Implications of Integration and Interoperability for Enterprise Cloud-based Applications

Enterprise’s adoption of cloud-based solutions is often hindered by problems associated with the integration of the cloud environment with on-premise systems. Currently, each cloud provider creates its proprietary application programing interfaces (APIs), which will complicate integration efforts for companies as they struggle to understand and manage these unique application interfaces in an interoperable way. This paper aims to address this challenge by providing recommendations to enterprises. The presented work is based on a quantitative study of 114 companies, which discuss current issues and future trends of integration and interoperability requirements for enterprise cloud application adoption and migration. The outcome of the discussion provides a guideline applicable to support decision makers, software architects and developers when considering to design and develop interoperable applications in order to avoid lock-in and integrate seamlessly into other cloud and on-premise systems

A Holistic Decision Framework to Avoid Vendor Lock-in for Cloud SaaS Migration

Cloud computing offers an innovative business model to enterprise for IT services consumption and delivery. Software as a Service (SaaS) is one of the cloud offerings that attract organisations as a potential solution in reducing their IT cost. However, the vast diversity among the available cloud SaaS services makes it difficult for customers to decide whose vendor services to use or even to determine a valid basis for their selections. Moreover, this variety of cloud SaaS services has led to proprietary architectures and technologies being used by cloud vendors, increasing the risk of vendor lock-in for customers. Therefore, when enterprises interact with SaaS providers within the purview of the current cloud marketplace, they often encounter significant lock-in challenges to migrating and interconnecting cloud. Hence, the complexity and variety of cloud SaaS service offerings makes it imperative for businesses to use a clear and well understood decision process to procure, migrate and/or discontinue cloud services. To date, the expertise and technological solutions to simplify such transition and facilitate good decision making to avoid lock-in risks in the cloud are limited. Besides, little investigation has been carried out to provide a comprehensive decision framework to support enterprises on how to avoid lock-in risks when selecting and implementing cloud-based SaaS solutions within existing environments. Such decision framework is important to reduce complexity and variations in implementation patterns on the cloud provider side, while at the same time minimising potential switching cost for enterprises by resolving integration issues with existing IT infrastructures. This paper proposes a holistic 6-step decision framework that enables an enterprise to assess its current IT landscape for potential SaaS replacement, and provides effective strategies to mitigate vendor lock-in risks in cloud (SaaS) migration. The framework follows research findings and addresses the core requirements for choosing vendor-neutral interoperable and portable cloud services without the fear of vendor lock-in, and architectural decisions for secure SaaS migration. Therefore, the results of this research can help IT managers have a safe and effective migration to cloud computing SaaS environment

EDTree: Emotional Dialogue Trees for Game Based Training

Immersion and interactivity are a major focus when creat- ing gaming applications, as technology has improved and enabled the creation of larger and more detailed virtual environments the need for more engaging NPCs (non-playable characters) is also required. Many games utilise a form of dialogue tree when conversing with characters within a gaming application, allowing the user to choose their question- s/responses. While this method does provide a dynamic conversation system, it is quite a one-sided level of interactivity with the NPC simply responding to the current question without it a ecting the conversation on a whole. We present a novel dialogue system that explores the emo- tional state of the NPC to provide a more complex form of dialogue tree, termed EDTree (Emotional Dialogue Tree). Based on user actions, the interactions between the user and the NPC are enriched by the emo- tional state of the NPC. Utilising this system will provide an immersive experience based around improved believability of virtual characters. To demonstrate the e ectiveness of our approach, we show an example of a training system that explores the use of gaming technology and the proposed EDTree

Possible effects of probiotic strains on suppression of Vibrio and enhancement of growth in rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis

Because of the importance of rotifers as an adequate live food in larviculture, this study was conducted to evaluate probiotic potency of four microorganisms, Candida parapsilosis, Pseudoalteromonas flavipulchra, Lactobacillus sakei and Bacillus natto on suppression of Vibrio species and increasing population growth, enzymes activity and nutrients retention in the rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis. Four experimental and a control treatment, each with four replicates, with the concentration of 10(8) CFU/mL(-)(1) for each strain were applied. The results demonstrated that L. sakei and B. natto successfully suppressed Vibrio in experimental treatments and increased population growth and nutrients retention. The longevity of B. natto was recorded as the best in long-term inoculation than other treatments and the control in a way that after 8 days of rotifers starvation, the count of B. natto increased. The findings showed that the two bacteria, B. natto and L. sakei, appear to be a promising probiotic for rotifers in suppressing Vibrio and also in increasing population growth, nutrients retention, enzymes activity and long-term inoculation in rotifers

Effects of Bacillus probiotic enzyme extract on growth and carcass biochemical composition of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) larvae

The present study was done to evaluate the effects of enzyme extract, produced by five species of probiotics Bacillus on growth and carcass biochemical composition of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) larvae with initial body weight of 0.583 ± 0.197 g (mean ± SD). The enzyme extract was produced by Bacillus probiotics in broth media with concentrations of 1 × 10^6, 1 × 10^7 and 1 × 10^8 CFU/100g and then it was added into the feed of rainbow trout larvae respectively. The results of larval biometry at the end of the study showed that the use of enzyme extract with the highest Bacillus concentration (1×10^8 CFU/100g) in T3 (20.02 ±3.77 g) significantly increased the growth (P<0.05). Also other growth parameters as specific growth rate and average daily growth showed significant differences (P<0.05). The study of carcass biochemical composition according to AOAC (1990) standard showed that T1 and T3 had the highest crude protein content and control had the lowest crude protein content. Also the experimental treatments showed the highest survival rate in comparison with the control (P<0.05). The results of this study showed that enzyme extract of Bacillus probiotic improved the growth performance and feed efficiency in rainbow trout larvae and also increased the survival rate

