Category Archives: Cloud Computing

Researchers and scientists need on-demand access to application services, but compliance concerns mean they are not able to simply go to the public cloud like those in other industries

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (PRWEB) October 10, 2022

In recent years, the life sciences and pharma industries have experienced an increase in regulatory oversight while also facing pressure to respond to global healthcare crises. This tension between regulation and innovation will only increase as security and data privacy concerns limit the ability of many industries to take advantage of public cloud services.

Looking forward, as technology expands, these industries will continue to see a steady escalation in regulations. By optimizing data sharing and advancing collaboration and innovation, cloud computing can facilitate world-changing discoveries. Herein lies a unique difficulty for those operating within life sciences and pharma industries organizations must innovate at the fastest pace possible to compete while still adhering to critical regulatory requirements. As the reliance on technology increases, the pace of R&D in pharma and life sciences is becoming bottlenecked by internal IT processes that are historically unable to compete with the speed of service delivery provided by public clouds.

In highly regulated sectors, there has been a lot of frustration on the part of teams that feel handcuffed by legacy approaches to IT, Brad Parks, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Morpheus Data. Researchers and scientists need on-demand access to application services, but compliance concerns mean they are not able to simply go to the public cloud like those in other industries.

This is where Morpheus Data provides innovative hybrid cloud management technology that makes it possible for researchers and teams to move faster while still meeting strict regulatory guidelines and process controls. Through a unified orchestration and automation platform, teams get instant on-demand access to the applications they need to advance their research agenda without having to wait on manual IT processes. Individual users can request organizationally approved application services from a simple self-service portal or API, which means they can constantly analyze data sets, iterate, and test again without delay. At the same time, IT and security teams are able to set strict policies around where applications are deployed and how data is accessed. By retaining critical control of organization-wide governance, IT can protect the organization from risk.

With the Morpheus hybrid cloud management platform, organizations can get the speed and efficiency of the public cloud within the safety and security of their on-premises datacenter. The platform integrates with the datacenter tools and hypervisors that organizations already have, reducing the number of manual tasks that must be performed each time an application service is provisioned. This helps those operating in highly regulated environments access the data sets and applications they need to perform testing in minutes rather than waiting days, weeks, or months for IT to provide assistance.

One Morpheus Data client, AstraZeneca, cites that a service delivery process that previously took 80 hours per server end-to-end can now be accomplished in 27 minutes, start to finish. AstraZeneca also found they saved over six-million dollars in IT overhead by automating their hybrid-cloud estate with Morpheus.

In the future, pharma and life sciences organizations that are highly automated will be poised to be able to innovate the fastest. These teams will be able to process patents, receive approvals, and move through the FDA at speed. Automating and orchestrating private cloud environments will allow these teams to operate efficiently while still adhering to strict security and regulation requirements.

To learn more about how Morpheus can help speed up innovation while reducing risk, download the whitepaper Market Insight Report.

About Morpheus Data:Morpheus Data is the leader in hybrid cloud application orchestration, helping hundreds of organizations in life science, pharmaceutical, financial services, and other industries unleash productivity and address IT operations skills gaps through their unified software platform. The Morpheus platform enables self-service provisioning of VMs, Containers, Clusters, and Application Stacks into any private or public cloud while staying within policy guardrails. For more information and to request a personalized platform demo, visit http://www.morpheusdata.com/demo.

Reference:1. Team, E. (2020, December 17). Why do biotech and pharma need so much computing power in the cloud? Atlantic.Net. Retrieved October 6, 2022, from https://www.atlantic.net/life-sciences-pharma-biotech/biotech-pharma-need-much-computing-power-cloud/

Share article on social media or email:

Read the original:

Cloud Automation is Speeding Up Innovation in Pharma and Life Sciences - PR Web

Cloud computing marks the next stage in business analytics, computing resources, and information storage. It will be one of the most significant business innovations over the next decade, which is why many market research companies think the cloud computing market could grow by more than 17% annually to $1.6 trillion by 2030.

