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

The impact of cloud accounting

The accounting industry has experienced a substantial transformation from manual bookkeeping of ledgers and trial balances to advanced accounting software. Many accounting firms, though, use accounting software with standalone packages which do not support the web. As a result, accounting firms demanded integrated software which could manage overall business management system. Accounting firms rely on software advancements in technology and specialised accounting software that can help financial activities like accounts, administrative tasks, payroll, tax and sales systems with fewer complexities. Real time information gave rise to the demand for accounting services which have higher accessibility of cloud-based software applications. The adoption of cloud accounting applications for accounting firms at accelerating speed leads to the question of considering the impact of cloud accounting software which has effects on the operational expenses of accounting firms. This research examines what encourages small accounting firms to grasp cloud accounting. The qualitative method of collecting data of small accounting firms was done through the distribution of questionnaires that use cloud accounting software. Findings from this research were used to understand the impact of employee training and IT costs which firms face by implementing cloud based accounting. The firms in this research have majorly agreed that they experienced overall increase in their operational costs. As a result, organisational efficiency was also increased. The recommendations provided by the researchers point to a similar study to find out the impact of profitability on firms from implementing cloud software and suggest to firms how to use cloud software to expand their client base

From private digital platforms to public data spaces: implications for the digital transformation

Technological developments such as Cloud Computing, the Internet of Things, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence continue to drive the digital transformation of business and society. With the advent of platform-based ecosystems and their potential to address complex challenges, there is a trend towards greater interconnectedness between different stakeholders to co-create services based on the provision and use of data. While previous research on digital transformation mainly focused on digital transformation within organizations, it is of growing importance to understand the implications for digital transformation on different layers (e.g., interorganizational cooperation and platform ecosystems). In particular, the conceptualization and implications of public data spaces and related ecosystems provide promising research opportunities. This special issue contains five papers on the topic of digital transformation and, with the editorial, further contributes by providing an initial conceptualization of public data spaces' potential to foster innovative progress and digital transformation from a management perspective

The GEYSERS optical testbed: a platform for the integration, validation and demonstration of cloud-based infrastructure services

The recent evolution of cloud services is leading to a new service transformation paradigm to accommodate network infrastructures in a cost-scalable way. In this transformation, the network constitutes the key to efficiently connect users to services and applications. In this paper we describe the deployment, validation and demonstration of the optical integrated testbed for the “GEneralized architecture for dYnamic infrastructure SERviceS” (GEYSERS) project to accommodate such cloud based Infrastructure Services. The GEYSERS testbed is composed of a set of local physical testbeds allocated in the facilities of the GEYSERS partners. It is built up based on the requirements specification, architecture definition and per-layer development that constitutes the whole GEYSERS ecosystem, and validates the procedures on the GEYSERS prototypes. The testbed includes optical devices (layer 1), switches (layer 2), and IT resources deployed in different local testbeds provided by the project partners and interconnected among them to compose the whole testbed layout. The main goal of the GEYSERS testbed is twofold. On one hand, it aims at providing a validation ground for the architecture, concepts and business models proposed by GEYSERS, sustained by two main paradigms: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and the coupled provisioning of optical network and IT resources. On the other hand, it is used as a demonstration platform for testing the software prototypes within the project and to demonstrate to the research and business community the project approach and solutions. In this work, we discuss our experience in the deployment of the testbed and share the results and insights learned from our trials in the process. Additionally, the paper highlights the most relevant experiments carried out in the testbed, aimed at the validation of the overall GEYSERS architecture

When to Utilize Software as a Service

Cloud computing enables on-demand network access to shared resources (e.g., computation, networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort. Cloud computing refers to both the applications delivered as services over the Internet and the hardware and system software in the data centers. Software as a service (SaaS) is part of cloud computing. It is one of the cloud service models. SaaS is software deployed as a hosted service and accessed over the Internet. In SaaS, the consumer uses the provider‘s applications running in the cloud. SaaS separates the possession and ownership of software from its use. The applications can be accessed from any device through a thin client interface. A typical SaaS application is used with a web browser based on monthly pricing. In this thesis, the characteristics of cloud computing and SaaS are presented. Also, a few implementation platforms for SaaS are discussed. Then, four different SaaS implementation cases and one transformation case are deliberated. The pros and cons of SaaS are studied. This is done based on literature references and analysis of the SaaS implementations and the transformation case. The analysis is done both from the customer‘s and service provider‘s point of view. In addition, the pros and cons of on-premises software are listed. The purpose of this thesis is to find when SaaS should be utilized and when it is better to choose a traditional on-premises software. The qualities of SaaS bring many benefits both for the customer as well as the provider. A customer should utilize SaaS when it provides cost savings, ease, and scalability over on-premises software. SaaS is reasonable when the customer does not need tailoring, but he only needs a simple, general-purpose service, and the application supports customer‘s core business. A provider should utilize SaaS when it offers cost savings, scalability, faster development, and wider customer base over on-premises software. It is wise to choose SaaS when the application is cheap, aimed at mass market, needs frequent updating, needs high performance computing, needs storing large amounts of data, or there is some other direct value from the cloud infrastructure.Siirretty Doriast

