Research on Coordinating Cloud Service Supply Chain Considering Service Disruption

The risk of the implementation of cloud service and the worry about the failure of projects or strategies caused by service disruption is an important reason of low adoption rates of the cloud service. Service disruption not only directly affects the cloud service free trial results, but also leads to compensation to the consumers. The coordination problem between a CFP (cloud function provider) and a CIP (cloud integration provider) in a cloud supply chain is investigated, in which service demand is determined by the application free trial. Coordination Contracts are discussed in two kinds of situations, linked respectively to the information symmetry and information asymmetry. The results show that the cost and risk-sharing coordination contracts we proposed can realize optimal supply chain performance, and Pareto improvement of supply chain members’ profits. Reducing the service disruption probability and improving the level of service reliability are the key to the free trial. Besides, the compensation cost allocation enhances the scalability of cost allocation. Through numerical exploration analysis, effectiveness of the model is demonstrated and some managerial insights are obtained

CloudNetSim - Simulation of Real-Time Cloud Computing Applications

In this paper, we describe CloudNetSim, a project aiming to realise a simulation platform supporting our ongoing and planned research activities in the area of resource management and scheduling for distributed QoS-sensitive and soft real-time applications. It is based on OMNeT++, integrating in the platform a set of modules for the simulation of CPU scheduling, including hierarchical scheduling at both levels of the hypervisor and guest Operating System, as needed when simulating cloud infrastructures. Thanks to the modularity of OMNeT++, CloudNetSim may easily leverage many existing simulation models already available for networking, including standard network components and protocols, such as TCP/IP. After a brief overview of related simulation tools found in the literature, and the discussion of their limitations, we provide a detailed description of the internals of our simulator. Then, we show results gathered from a few representative scenarios demonstrating how its behaviour matches with the one of simple real applications

AGILE ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE: A CASE OF A CLOUD TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED GOVERNMENT ENTERPRISE TRANSFORMATION

Australian government enterprises have shown a significant interest in the cloud technology-enabled enterprise transformation. Australian government suggests the whole-of-a-government strategy to cloud adoption. The challenge is how best to realise this cloud adoption strategy for the cloud technology-enabled enterprise transformation? The cloud adoption strategy realisation requires concrete guidelines and a comprehensive practical framework. This paper proposes the use of an agile enterprise architecture framework to developing and implementing the adaptive cloud technology-enabled enterprise architecture in the Australian government context. The results of this paper indicate that a holistic strategic agile enterprise architecture approach seems appropriate to support the strategic whole-of-a-government approach to cloud technology-enabled government enterprise transformation

Organisational sustainability modelling - An emerging service and analytics model for evaluating Cloud Computing adoption with two case studies

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Cloud Computing is an emerging technology which promises to bring with it great benefits to all types of computing activities including business support. However, the full commitment to Cloud Computing necessary to gain the full benefit is a major project for any organisation, since it necessitates adoption of new business processes and attitudes to computing services in addition to the immediately obvious systems changes. Hence the evaluation of a Cloud Computing project needs to consider the balance of benefits and risks to the organisation in the full context of the environment in which it operates; it is not sufficient or appropriate to examine technical considerations alone.In this paper, we consider the application of CAPM, a well established approach used for the analysis of risks and benefits of commercial projects to Cloud adoption projects and propose a revised and improved technique, OSM. To support the validity of OSM, two full case studies are presented. In the first, we describe an application of the approach to the iSolutions Group at University of Southampton, which focuses on evaluations of Cloud Computing service improvement. We then illustrate the use of OSM for measuring learning satisfaction of two cohort groups at the University of Greenwich. The results confirm the advantages of using OSM. We conclude that OSM can analyse the risk and return status of Cloud Computing services and help organisations that adopt Cloud Computing to evaluate and review their Cloud Computing projects and services. OSM is an emerging service and analytics model supported by several case studies

Cyber Supply Chain Risks in Cloud Computing - Bridging the Risk Assessment Gap

Cloud computing represents a significant paradigm shift in the delivery of information technology (IT) services. The rapid growth of the cloud and the increasing security concerns associated with the delivery of cloud services has led many researchers to study cloud risks and risk assessments. Some of these studies highlight the inability of current risk assessments to cope with the dynamic nature of the cloud, a gap we believe is as a result of the lack of consideration for the inherent risk of the supply chain. This paper, therefore, describes the cloud supply chain and investigates the effect of supply chain transparency in conducting a comprehensive risk assessment. We conducted an industry survey to gauge stakeholder awareness of supply chain risks, seeking to find out the risk assessment methods commonly used, factors that hindered a comprehensive evaluation and how the current state-of-the-art can be improved. The analysis of the survey dataset showed the lack of flexibility of the popular qualitative assessment methods in coping with the risks associated with the dynamic supply chain of cloud services, typically made up of an average of eight suppliers. To address these gaps, we propose a Cloud Supply Chain Cyber Risk Assessment (CSCCRA) model, a quantitative risk assessment model which is supported by decision support analysis and supply chain mapping in the identification, analysis and evaluation of cloud risks

On the Business Models of Cloud-based Modelling and Simulation for Decision Support

Simulation modelling is one of the techniques used for decision support in a wide range of domains and cloud computing is beginning to make some impact on simulation modelling by enabling ubiquitous, convenient and on-demand access to a variety of computing services. The cloud-based modelling and simulation (CBMS) literature has focused on how to develop CBMS tools using existing technologies. While this technical aspect is important, understanding the business aspect of CBMS is instrumental for its adoption by users and for ensuring the sustainability of the broader CBMS service supply chain. This paper presents a review of the business models adopted by vendors that provide Web or mobile applications for simulation modelling. An analysis of the offerings of these vendors provides some insights into how cloud services can be provided and used as part of CBMS business models. The study is conducted by reviewing the websites of simulation vendors. This study fills a gap in the literature on the business aspect of CBMS by providing insights into CBMS business model patterns. It highlights the importance of developing innovative business models that can help generate new market opportunities and revenue streams along the CBMS service supply chain. It also stresses the role of contracting in addressing the reported challenges and risks underpinning the provision and use of CBMS services

On the Business Models of Cloud-based Modelling and Simulation for Decision Support

Simulation modelling is one of the techniques used for decision support in a wide range of domains and cloud computing is beginning to make some impact on simulation modelling by enabling ubiquitous, convenient and on-demand access to a variety of computing services. The cloud-based modelling and simulation (CBMS) literature has focused on how to develop CBMS tools using existing technologies. While this technical aspect is important, understanding the business aspect of CBMS is instrumental for its adoption by users and for ensuring the sustainability of the broader CBMS service supply chain. This paper presents a review of the business models adopted by vendors that provide Web or mobile applications for simulation modelling. An analysis of the offerings of these vendors provides some insights into how cloud services can be provided and used as part of CBMS business models. The study is conducted by reviewing the websites of simulation vendors. This study fills a gap in the literature on the business aspect of CBMS by providing insights into CBMS business model patterns. It highlights the importance of developing innovative business models that can help generate new market opportunities and revenue streams along the CBMS service supply chain. It also stresses the role of contracting in addressing the reported challenges and risks underpinning the provision and use of CBMS services