With prospects like that, investors may be considering how they can get in on this market shift. However, the top three cloud infrastructure companies, Amazon (Amazon Web Services (AWS)), Microsoft (Azure), and Alphabet (Google Cloud), control about 65% of the total market right now. If you know anything about these companies, it's that cloud computing isn't the largest segment of their operations. As a result, investors may be looking for a dedicated cloud computing company to best take advantage of this trend.

If you fit the description, DigitalOcean Holdings (DOCN -3.79%) may be your stock. It's solely focused on the cloud, which also means it competes with the big players.

Can DigitalOcean survive in this cutthroat environment?

What can users can do with cloud computing? The premise is straightforward: A cloud computing provider (be it AWS or DigitalOcean) has data centers around the world with computational power. Customers can sign up to use these computing resources to support an app, store data, or host a website.

Companies of all sizes can find this useful, but the problem is the big three don't want to be spending their time on mom-and-pop start-up businesses. They're after big customers that bring sizable contracts. That's not to say AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud can't be used for this purpose; they're just not optimized for it and are likely more expensive. Providing cloud infrastructure to these smaller businesses is where DigitalOcean's niche is.

DigitalOcean's targets are small businesses and developers, and it emphasizes its simplicity, customer support, and open-source platform, making this solution ideal for its customer base. To back up its affordability claim, here's how it compares to the big three:

Data source: DigitalOcean.

That's some extreme value compared to the other three, which is why DigitalOcean has 105,000 customers paying at least $50 per month.

However, DigitalOcean points out that there will be 43 million developers by 2025, and more than 100 million small businesses exist globally, with 14 million more being added each year. Not every small business needs to use cloud computing. But many could benefit by using DigitalOcean's product, and relatively few have utilized its services so far.

DigitalOcean has identified a large niche and is doing a great job of catering to its core customer base. But how are its financials?

Despite general economic uncertainty, cloud computing is an area where businesses continue to spend. This trend was reflected in Amazon's and Alphabet's most recent quarterly results, with AWS sales growing 33% year over year to $19.7 billion and Google Cloud rising 36% year over year to $6.3 billion. (Microsoft doesn't individually break out Azure sales, so it was excluded from this comparison). DigitalOcean's entire business is cloud computing, so investors don't need to look at individual segments. Its revenue was up 29% year over year to $134 million, with annual run rate revenue up 28% from the prior-year period to $544 million.

DigitalOcean may never reach its competitors' run rates, but remember, the larger companies cater to massive enterprise customers, while DigitalOcean focuses on small businesses.

For the full year, DigitalOcean's revenue is expected to grow 32% to $566 million, with free cash flow coming in at $54 million -- a 9.5% margin. Next year, analysts expect DigitalOcean to maintain its growth, and they project 31.7% sales growth on average.

With all that in mind, I think DigitalOcean can survive in its niche. As long as the company stays true to its mission, investors shouldn't have anything to worry about. Moreover, with the company trading for a mere 8.7 times sales, I think it's also a solid buy.

Cloud computing has massive benefits and doesn't need to be solely reserved for the largest businesses. DigitalOcean is there to ensure customers of all sizes are taken care of. As one of few pure-play cloud computing investments, it could generate massive shareholder returns as this space matures over the next decade.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet (C shares) and Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc., and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Originally posted here:

Does DigitalOcean Stand a Chance Against the Biggest Cloud Providers? - The Motley Fool

Cloud storage (opens in new tab) remains one of the more confusing tech terms around; nearly a quarter million queries on what is cloud storage were carried out globally over the past 12 months according to Google, a 21% rise over the same period the year before.

At its simplest, Cloud storage is disk space, usually in a data center, which you can access to save or retrieve files. That space is usually owned and operated by what is commonly called a hyperscaler (e.g. Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tencent or Alibaba).

That is an important point: that space is owned by them, not you, you are only renting it (as you would do in a condominium or a flat); in other words, you are leasing a hard drive or SSD or tape (or a portion of it) in the cloud. For the purpose of this article, we will narrow our focus on user-friendly cloud storage where one can store digital data.

