing substantial evidence for copyright policy, our study reports field observations of the design characteristics that support cooperation. A growing literature experimentally and theoretically explores prosocial behavior that significantly and systematically refutes the self-interest hypothesis characterizing most rational actor modeling. This literature has not yet been translated into a design approach aimed specifically at designing systems of cooperation. Building on experimental and theoretical literature in diverse fields of behavioral sciences, we synthesize a series of design levers that should improve the degree to which individuals cooperate. We then specify how these design levers might be translated into specific user interface features, describe the ways in which these design levers have been utilized in the sites under study, and present hypotheses about additional features that could improve cooperative outcomes. The Article contributes to the Internet copyright policy debates by offering empirical evidence showing that well-designed voluntary cooperation models compare favorably to more aggressive and widely criticized enforcement policies based on copyright law and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It provides an empirical foundation for challenging the guiding assumptions of those policies

Everything in Its Right Place: Social Cooperation and Artist Compensation

The music industry\u27s crisis response to the Internet has been the primary driver of U.S. copyright policy for over a decade. The core institutional response has been to increase the scope of copyright and the use of litigation, prosecution, and technical control mechanisms for its enforcement. The assumption driving these efforts has been that without heavily-enforced copyright, artists will not be able to make a living from their art. Throughout this period artists have been experimenting with approaches that do not rely on technological or legal enforcement, but on constructing web-based business models that engage fans and rely on voluntary compliance and payment mechanisms. Anecdotal reports of such efforts have occasionally surfaced in the media. Here we present the first extensive sales-data evidence, gleaned from hundreds of thousands of online voluntary transactions, from three web-based efforts over a period of several years. This Article examines the effectiveness of these voluntary models as compared to the baseline-forcing system advocated by the industry and adopted and enforced by Congress and successive U.S. administrations over the past fifteen years. Platforms for artist-fan cooperation are complex and dynamic systems, sensitive to a variety of design factors that can either increase participation and prosocial behavior or dampen participation and enable anti-social behavior. In addition to providing substantial evidence for copyright policy, our study reports field observations of the design characteristics that support cooperation. A growing literature experimentally and theoretically explores prosocial behavior that significantly and systematically refutes the self-interest hypothesis characterizing most rational actor modeling. This literature has not yet been translated into a design approach aimed specifically at designing systems of cooperation. Building on experimental and theoretical literature in diverse fields of behavioral sciences, we synthesize a series of design levers that should improve the degree to which individuals cooperate. We then specify how these design levers might be translated into specific user interface features, describe the ways in which these design levers have been utilized in the sites under study, and present hypotheses about additional features that could improve cooperative outcomes. The Article contributes to the Internet copyright policy debates by offering empirical evidence showing that well-designed voluntary cooperation models compare favorably to more aggressive and widely criticized enforcement policies based on copyright law and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It provides an empirical foundation for challenging the guiding assumptions of those policies

Cooperation and collaboration in electronic journal acquisition; a preliminary investigation

Library consortia have traditionally been formed in order to share print-based resources, but more recently have sought to enhance access to electronic journals. Their development has provided new opportunities both to evaluate their impact, and to identify the Critical Success Factors in cooperation in the librarianship and information field. This paper aims to review the key features of these consortia that are indicated by the literature and the extent to which they have been objectively evaluated. The key features include the benefits of consortial purchasing of electronic journals not only for libraries and their users, but also for publishers; and the different pricing and licensing models in use. This is followed by a review of the different approaches to the organization and operation of library consortia established for this purpose. This covers what is involved in forming a consortium, the different types of consortia and administrative infrastructures, and arrangements for negotiating with publishers and for cost sharing between members of the consortium. Finally the paper considers the challenges for libraries of working together in partnership. Evidence examined to date suggests that, whilst many of the claims made about the benefits of consortia may be valid, there is little empirical evidence to support most of them, and the various approaches to the organisation and operation of consortia have not been evaluated

Complex system simulation: agent-based modeling and system dynamics

This thesis deals with some simulation based approaches used to study software market and software development. Nowadays, the term Software as a Service is everywhere and is described as the future of software. SaaS, also called On-Demand Software, is a software application delivery model that together with Commercial Open Source Software another pricing approach is slowly gaining ground. Indeed, in recent years, traditional software also called On-Premise software appears overpriced, user's willingness to buy it is decreased and therefore the purchase preferences are moving from traditional pricing models to new pricing approaches. To study these new pricing tendencies, different models have been realized by using two of the most common numerical techniques: Agent based Modeling and System Dynamics. With agent based modeling two business models have been realized: a model to study the competition among CRM On-Premise and On Demand vendors and another model to study the competition among CRM On-Demand vendors offering CRM products, with and without source code availability. Our goals are to propose business models to analyze and study the CRM software market, and to propose a useful tool to forecast business winning strategy and investment and pricing business policies. Instead, with system dynamics a tool for highlighting how a Global Software Development environment on the Cloud Platform may facilitate GSD with respect to an environment set up On Premise has been realized. All these models are based on many insights from literature and market analysis. However, concerning the business models, this is the first time that the software market has been modeled using heterogeneous agent model and detailing investment and pricing policies of firms and purchase preferences of customers, and consequently building the model on existing scientific knowledge has not been simple. In addition, lack of experimental data to initialize or validate the models clearly limits the validity of the models, and for this reason the future main objective will be to validate the model using real enterprise data

Complex system simulation: agent-based modeling and system dynamics

This thesis deals with some simulation based approaches used to study software market and software development. Nowadays, the term Software as a Service is everywhere and is described as the future of software. SaaS, also called On-Demand Software, is a software application delivery model that together with Commercial Open Source Software another pricing approach is slowly gaining ground. Indeed, in recent years, traditional software also called On-Premise software appears overpriced, user's willingness to buy it is decreased and therefore the purchase preferences are moving from traditional pricing models to new pricing approaches. To study these new pricing tendencies, different models have been realized by using two of the most common numerical techniques: Agent based Modeling and System Dynamics. With agent based modeling two business models have been realized: a model to study the competition among CRM On-Premise and On Demand vendors and another model to study the competition among CRM On-Demand vendors offering CRM products, with and without source code availability. Our goals are to propose business models to analyze and study the CRM software market, and to propose a useful tool to forecast business winning strategy and investment and pricing business policies. Instead, with system dynamics a tool for highlighting how a Global Software Development environment on the Cloud Platform may facilitate GSD with respect to an environment set up On Premise has been realized. All these models are based on many insights from literature and market analysis. However, concerning the business models, this is the first time that the software market has been modeled using heterogeneous agent model and detailing investment and pricing policies of firms and purchase preferences of customers, and consequently building the model on existing scientific knowledge has not been simple. In addition, lack of experimental data to initialize or validate the models clearly limits the validity of the models, and for this reason the future main objective will be to validate the model using real enterprise data