Cloud Service Level Management

We learned about Cloud Service Level Management this week.

Service Level Management (SLM) essentially negotiates and controls service levels that are agreed upon within certain parameters. With the growth of virtualized respurces across several domains, IT service delivery expectations increase as well. For the IT service delivery professionals this means that proper SLM of cloud computing need to be provided. SLM ensures that certain services that have been promised are delivered up to expectations and for prior agreed upon cost. A Service Quality Plan (SQP) addresses certain managerial objectives and helps with implementing the SLM.

References:

http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/security-governance/service-level-management-of-cloud-computing-42536

     There are many cloud based applications out there, offered by a variety of vendors and they can be used by anyone who has a device that is able to connect to the Internet. That includes, desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Different cloud apps are offered for different types of businesses, ranging from very small businesses, such as sole proprietors to large enterprises with thousands of employees in all types of fields. They can also be customized to each individual business’ needs. Cloud apps are usually set up by the provider and do not require any or very little IT knowledge.












References:
https://www.infostreet.com/cloud-desktop/what-are-cloud-based-applications/

This week we learned about Service Level Agreements. They are important, as they provide a reference of what the customer can expect from the provider. The agreement offers rules, measures of the service and responsibilities of customer and provider. SLAs are often generic standard SLAs in favor of the provider. Sometimes providers negotiate a custom agreement with the customer, but that's not always the case. Just as any other contract, the Service Level Agreement is an important contract that should be read and comprehended carefully before agreeing to it.

Virtualization should be seen as a strategy to modernize IT. It implements attributes of a cloud computing provider - service-based, elastic, scalable and metered by use. Though not the only avenue to cloud computing, virtualization does play the most important role and has a common on-ramp in cloud computing style. Virtualization enables IT to become more service based and to provide fast, scalable and elastic resources. 

 

 

References: 

https://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/analysts/Gartner-server-virtualization-leads-to-cloud-computing.pdf

With cloud computing on the rise, offering Software as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service and so on, we are moving closer and closer to a hardware-free, totally virtual IT world. That includes gaming. My husband is not a full blooded gamer, but he does have his game or two that he is passionate about. He also tried several newer games. In the "old days" he would wait for the game to be released, run to Best Buy and grab the box with the discs to install the game. Sometimes he would have to stop and check if his machine meets the requirements. Thanks to the wonderful cloud, all that is a thing of the past... well maybe not quite yet, but it's going to be. Games are accessible through the cloud. No discs needed, no installation needed, no system requirements, no device or console confinement. All you need is an internet connection (and who hasn't one these days). Gaming as a Service (GaaS) is in the works with first services offered already.








References: http://www.nvidia.com/object/cloud-gaming.html

This week we are learning about service models. Cloud services can be obtained as a number of different services, based on the user's needs and requirements. Among additional products, three of those service models are the fundamental ones -  Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
SaaS allows a user to use a software product without having to deal with anything that comes with owning software - updates, maintenance of hardware, backups, security etc. The SaaS provider simply provides the software to the user and takes care of everything else.
PaaS allows the user to utilize the provider's platform and environment to create applications over the internet, using tools, languages and libraries that are supported by the provider.
IaaS provides virtualized hardware, or a computing infrastructure. This can include virtual server space, bandwidth, network connections and IP addresses. Physical servers and hardware are distributed across several data center which the provider maintains and is responsible for. The user utilizes the virtual components to create his own platform.

This is week 2 of our cloud class and we are learning about cloud models. I know what you're thinking - What?! There are different models? Isn't the cloud already confusing and mysterious enough? It really isn't though. Many people, including friends of mine are still "scared" of the cloud. They don't understand it and try to avoid it. There is some hear-say that data gets lost and weird things happen with it. But "the cloud" is not as mysterious as some people think.
   There are public clouds, which most of us use on a daily basis (you might not even realize it). Do you have Gmail, Yahoo mail or such? Then yes, you are using a cloud and it would be a public cloud model. A public cloud model and essentially is a resource that is made available to the public by a service provider (such as Google, Yahoo or Microsoft) Public cloud services are low in cost and can be either free or pay-per-use.
Then there are private cloud models. Private clouds are limited to certain users, such as employees of an organization. Using private clouds allows an organization to retain more control over its data than they would if they would use a public cloud or third party services.
A hybrid cloud model offers the best of both worlds. It allows an organization to manage some resources within and also has other resources provided externally. So a company may be using a public cloud service to store and share certain data, but maintains private services for sensitive data that has to remain within the organization.