If you are of a certain age, you may remember buying audio CDs off the shelves of supermarkets; you would own the CD and youd be able to do whatever you want with it. Then came Spotify and everything changed, including the fact that youd be paying a monthly fee and essentially get access to the biggest music library that ever existed. No need to buy CDs or carry your collection around.

Cloud storage is essentially the same except that you usually pay based on usage (Backblaze being one notable exception). You can get as much data as you want, anytime and not have to worry about things that come with owning a storage device: theft, aftersales, power consumption, incidents/accidents and subsequent data recovery, being able to access data anywhere etc.

You can look at your own phone or computer as a comparison. At its simplest, a computer does three basic things to data: transmit it, store it or compute it; cloud storage is therefore a subset of cloud computing, only remotely. Cloud computing is used generically to describe any sort of on-demand computer-related service that can be done by a service provider, usually as a subscription. Check out our more comprehensive write up on Cloud Computing.

Amazon was the first one to launch cloud computing at scale with a cloud storage service, almost 17 years ago. S3 (Simple Storage Service) is an object-based storage service, which differs from a normal business or consumer cloud storage; it spawned a dozen or so other storage-based services on AWS. AWS (opens in new tab) has grown into a massive sprawling ecosystem with 25 categories as of October 2022 and more than 200 services.

Amazons definition of Cloud Storage talks to a business audience but applies to consumers as well. It is a cloud computing model that stores data on the Internet through a cloud computing provider who manages and operates data storage as a service. Its delivered on demand with just-in-time capacity and costs, and eliminates buying and managing your own data storage infrastructure. This gives you agility, global scale and durability, with anytime, anywhere data access.

As mentioned earlier your data is most likely to be located in a data center, either owned by a hyperscaler or by a data center operator. This is where data is stored in the cloud. A service provider like iDrive will rent space and amenities (lights, electricity, cooling) and deploy its own cloud storage services, in a way similar to dedicated server hosting, colocation providers or bare metal hosting.

The best cloud storage providers will save multiple copies of your data across multiple data centers to mitigate the risk of your data being lost should there be a catastrophic event (e.g. Tsunami, Typhoon, earthquake, war or even fires). That does happen even to the biggest players and could have a long lasting negative impact on businesses.

Others go even further by storing your data on thousands of devices, creating a large number of mirrors that make losing your entire data virtually impossible. Cubbit and Storj are two of the most well-known proponents of this radically different approach to decentralized cloud storage, one which embraces peer-to-peer technology, the same philosophy behind torrenting and bittorrent.

Not only do hyperscalers have their own cloud storage services (Google Drive, Amazon Drive, Apple iCloud, OneDrive, Terabox), they also host over cloud storage services on behalf of other firms. For example, Dropbox is one of Amazon Web Servicess biggest customers. Setting up your own cloud storage provider is so easy weve got a tutorial for that.

As such, there are dozens of services that offer some form of cloud storage: you might see them described as online backup, cloud backup, online drives, file hosting and more, but essentially theyre still cloud storage with custom apps or web consoles to add some extra features. As of October 2022, weve reviewed around 50 of them which is probably a quarter of the total number of providers in the market.

You wont have to look far to find your nearest cloud storage service, though, because theres a very good chance you have access to one already. Facebook and Twitter provide free cloud storage when they allow users to store photos and videos on their servers, for instance, while even the most basic free Google account gets you 15GB of cloud storage space via the Google Drive app.

Saving your data to the cloud protects you from all kinds of data disasters. Whether it's a dead hard drive, a lost laptop or a ransomware attack, having your files out of harm's way means you'll avoid a whole lot of pain.

Sharing files via the cloud is safer and easier than many alternatives. Send something by email or copy it to a USB key, and your data doesn't have much protection beyond wishful thinking ('no-one else has access to that email account, right?') Cloud storage providers usually enable file encryption from the moment they leave your device, then give you a range of secure ways to share them with others.

Many services allow you to access files directly from your storage, without downloading them first. You might be able to stream a huge video from the cloud, for instance. You can often collaborate on files with others, perhaps with two people editing a document at the time.

