A Fuzzy Model for Performance Appraisal and Promotion Ranking System: A Case Study of Nigerian Air Force

Transparency in the performance appraisal and ranking of service personnel applying for promotion in any organisation is important for efficient human resource management. In this paper, an approach for the promotion screening and ranking of officers in Nigerian Air Force due for a particular rank is discussed. The approach uses fuzzy logic concepts to classify the officers for ranking decisions fairly through the various performance appraisal processes. The research established a new ranking procedure which makes it possible to rank and order the performance of the officers by aggregating the scores from each evaluator. The result from the system is to be used to appraise and promote eligible and qualified officer

Cloud Application Portability: Issues and Developments

Cloud computing is a standard that is fast gaining momentum in the IT world. The availability of storage capacity that can be accessed and increased as the need arises makes computing easier. Applications can also be deployed using services provided by a cloud service provider. Portability allows utilization of applications and services across various domains. Portability could be in the area of programming language, application programming interface, data storage or data migration. Clearly, the easier it is to move services across various providers, the more attractive cloud computing becomes. The study was executed by means of review of some literature available on cloud application portability. This chapter examines current trends in cloud application portability area and gives focus for future research. In the present work, the objective is to answer the following question: what is the current trend and development in cloud application portability? Papers published in journals, conferences, white papers, and reputable magazines were analyzed. Some core topic facets were used in this review for the identification of trends in cloud application portability. The finding is that discussions on virtualization and API-specific issues are not adequate. This will be of benefit to prospective cloud users and even cloud providers

Virtualization in Cloud Computing : Developments and Trends

Cloud computing is an interesting paradigm that is making computing and other related activities easy for consumers. The cloud infrastructure is not new, but it is working on new technology based on various services offered. The cloud provides application software online for users to conduct common activities like word processing. Cloud computing also enables consumers to leverage on cloud infrastructure by designing and deploying their application on the cloud. A unique feature of the cloud is the provision of scalable storage for data which are usually spread across several geographical locations. A core technology used on the cloud is virtualization. This allows virtual machines to be hosted on physical servers. This provides great benefits to users on the cloud. This paper presents the state of the art from some literature available on cloud virtualisation. The study was executed by means of review of some literature available on cloud virtualisation. The study was performed by means of review of some literature using reliable methods. This paper examines present trends in the area of cloud virtualisation and provides a guide for future research. In the present work, the objective is to answer the following question: what is the current trend and development in cloud virtualisation? Papers published in journals, conferences, white papers and those published in reputable magazines were analysed. The expected result at the end of this review is the identification of trends in cloud virtualisation. This will be of benefit to prospective cloud users and even cloud providers

Cloud Computing and Open Source Software: Issues and Developments

Cloud computing is a global paradigm that is offering useful services in virtually all spheres of human endeavor based on infrastructure made available to users on demand. The cloud provides on demand, elastic and scalable resources to meet the needs of users. The cloud has application deployed by cloud service providers that can be accessed by several users at the same time. Cloud computing also offers a programming environment that allows users deploy and run their own in-house applications. Massive storage and computing resources are also available on the cloud. There are currently open source applications that can be used to implement cloud applications. The source code which can be improved on and adapted for use is available to the user online. Such open source software tools allow the deployment of cloud for any type of domain. The study was executed by means of review of some literature available on cloud computing and open source software. This paper examines present trends in cloud computing and open source software and provides a guide for future research. In the present work, the objective is to answer the following question: what is the current trend and development in cloud computing and open source software? The review’s finding is that OpenStack provides the most comprehensive infrastructure in cloud computing and open source software

Cloud Computing and Quality of Service: Issues and Developments

Cloud computing is a dynamic information technology (IT) paradigm that delivers on demand computing resources to a user over a network infrastructure. The Cloud Service Provider (CSP) offers applications which can be accessed online to users. Such applications can be shared by more than one user. CSPs provides programming interfaces that allows customers to build and deploy applications on the cloud; as well as providing massive storage and computing infrastructure to users. Users usually have no control on how data is stored on the cloud or where the underlying resources are located. With this limited control, customers’ requirements and Quality of Service (QoS) expectations from CSPs are spelt out using a Service Level Agreement (SLA). It is thus imperative to have the adequate QoS guarantees from a CSP. This paper examines trends in the area of Cloud computing QoS and provides a guide for future research. A review and survey of existing works in literature is done in order to identify these Cloud QoS trends. The finding is that the ultimate expectation of any QoS metrics or model is the related to cost concern for both the CSP and user

