Essay Sample on Economic Implications of Cloud Computing

Introduction

Technology is an essential characteristic of contemporary society due to the increased expansion of social networking services. Technology emerged as a result of the invention of computers. For this reason, there is an increased dependence on technology. The growth in information technology (IT) dependency has created a new perception and new practical data operations services. Modern technology is always a step ahead because technology is increasingly undergoing an evolution at a high rate. Regulators find it hard to keep up with the pace of technological growth and expansion (Etro, 2009). It is possible to quickly capture what people say, where they move to, the people they communicate with and their lifestyles including their mannerisms within few seconds. It is only possible when digital signals are employed.

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What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is, therefore, online-centered computing which provides organizations which an opportunity to access a network or a pool of computing resources (Chou, 2015). The third parties own and maintain these computing resources using the internet. Chou (2015) further asserts that the primary concern of cloud computing is the delivery of hosted services across the internet. The technology is elastic, cheap and flexible.

Economic Implications of Cloud Computing

Growth of Democracy

Initially, various organizations collected data by using Paper and Pencil Interviewing (PAPI). Different countries also conducted their elections by using the manual systems of voting where the voters dropped their ballot papers into the ballot boxes. Since the onset of cloud computing, various countries employed the new method which is referred to as CAPI. Organizations collect the required data by using Computer Based Personal Interviewing (CAPI). The method is electronic, and it is integrated with the use of biometric technology to facilitate easy identification. These technologies depend on cloud computing to host. Information Technology (IT) is also an essential function in promoting these services since they are critical in supporting the objectives of an organization. For the sake of this study, informational technology is therefore necessary for facilitating the processes of BallotOnline. BallotOnline will consequently employ the technology as a way of replacing paper-based methods of assisting the management in performing these essential functions.

Ballot Online acknowledges that voting is essential for every democracy. It is also a privilege of living in a democratic state. Ballot Online, therefore, adopts the concept of online voting system. The system is essential in facilitating the new policy which the government instituted. These policies are measures of ensuring the effectiveness of the voting system. Chou (2015) suggests that the most appropriate way of employing cloud computing in the election process is through offering Unique Identification Number (UIQ).

The UIQ is provided for every citizen as a way of facilitating the process. To successfully to implement the entire process, governments apply cloud computing with an objective of avoiding the traveling time of the voters and to also help find the candidates who are not engaging in the voting process. The traditional ballot system required the voters to physically go to the polling station and cast their votes by use of pens and papers. Chou (2015) agrees that the implementation of cloud computing in the ballot system enables people to vote for their favorite candidates at their respective locations. The voters do not have to go to the polling station physically. The economic implication of this system is that it saves on time, which people would otherwise use in doing other economic activities that generate revenue for their respective countries. The voting system enables the authenticated individual to engage in the election. The system achieves this by integrating biometric technology in the voting process. The voters are in a better position to vote at any place at a time at the time of the election.

Investment and Innovation

Other economic implications of the technology are the ability to transform how governments, consumers, and companies store data, process and make use of the computing power for the sake of improving their societies. Concerning this, cloud computing becomes a platform for entrepreneurs to invest and an engine for innovation. Cloud computing is the driver of corporate efficiency, and if BallotOnline-manages to implement it effectively, it will be in a better position to transform the voting process as a new set of model and technology (Shawish & Salama, 2014).

Financial Savings

Economically, the technology also provides exceptional levels of configurability for a variety of users. Since the primary concern of BallotOnline is implementing a voting process that makes use of technology, cloud computing is in a better position to provide the organization with efficient services which are configured dynamically in line with the needs of the users with globally scaled and single unified architecture. Third party providers of cloud computing provide cost merits and scales to the diver's types of consumers which range from people to multinational corporations.

Job Creation

Cloud computing also has an economic implication on employment. Through job creation, the technology has provided employment opportunities for various individuals globally. According to Etro (2009), the estimations of expected employment opportunities as a result of cloud computing will be between 1.3 million and 3.8 million job opportunities in the European Union by 2020. There are possibilities of jobs slightly decreasing but increasing in the long run.