Storing files in the cloud gives them real protection from damage, too. Accidentally deleted something? You'll usually find it in the Recycle Bin. Made a big mistake in the last few edits? You can often restore any previous version of the document from the last 30 days, and sometimes more - a real life-saver.

Its important to know a cloud storage service can be trusted with your files, so most providers go to a lot of trouble to make sure theyre safe. Theyll upload and download files via a secure encrypted connection, for instance. Maximum security data centers ensure no unauthorized person gets access to their servers, and even if someone did break in, leading-edge encryption (opens in new tab) prevents an attacker viewing your data.

While cost is an obvious factor to consider when choosing a cloud storage provider, it is secondary to trust. After all, whats the point of saving a few dollars a month if you cant be 100% sure that your data is safe, untampered and 100% private? The best secure cloud storage provider is likely to be one of the bigger players in the cloud storage market.

Fran Villalba Segarra, CEO of cloud storage company Internxt, wrote extensively on how cloud storage works and on whether cloud storage is safe, secure and private and we found out that the term cloud storage actually dates back from 1896 and was used to describe just that; how to store clouds. Andrew Martin, UK MD for Egnyte, a business cloud storage provider, investigated the pros and cons of on-premise vs cloud storage setups. Oh and before we forget, make sure you check our comparison, Cloud storage vs Cloud backup vs Cloud sync, written by Jay El-Anis from UK cloud storage provider, Zoolz.

See the original post:

What is cloud storage? A comprehensive evaluation of data-as-a-service - TechRadar

Businesses today are moving a portion or all of their applications and data to cloud computing environments. The third wave of cloud computing entails dealing with multiple cloud computing environments and a cloud maturity model that is ever-evolving.

Public cloud services rose by 18.4% in 2021 as against 6.1% in 2020. indicating that cloud use is rising dramatically year after year. In fact, the fastest-growing segment of the industry is Desktop as a Service (DaaS), which expanded by 95.4% in 2020 and 61.5% in 2021.

Choosing the best cloud deployment strategy among public clouds, private clouds, hybrid clouds, and multi-clouds for the organization is the first stage in the planning process for cloud adoption. As business and technological requirements change, an organization might transition between several deployment strategies.

That said, when it comes to cloud models, different companies have different opinions on which type of cloud model they prefer. The public cloud model is the most sought-after cloud model in India. It is available for the general public and the data is generated and stored by 3rd-party service providers which means companies need not maintain their hardware, this is what Vineet Aggarwal, CIO, Paras Healthcare has to say.

He further explains that this model is quite effective during a smooth transition across clouds over time. The key benefits include greater privacy and security, simplified data and application portability, increased scalability, and lower costs.

With a private cloud, organizations must build and maintain all kinds of servers to meet spikes in demand across various divisions or functions. It is a better option if data and infrastructure require the best possible security at multiple levels like healthcare companies Rahul Mahajan, CTO, Nagarro said.

However, Mahajan also agrees to the public cloud model being the most preferred one. The shift, by and large, has been towards the public cloud, including SaaS and PaaS. Most of the leaders in the retail, automobile, BFSI, and manufacturing industries are heavy users of the public cloud, he adds.

A hybrid cloud configuration may incorporate many cloud providers, making it hybrid as well as multi-cloud. Using one or even more public clouds in parallel to existing on-premise servers can help businesses make the most of the cloud by facilitating and simplifying application management.

Manoj Dhanda, Founder, and CTO, of Microhost Cloud, concurs, The hybrid cloud model gives businesses the ability to dynamically scale their IT infrastructure up or down as needed, making it more agile and responsive to changing business needs, he Mentions.

Many businesses use multiple public cloud service providers. When separate user departments buy their own cloud services without IT awareness or if a merger or acquisition brings a new provider into the business cloud fold, organizations "accidentally" adopt a multi-cloud Deployment.

