Information Technology Assignment On Cloud-Based Technologies & Internet Of Things (IoT)

Question

Task:
With the many new cloud-based and IoT emerging technologies today, it is important to understand the role of privacy and security more than ever. For this assignment, you will be discussing different challenges an organization will most likely encounter when implementing cloud-based and IoT platforms.

Write a report on information technology assignment containing the following sections:

Provide a one-page overview of cloud-based technologies and services.

Provide a one-page overview of IoT business technologies and services.

Identify and discuss various challenges that organizations may come across when implementing these types of systems. This section should be a minimum of one page.

Provide a one-page discussion on possible solutions to overcome these various challenges.

Answer

1. Overview of cloud-based technologies and services provided within this information technology assignment
Cloud-based technologies are often referred to as cloud computing where the computing services offer delivery of server storage, protection, and collection of databases, networking services, analytics, and intelligence (Stergiou, 2018). All of such services are carried out over the internet which is known as the cloud (Stergiou, 2018). Such cloud computing services help various business organizations to engage in faster innovation and flexibility of resources where the users of cloud computing services pay for what they need (Stergiou, 2018). Hence, the necessary information such as customer database and trading activities can be stored on a secure platform and reduce their operating costs and also helps the business to run efficiently (Stergiou, 2018). The key benefits for opting for information technology services such as cloud computing are saving up on incremental operational costs, productivity improvement, and offer a sense of efficiency as the cloud computing services act as an automated capacity planning software (Mekala, 2017). Cloud computing technologies also help to manage and scale business organizations elastically (Aazam et al., 2016); the business organizations can use the right amount of information technology services such as computing power, storage services, bandwidth usage from the right geographical location (Aazamet al., 2016). The essential services offered by cloud computing technologies are as follows:

• Platform as a Service (PaaS): Such interfaces are developed by specialists and professionals to offer scalability and distribution of certain applications of business organizations to make them less expensive in the long haul (Channe, 2015). Business organizations can develop an application with minimal expenses and it helps to cater to a wide set of customer databases as the services offered are completely cloud-based (Zhou et al., 2019). However, one of the key drawbacks of PaaS is that there are certain restrictions that may not work with certain products under certain circumstances such as regulatory laws and remote geographical locations (Mekala, 2017).
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This service helps the business organizations to develop a web-based user interface through servers, connectivity services, and storage spaces which are fully automated and the business organizations can manage such internet infrastructures without buying or managing the internet infrastructure themselves (Vatari, 2016). IaaS helps the business organizations to grow on a rapid scale although there are certain complexities such as server management which can be dealt with the flexibility that such cloud computing services offer (Vatari, 2016).
• Software as a Service (SaaS): The users of this particular cloud computing service can permit the cloud to be leveraged for software infrastructure (Mebrek, 2017). This essentially means that the burden of support and maintenance of operations can be reduced as the applications used by the business organizations are run via computers and interfaces that are owned by the vendor/ business organization (Mebrek, 2017).

2. Challenges faced while implementing cloud-based systems
While there are certain advantages of availing of cloud computing services, there often may be certain technical glitches and difficulties that organizations may face while implementing cloud computing services. Some of these challenges are the exhaustion of resources, software glitches, and bugs (). Some of the key challenges of implementing cloud-based services are as follows:

2.1 Optimization of Cloud expenses
More than managing security issues, one of the key challenges for implementing a cloud-based system is the aspect of managing cloud spending (Truong and Dustdar, 2015). Often due to several maintenance issues, business organizations spend a considerable amount of their budget towards managing the unnecessary activities posed by the cloud services (Hasan, 2015). Such instances occur due to carelessness or lack of information and knowledge.

Mitigation strategy: The challenge of managing cloud expenses can be mitigated by seeking assistance from technical experts in the information technology department. Hence, business organizations can adhere to third-party services for their cloud computing needs but they must also establish a centralized cloud team that tracks the essential details and manage the budget towards the utilization of cloud computing services. The guidance from the centralized team can help the management to cut down on costs which the business can easily avoid as the team has the technical expertise to manage such instances themselves (Dang et al., 2019).

2.2 Migrating existing applications to the cloud
When a business organization has to choose between developing a new cloud application andmigrating their existing application to the cloud services, the process of migrating pertains to certain drawbacks. The major challenges and drawbacks include security configuration, time consumption, overflow of budget, and certain unmatched requirements which are often overlooked during the migration process (Kaur, 2016).