Positive Impact on GDP

The technology also has an impact on the GDP of various economies. There are different studies which forecast on the impact that Cloud Computing has on GDP. Etro (2009) estimates that in Europe; the average fixed ICT is 5% of the total costs. It, therefore, means that ICT costs include variable costs which are slightly larger. It means that when companies continue to need servers, computers to facilitate banking transactions at a faster rate. Firms also employ laptops since they are portable and they are usable anywhere at any time. The fact reduces the costs of cloud computing.

Conclusion

Cloud computing is therefore essential in transforming how governments, consumers, and companies store data, process and make use of the computing power for the sake of improving their societies. The technology impacts economies through job creation and improving GDPs, and also providing exceptional levels of configurability for a variety of users. In voting, it saves on time since voters can cast their ballot virtually. The technology is therefore an essential shift in economic modes and businesses which is significant for consuming information technology and helps in saving costs.

Systems Architecture of the Cloud

Shawish and Salama (2014) considers the evolution of cloud computing to be among the outstanding advances in the field of technology. As described earlier, cloud computing is a centralized cloud storage environment that can store a large amount of data. The system does not depend on the separate servers which could otherwise be used in maintaining a central database. For example, BallotOnline can connect the same cloud server as a way of monitoring manual voting and online voting process.

The essential element of Cloud Computing is the generalization of end-user applications from the underlying hardware. For instance, since application software is not linked to any physical hardware or any particular server,then it means that the technology makes use of the resiliency if the primary universal scale data centers and the immense scalability as a method of delivering the same services to a single user or several users. Generally, these users fail to care about or know the locations of the data centers and the way these data centers are configured with their systems.

Cloud Services Delivery Models (XaaS)

The service delivery models in cloud computing that are applicable in BallotOnline are SaaS and PaaS. SaaS is a cloud application service which refers to Software as a Service. According to Singh, Sharma, Kumar and Yadav (2016), SaaS is among the largest cloud market which is continuing to experience steady growth in the field of informational technology. SaaS makes use of the internet, especially web as a mode of delivering the applications which the third party vendors manage. The clients can access the interface of the cloud computing application on their side. It is possible to run the SaaS applications directly from a browser since it does not require any form of installations and downloads. However, there are other applications which require plugins.

Concerning the web delivery model which BallotOnline intends to implement, SaaS provides BallotOnline with a better opportunity to eliminate the importance of installing and running applications on personal computers. SaaS, therefore, would make it easy for BallotOnline to streamline their support and maintenance since the vendors, middleware, runtime, applications, data, servers, OSes, networking, virtualization, and storage manage the systems. Among the most common SaaS which BallotOnline can implement are collaboration and emails, voting-related software and applications and voter relation management. The organization can also employ various Google Apps, Workday, Salesforce, Cisco WebEx among other various software to improve the efficiency of the election process.

PaaS which refers to Platform as a Service is applicable in the provision of cloud components to software. The essential thing which BallotOnline gains if it implements the service is a framework which it can use to customize or develop applications. According to Singh, Sharma, Kumar and Yadav (2016), PaaS enables the testing, development, and deployment of cost-effective, quick and straightforward applications. The service also facilitates the progress of third-party providers and enterprise operations to allow the management of OSes, networking, virtualization, networking, and virtualization. On the contrary, it is the developers who manage the applications.

It is possible for BallotOnline to apply PaaS because it employs the concept of creating macros in excel. The service enables the users to develop applications by employing software components built into the middleware (PaaS). The various applications which employ the concept depend on Loud Computing features such as high availability, scalability, multi-tenancy, enablement of SaaS among various others. BallotOnline would benefit from PaaS since PaaS would reduce the coding volume necessary for automating the policy. The service is also essential in migrating applications to a hybrid model. As a result, BallotOnline can secure the services of organizations such as Apprenda which is a private Cloud Computing company that offers Java and NET.

Deployment Models

These are the types of cloud deployment models, private, public, and hybrid clouds.

Private cloud means that you own the hardware that the cloud runs on. It's for your use and yours alone. Public means that you're leveraging cloud services over the open internet, using hardware and software that you don't own. Hybrid clouds use both public and private clouds, allowing you to run workloads on either cloud deployment models, and having them work seamlessly together. You may deploy one, two, or all of these models. The main advantage of leveraging a private cloud is you run the cloud on premises.

Some believe this provides the best security over public and hybrid clouds. However, owning your own hardware and...