In India, multi-cloud adoption is still in its infancy. Digital natives, IT/ITeS, and select enterprises are partnering with multiple cloud providers to accelerate their digital investments. Per, Gartners 2020 Cloud End-User Buying Behavior Survey (with 117 respondents from India), Seventy-eight percent of Indian respondents use multiple cloud providers; 67% use a primary provider and additional secondary providers, while 11% use multiple providers with no clear primary provider. Twenty-two percent of respondents engage with a single cloud provider (n = 94). Increased security risks, the complexity of operating multiple technologies, and complexity of managing multiple bills are the top three challenges related to working with multiple public clouds., Naveen Mishra, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner explained.

A multi-cloud strategy is still the standard practice among businesses. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said they have a multi-cloud strategy, and 80 percent employ a hybrid approach that combines public and private clouds.

Source: Flexera cloud-computing-trends-2022-state-of-the-cloud-reportData security and protectionTo ensure data security and data protection, businesses must evaluate built-in security. Data security is a top priority for cloud providers. For this reason, a growing number of companies opt to store their data with a cloud service provider.

They provide additional advantages like scalability and flexibility in addition to a high level of security. A cloud service is the best option if you want to keep your data in a secure and safe manner.

Given the importance of the topic, we have a dedicated internal security council. The council issues patterns, guidelines, and best practices to be followed by all the public accounts in the organization in collaboration with multiple COEs, said Mahajan.

Access controls are very stringent with cloud providers too though. This implies that the information kept on their servers can only be accessed by authorized employees. This makes it considerably more difficult for anyone without authorization to access the data.

Cloud providers additionally protect data by using two-factor authentication. This implies that users would require a second form of identification in addition to their passwords, such as a fingerprint or an iris scan, in order to access their accounts. This makes it much harder for someone to access data held by a fintech without authorization.

The chosen cloud vendor should have strong internal controls in place and must offer robust tools to help secure data. Also, the majority of cloud providers provide some measure of both in-transit and at-rest encryption. Businesses must enable both of these. They should also consider adding additional layers of encryption as per their needs, Aggarwal comments.

From fewer than 5% today, 40% of enterprises will have a multi-silo, hybrid, and multi-cloud data encryption strategy by 2023.

Growing with cloud techDespite the fact that the cloud in its current form is a relatively new concept, interest in cloud computing is growing. The following are some key reasons why we see such increasing growth for cloud adoption and strong growth in the ERP/CRM, Fintech, and Cloud Telephony industries:

GlobalLogic is addressing the challenges of cloud security and cost management by using cloud-native tools from the cloud providers as well as evaluating third-party tools that wrap around cloud-native capabilities for better recommendations, monitoring, and enforcement, Kumar adds.

After the pandemic, hybrid work environments started to emerge, which has increased the desire to expand beyond traditional cloud models. In order to overcome the obstacles and solve long-term issues, such as adaptability, security, productivity, and efficiency, cloud-based resources are being increasingly used, and multi-cloud solutions are starting to develop.

The change is being seen as cloud service providers take a more important role in counseling clients about the expanding advantages of using multi-cloud architecture and helping them create a more intelligent and long-lasting business.

While all of these present cloud computing as critical to maintaining a profitable technology-driven business organization, the returns on cloud investment opportunities are still subject to a few critical challenges, including successful effective cloud migration, cybersecurity, cloud resource enhancement, people and change management, and a long-term sense of direction for cloud-enabled digital transformation.

Also read: Technology trends shaping the cloud and cloud security landscape

Originally posted here:

Cloud computing 3.0: Every second counts - ETCIO

By Leandra Monteiro

October 10, 2022

The Government of Indias vision of Digital India as the engine for transition into a developed nation and an empowered society is looked upon by the rest of the world as a very optimistic and promising move. Keeping up with its ambitions and developments & further strengthening its vision, Trescon hosted its 18th global edition of World Cloud Show on 14 September 2022 in Mumbai, India.

Co-powered by Lightstorm, and supported by NITI Aayog, the 18th edition of the World Cloud Show India concluded after a day filled with understanding of the next phase of cloud transformation and data centers in India.