Migration strategy: The challenges faced during migrating existing applications to the cloud can be managed by performing a pre-migration testing that maps out the migration needs of the business organization (Yu, 2019). Also, the business organizations can set a realistic project deadline and budget that keeps the migration hassles in check through which the information technology team can forecast the challenges faced and take necessary steps to handle migration difficulties (Cavalcanteet al., 2016).

2.3 Managing Governing Compliance
Since cloud computing technologies offer a wide range of services, the demand for data processing across cloud solutions is pretty high and this often involves sharing sensitive information with third-party services (Dhar, 2016). It is therefore a challenge to ensure the security of the information that is being processed and safeguarding such data for both the cloud provider as well as the client. It is highly essential to abide by the regulatory aspects about the protection of sensitive information flow in the cloud as it helps the users to cater to a sense of security as well as reliability (Dhar, 2016).

Mitigation strategy: The aforementioned challenge can be overcome by designing a compliance protocol that helps to build a security framework for the users of the cloud services (Elazhary, 2019). The security framework helps the organizations to focus on data circulation that abides by regulatory compliances and helps to manage sensitive information that flows on the cloud (Thotaet al., 2018).

3. Overview of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and services
Business organizations are adhering to IoT solutions and services so that they can improve their operational efficiency and diversify their business models (Formisanoet al., 2015).IoT technologies and services such as ‘intelligent meters’ can be incorporated in connected cars, wearables such as smartwatches to consume user data and provide analytic services that help the users to improve their operational efficiency (Xuet al., 2019). For example, smartwatches provide analytic results about their heartbeat, the number of steps walked, and uses such information to provide data as to where the users can improve their overall performance. The IoT applications adhere to a system of transferring network without the need for a human to human or human to computer interaction (Sareen, 2018). Therefore, alerts can be sent by automatically adjusting the sensors and devices of IoT, and such alerts are also recorded in the cloud for future reference. Technological advancements have paved the way for the development of wireless IoT technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular networks (3G/4G/5G). One of the key aspects of the utilization of IoT devices and technologies is that the users need to have proper internet connectivity without which the user has no control over the IoT device outside the local network (Stergiou, 2018). There are essentially three types of IoT devices:

• Consumer IoT: The users need to use an application/ website or a device that provides the users with remote access to certain services such as the connectivity of Wi-Fi.
• Enterprise IoT: Such IoT services interline the business organizations with their applications over the cloud to portray the necessary information that needs to be displayed towards the udders of the application (Malik, 2018).
• Industrial IoT: This particular IoT technology service offers traffic on industrial networks to avoid certain vulnerabilities such as security breaches and time-sensitive networking (Botta, 2016).

4. Challenges faced while implementing IoT based technologies
The common challenges that organizations face while implementing IoT based technologies are the following:

4.1 Security
Security is one of the major concerns that organizations and individuals need to look out for while implementing IoT based technologies (Stergiou, 2018). IoT requires separate devices to be connected to a broader edge computing network through which the attack surface and malwares have a broader spectrum (Stergiou, 2018). Often devices may travel across multiple networks and pick up such malwares that affect the functionality of the devices and the cybercriminals can bypass the security measures as well.

Mitigation strategy: To tackle against the broad spectrum of security concerns, the organizations that cater to IoT based technologies need to build their networks based on the notion that their security measures are somewhat compromised (Malik, 2018). This helps the organizations to run severe test runs and malware checks through which the certain security gaps can be mapped out and accordingly build authentication protocols that rigorously scrutinize devices and block the automatic access to sensitive data (Botta, 2016).

4.2 Compatibility and updates
Constant instances of technological advancements pave the way for information technology organizations to implement innovative features through which the perfectibility of the services can be improved (Cavalcanteet al., 2016). Networks must not only be able to accommodate a wide range of IoT devices but they must also have the ability to incorporate newer technologies and updates that come along with it (Cavalcanteet al., 2016). Often incorporating such technological advancements and updates may be a challenge as the devices often encounter certain glitches and drawbacks where the updates do not meet the actual criteria that it was supposed to.

Mitigation strategy: IoT devices are always connected to a particular network; hence, it is important that the organizations develop a monitoring system that analyses the core functionality of the devices from the very beginning (Dhar, 2016). Such monitoring reports help the analytics team to understand as to how the updates can be modified and incorporated within various IoT devices and establish a new network infrastructure that manages the devices efficiently with instances of minimal service disruption (Dhar, 2016).

References
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