Cloud Computing Solutions for Speeding-up the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME's) Businesses in China

China has experienced rapid digitalization in the last decade. Cloud computing makes possible for different users to access data resources from any geographical location through the Internet. This new paradigm has the ability to benefit businesses by offering low-cost, flexible, and customizable solutions that provide companies significant competitive advantages in the strongly competitive business environment on long-term timescale. It can be essential for all business, but it is especially indispensable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) to make prosperity in today’s accelerating social, economic and technological changes. In recent years, the SME’s have allocated more budget to invest in implementing digitization and data-based decision making processes as they have become more aware of the importance of technological development and managing information on boosting their competitiveness in values creation activities. However, they are restricted by the size of the business. Transformation of information construction and digitization process is still in its infant stage as a consequence of a shortage in experts and available resources. This situation has gradually changed with the advent of cloud computing technology. By leveraging cloud computing technology, SME’s could completely support the digital transformation process in an efficient and effective manner. Nevertheless, for those business organisations who make efforts for application of any cloud computing solution in their business processes, they have to face with some serious emerging questions. Whether the business deployed on the cloud provided by service providers has sufficient system robustness, and whether the data stored in the cloud has sufficient security. This review paper is aiming to provide comprehensive, relevant landscape about the different cloud computing solutions (Infrastructre as a Service -IaaS) Platform as a Service -PaaS; Software as a Service -SaaS) and services models (public, private and hybrid cloud). Besides that this study focuses on which cloud service model should SME’s choose and how Chinese SME businesses should take into account their own informational structure in the age of digital transformation improving businesses performance while minimizing operational expenses and risks at the same time

Harnessing data flow and modelling potentials for sustainable development

Tackling some of the global challenges relating to health, poverty, business and the environment is known to be heavily dependent on the flow and utilisation of data. However, while enhancements in data generation, storage, modelling, dissemination and the related integration of global economies and societies are fast transforming the way we live and interact, the resulting dynamic, globalised and information society remains digitally divided. On the African continent, in particular, the division has resulted into a gap between knowledge generation and its transformation into tangible products and services which Kirsop and Chan (2005) attribute to a broken information flow. This paper proposes some fundamental approaches for a sustainable transformation of data into knowledge for the purpose of improving the peoples' quality of life. Its main strategy is based on a generic data sharing model providing access to data utilising and generating entities in a multi disciplinary environment. It highlights the great potentials in using unsupervised and supervised modelling in tackling the typically predictive-in-nature challenges we face. Using both simulated and real data, the paper demonstrates how some of the key parameters may be generated and embedded in models to enhance their predictive power and reliability. Its main outcomes include a proposed implementation framework setting the scene for the creation of decision support systems capable of addressing the key issues in society. It is expected that a sustainable data flow will forge synergies between the private sector, academic and research institutions within and between countries. It is also expected that the paper's findings will help in the design and development of knowledge extraction from data in the wake of cloud computing and, hence, contribute towards the improvement in the peoples' overall quality of life. To void running high implementation costs, selected open source tools are recommended for developing and sustaining the system. Key words: Cloud Computing, Data Mining, Digital Divide, Globalisation, Grid Computing, Information Society, KTP, Predictive Modelling and STI

SOME MAIN ASPECTS OF MIGRATING DATABASE AND KEY ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS TO CLOUD

The new Internet technologies have opened the way for a new economy, the digital economy, where accessing and using the Internet are the key to a successful business. For that, it is necessary a wide process of business digital transformation which requires a high-power IT infrastructure. There are a number of emerging technologies that can be a solution for the digital transition of any business. So, nowadays, the new trend is that the companies to abandon building or developing their own IT infrastructure, and choose, as a much cheaper alternative, to migrate their key applications and databases in the cloud, using for that the Cloud Computing services through the Internet. But, the process of businesss digital transformation is not uniform. The aspiration and practical implementation are not in the same rhythm, being a significant gap between them. There are many situations when the migration to the cloud had not registered the expected success because there is no a generally valid practical way for it or for redesigning the business for the digital economy. Even so, most of the enterprises are embarked on a digital transformation, and a fundamental stage of this change involves migrating key enterprises applications and databases to the cloud. However, according to the Eurostat data, there are major gaps between the EU Member States in using cloud technology for hosting enterprises databases, more than a half of them have percentages lower than the European average, even if the European Commission has adopted the Digital Single Market strategy in May 2015 with the aim of „encourages the economy, businesses and the workforce to maximize the benefits of digitalization”. Based on a large literature on the topic, the aim of this paper is to motivate the necessity of cloud migrating the organization databases and data, highlighting the opportunities and advantages gained