The India edition of World Cloud Show catalyzed the development of the Indian governments Cloud Vision, shedding light on several initiatives for the development of Cloud Computing and Data Centers in India, as well as the economic contribution that organizations supporting cloud computing are making to the country. Government officials, tech sector titans, and a stellar lineup of over 25 esteemed speakers from top international organizations were present at this event to provide their insightful feedback.

The conferences main themes were adapting to the new normal and managing the upcoming Cloud and Data Centers transformation. It presented divergent perspectives from a diversified industry by exchanging ideas, addressing significant learning, and emphasizing recent advancements from the corporate, government, and professional sectors.

Some of the top speakers who took the center stage included:

Ninad Raje, Director & CIO, Health Assure, remarks, If cloud technology is the soil, then Data Centers are the pipeline that supplies the water to the soil. While shedding light on the exponential expansion of the data center market at the World Cloud Show India, Ninad added, In the Indian market, Data Centers are unquestionably here to stay and are committed to the long term.

Dr Avadhut Parab, CIO, Parle Agro, offered significant insights on the application of AI and ML, Machine learning and artificial intelligence are no longer myths. The improvement of customer service and experience through data augmentation based on customer feedback increases brand recognition. IT and business operations are now run much more efficiently, thanks to AI and ML.

Suresh Chandrasekaran, Executive Vice President, Denodo, took part in a panel discussion and listed top three takeaways from the current environment in the data center industry, and said, Before collecting data, organizations must continually connect the data. Data literacy and unified data control are required for every organization, as is the decoupling of business transformation and IT operations.

The various cloud models and services enabling enterprises to implement the cloud in different ways and effectively invest in technology were one of the major topics of discussion at the event. The speakers on this panel included Suresh Sankaranarayanan, Senior EVP & CTO, Kotak General Insurance; Nikunj Jain, CIO & Digital Leader, P&G India; Prasanna C, Head of Product & Marketing, Lightstorm; and Manish Kishore, Global CIO, Wockhardt Ltd.

In this panel discussion, panellists talked about the best cloud migration approaches for companies in a variety of industries. The panel also discussed heavily on the value proposition of Kubernetes in the modern workspace and edge computing.

Another notable panel discussion during the event covered the topic of Data Centers Reimagined: AI, ML, Edge & Virtualization. The panel examined cutting-edge data center technology and how organizations can use it to maximize the value of their data. The speakers of the panel included Dr Avadhut Parad, CIO, and Parle Agro; Sourav Das, CIDO, Aditya Birla Group. Viral Davde, CTO, NCDEX; Vinod Kumar, EVP & CIO, Fino Payments Bank.

The panel talked about the rapid expansion of ML and AI in the Indian market. Panellists gave insights on the various tools used for the functioning of Data Centers, whilst also shedding light on the role of edge in sustainability initiatives.

Large enterprises have diversified business functions, converged technologies have given enterprises the scalability while significantly reducing time to market, quoted Sourav Das, CIDO, Aditya Birla Group as he shared his thoughts on converged technologies at Trescons World Cloud Show India.

Lightstorms Amajit Gupta gave a comprehensive presentation on the theme of powering the inevitable network. He emphasized how important it is for a network to be able to adapt to the rapidly changing environment in which we live. For organizations to succeed, modern networks and the speed at which information is sent to them are essential. Every business owner wants to be at the vanguard of a digital revolution, stated Mr Amajit Gupta, CEO of Lightstorm, while discussing new technological developments at Trescons World Cloud Show. He added, It is a logical progression given that businesses can now sell everywhere thanks to cloud technologies. Instead of increasing their physical footprint, businesses will concentrate on growing their digital footprint.

Ananth Kumar, Engineering Leader, Site24x7 gave another very impactful presentation to the audience about choosing a monitoring system and various factors to consider. He highlighted the distinctions between on-prem and SaaS solutions by emphasizing the businesss cost, time, skill, and requirements.

Basil Dhange, CISO of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd., shared his top tips for moving to the cloud, and quoted, It is critical to identify pain-points of on-premise before migrating to the cloud, also very important to understand your data and then embark on your cloud journey.