Critical analysis of vendor lock-in and its impact on cloud computing migration: a business perspective

Vendor lock-in is a major barrier to the adoption of cloud computing, due to the lack of standardization. Current solutions and efforts tackling the vendor lock-in problem are predominantly technology-oriented. Limited studies exist to analyse and highlight the complexity of vendor lock-in problem in the cloud environment. Consequently, most customers are unaware of proprietary standards which inhibit interoperability and portability of applications when taking services from vendors. This paper provides a critical analysis of the vendor lock-in problem, from a business perspective. A survey based on qualitative and quantitative approaches conducted in this study has identified the main risk factors that give rise to lock-in situations. The analysis of our survey of 114 participants shows that, as computing resources migrate from on-premise to the cloud, the vendor lock-in problem is exacerbated. Furthermore, the findings exemplify the importance of interoperability, portability and standards in cloud computing. A number of strategies are proposed on how to avoid and mitigate lock-in risks when migrating to cloud computing. The strategies relate to contracts, selection of vendors that support standardised formats and protocols regarding standard data structures and APIs, developing awareness of commonalities and dependencies among cloud-based solutions. We strongly believe that the implementation of these strategies has a great potential to reduce the risks of vendor lock-in

An exploration of the determinants for decision to migrate existing resources to cloud computing using an integrated TOE-DOI model

Migrating existing resources to cloud computing is a strategic organisational decision that can be difficult. It requires the consideration and evaluation of a wide range of technical and organisational aspects. Although a significant amount of attention has been paid by many industrialists and academics to aid migration decisions, the procedure remains difficult. This is mainly due to underestimation of the range of factors and characteristics affecting the decision for cloud migration. Further research is needed to investigate the level of effect these factors have on migration decisions and the overall complexity. This paper aims to explore the level of complexity of the decision to migrate the cloud. A research model based on the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory and the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework was developed. The model was tested using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The quantitative analysis shows the level of impact of the identified variables on the decision to migrate. Seven determinants that contribute to the complexity of the decisions are identified. They need to be taken into account to ensure successful migration. This result has expanded the collective knowledge about the complexity of the issues that have to be considered when making decisions to migrate to the cloud. It contributes to the literature that addresses the complex and multidimensional nature of migrating to the cloud

Ekosystemtjänster vid exploatering : Arbete med ekosystemtjänster i Huddinge, Nacka och Nynäshamn

En hållbar samhällsplanering av städer har blivit allt viktigare i takt med urbaniseringen. De kommande åren kommer befolkningen i Stockholms län att öka och behovet av bostäder likaså. I samband med exploateringen i Stockholms kommuner så finns risken med att ekosystemtjänsterna påverkas negativt. Människan påverkar ekosystemen i högre grad idag och påverkan ökar i allt snabbare takt. För att inte påverka ekosystemtjänsterna behöver hänsyn tas i beslutsprocesser. Denna studie handlar om arbetet med ekosystemtjänster vid exploatering i Huddinge kommun, Nacka kommun och Nynäshamn kommun samt hur kommunerna klassificerar och värderar ekosystemtjänster. Studien ska ge en uppfattning om hur arbetet med ekosystemtjänster ser ut i dagsläget i Stockholms län samt belysa ekosystemtjänsternas utveckling i samband med exploateringen. Med hjälp av intervjuer och dokumentanalys kring ekosystemtjänster i de olika kommunerna samt litteraturstudier om hur man implementerar ekosystemtjänster som ett planeringsverktyg i samhällsplaneringar har ett resultat kunnat uppnås. Resultatet i denna rapport visar att ingen av kommunerna har implementerat ekosystemtjänster som ett planeringsverktyg i samband med exploatering. Huddinge kommun har påbörjat projekt om identifiering och värdering av ekosystemtjänster som kan vara användbara i beslutsprocesser och Nacka kommun arbetar med att ta fram en metod för hur man inkluderar ekosystemtjänster i kommunens samhällsplanering och stadsbyggnadsprocessen.

Integrated Backhaul Management for Ultra-Dense Network Deployment

Mobile data traffic is expected to increase substantially in the coming years, with data rates 1000 times higher by 2020, having media and content as the main drivers together with a plethora of new end-user services that will challenge existing networks. Concepts and visions associated with the ICT evolution like the network society, 50 billion connected devices, Industrial Internet, Tactile Internet, etc., exemplifies the range of new services that the networks will have to handle. These new services impose extreme requirement to the network like high capacity, low latency, reliability, security, seamless connectivity, etc. In order to face these challenges, the whole end-to-end network has to evolve and adapt, pushing for advances in different areas, such as transport, cloud, core, and radio access networks. This work investigates the impact of envisioned 2020 society scenarios on transport links for mobile backhaul, emphasizing the need for an integrated and flexible/adaptive network as the way to meet the 2020 networks demands. The evolution of heterogeneous networks and ultra-dense network deployments shall also comprise the introduction of adaptive network features, such as dynamic network resource allocation, automatic integration of access nodes, etc. In order to achieve such self-management features in mobile networks, new mechanisms have to be investigated for an integrated backhaul management. First, this thesis performs a feasibility study on the mobile backhaul dimensioning for 2020 5G wireless ultra-dense networks scenarios, aiming to analyze the gap in capacity demand between 4G and 5G networks. Secondly, the concept of an integrated backhaul management is analyzed as a combination of node attachment procedures, in the context of moving networks. In addition, the dynamic network resource allocation concept, based on DWDM-centric transport architecture, was explored for 5G scenarios assuming traffic variation both in time and between different geographical areas. Finally, a short view on techno-economics and network deployments in the 2020 time frame is provided