Cloud Management Optimization – Issues and Developments

Cloud computing is the current technology paradigm that portends the greatest potentials to revolutionize the way IT activities are conducted. Cloud computing influences most known areas of activities in human endeavour. The cloud provides easy to use applications that can be accessed online at any place and time. Cloud computing also allows organisations and enterprises to create and deploy own applications. In addition, the cloud offers extendable storage facilities, inclusive of processing capabilities. The cloud utilizes various data centres with physical machines or servers for storage and computing purposes. These data centres consume a high amount of energy. The electricity utilization is high and it continues to increase. The servers and cooling machines consume a lot of energy, hence the need to manage this in an optimal way. The study was executed by means of review of some literature available on cloud management optimisation. This study examines issues and developments of cloud management optimisation and also present a recommendation for future research. The result only 25% of the core papers examined discussed the issue of cloud virtualization as it relates to cloud management optimisation. This outcome will offer insight for further work in cloud management optimisation

Cloud Migration: Issues and Developments

Cloud computing is a dynamic paradigm that is influencing activities in virtually all facets of the IT world. It has become quite easy to deploy applications on the cloud. Storage is also available based on user’s needs and can be scaled up or down as required by the user. Computing resources have also been made available on virtual machines. Furthermore, applications are available to users supplied by cloud providers. The activities on the cloud has made migration to the cloud desirable to most organizations and enterprises. Adopting the cloud is expected to reduce cost and the need for investment in computing infrastructure. However, most organizations are still concerned about the likely challenges of migrating to the cloud. The goal of this paper is to provide an insight into cloud computing with respect to migration issues. The paper discusses cloud computing and the benefits of migration. It also examines the challenges of migration. Furthermore, present issues of migration as espoused by the industry are discussed. The survey observed that not much is being discussed in terms of current trends and procedures of migration

Cloud Service Level Agreements –Issues and Development

Cloud computing is a broad paradigm that has influence across major fields of human endeavour. The unique services it offers makes organisations curious about understanding the cloud and its likely benefits. The cloud offers services such as custom built applications deployed on remote systems and ready to use platforms which reduce the efforts needed to develop and deploy applications for cloud users. In addition to these, there are other services such as storage and infrastructural resources which the cloud also avails to its users. These services are usually provided to users on a pay-per-use bases, thus necessitating the need to have documented agreements in place to ensure a smooth relationship between the providers and the users. These documented agreements are referred to as Service Level Agreements (SLAs). SLAs detail the terms, conditions and service expectation of the users from their service provider in terms of availability, redundancy, uptime, cost and penalties for violations. These ensures users’ confidence in the services being offered. In this paper, the state of the art with respect to cloud SLAs is presented. The paper seeks to answer questions related of what the current trends and developments in terms of cloud SLA are and it does so by means of a review of existing literature available. This paper therefore is a survey of cloud SLAs, their issues and developmental challenges. It provides a guide for future research and is expected to benefit prospective cloud users and cloud providers alik

Cloud Trust Management – Issues and Developments

Cloud infrastructure is an evolving technology that offers organizations and enterprises the ability to access various elastic and scalable resources. The cloud provider offers application software that can be implemented by multiple users online. Also, the customer is provided with the capability of creating and deploying custom built applications relevant to the needs of the enterprise. In addition, scalable and elastic massive storage and computing resources is available in the different categories of cloud types. The decision for an organisation or enterprise to migrate and outsource applications to the cloud requires trust. Any customer wanting to adopt the cloud wants to be sure that the cloud provider can be trusted to meet agreed requirements. This study was executed by means of review of some literature available on cloud computing and trust management. The results indicated that users are not able to access services on their own terms, clearly eroding trust. In addition, application of encipherment in trust management was not discussed in details. Criteria for identifying quality cloud providers received less than 30% attention. Mechanisms for auditability and transparency which should have been given over 50% consideration, received less than 20%. This results will be beneficial to cloud service providers, cloud users and researchers alik

An Overview of Data Storage in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a functional paradigm that is evolving and making IT utilization easier by the day for consumers. Cloud computing offers standardized applications to users online and in a manner that can be accessed regularly. Such applications can be accessed by as many persons as permitted within an organisation without bothering about the maintenance of such application. The Cloud also provides a channel to design and deploy user applications including its storage space and database without bothering about the underlying operating system. The application can run without consideration for on-premise infrastructure. Also, the Cloud makes massive storage available both for data and databases. Storage of data on the Cloud is one of the core activities in Cloud computing. Storage utilizes infrastructure spread across several geographical locations. Storage on the Cloud makes use of the internet, virtualization, encryption and others technologies to ensure security of data. This paper presents the state of the art from some literature available on Cloud storage. The study was executed by means of review of literature available on Cloud storage. It examines present trends in the area of Cloud storage and provides a guide for future research. The objective of this paper is to answer the question of what the current trend and development in Cloud storage is? The expected result at the end of this review is the identification of trends in Cloud storage, which can beneficial to prospective Cloud researches, users and even providers