We need to switch from a smart approach to one that is more holistic and cognitive. We are looking for innovation in every corner of the world. The Indian market is highly valued by NEOM and we intend to utilize it to advance our endeavour to accelerate human progress, Roberto Frongia, Strategy & Operations Director Technology and Digital Compute & Innovation NEOM UAE.

Presenting the hybrid cloud platform of Web Werks, which scales with the expansion of businesses was Ashish Kumar, Strategy Head of Projects at Web Werks. Among the subjects covered by Mr Ashish Sharma were the data fabric, contemporary data management technologies and integration, and augmented or automated data management. A thorough presentation that addressed all the concerns and questions that several decision-makers had.

Nasreen Khan, Head of Cloud & Cloud Security, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., commented as she moderated the panel discussion on cloud security, and said, Cloud has a huge range. Like the weather, it is a dynamic environment that changes. As soon as your company makes the major switch to the cloud, I suggest doing routine data audits.

The 18th global edition of World Cloud Show is officially sponsored by:

See the rest here:

The 18th edition of World Cloud Show presented an incisive analysis of Cloud and Data Centers in India - IBS Intelligence

An immersive digital world enabled by a range of technologies, including the internet of things (IoT), blockchain, and virtual and augmented reality, the metaverse allows us to see and interact with objects and people. This virtual environment is enhanced by photorealistic avatars that can reproduce your real body through wearable sensors that measure your movements and immersive smart glasses that enable virtual and augmented reality. With these technologies, what you do in the real world controls your experience in the virtual world and vice versa.

Supporting a virtual universe requires vast computing and storage resources. These resources are readily available in the cloud. This predicted uptake of cloud services should lead to purpose-built cloud technologies purpose-built to serve the needs of the metaverse.

As the cloud forms the basis of the metaverse, in what ways will the metaverse affect cloud security?

Top Metaverse security concerns

For a virtual world to operate like the physical world, it must sustain continuous online availability with real-time feedback and continuous operation. High-scale interactions are supported by high-speed information transmission and computing systems. The ideal compute infrastructure for the metaverse supports low latency and big data flows.

Technologies such as cloud computing, 5G, IoT, edge computing, and high-performance computing are ideal for supporting metaverse computing and processing requirements. Adopting these technologies in the metaverse will require more devices connected to the cloud and an increase in cloud infrastructure. Looking at this expansion from a security perspective, an increase in endpoints connected to the cloud will undoubtedly lead to an overall increase in the exposed attack surface.

For example, IoT devices are highly targeted vulnerability points for attackers. This is because they commonly contain weak security controls and portabilitya recipe for infiltrating multiple networks. IoT botnets are not uncommon occurrences, which might be replicated in the metaverse. Attackers target botnets as they allow them to automatically distribute malware, slow down compute power by mining for cryptocurrency, compromise data, and crash servers through DDoS attacks.

The metaverse is tied to the blockchain, which is the primary medium for allowing the trading of digital commodities in this virtual world. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique cryptographic assets representing physical or digital items as a record on a blockchain. These often-collectible digital assets hold value in a similar way to physical possessions.

As blockchain is possibly the most popular form of payment in the metaverse world. This leaves its impact on cloud security as an area of concern. NFTs are vulnerable to security breaches, allowing users to access tokens and identities as well as conduct illegal transactions. Authentication loopholes may allow an attacker to obtain illegal ownership of an NFT, or an attacker could interfere with NFT media data and metadata to manipulate transactions.

As some favor the decentralized and inexpensive nature of blockchain storage, its up to cloud providers to take a closer look at how their enterprise infrastructure and services relate to these blockchains. The key to this consideration is enhancing the security of keys and associated blockchains.

In addition, this data can be enhanced through access control and authentication mechanisms that promote user data privacy. In the metaverse, hash functions and asymmetric-key encryption help ensure data security. AR and VR systems in the metaverse share a large portion of data. This means cloud providers must ensure secure and seamless data sharing. Finally, blockchain features data encoding capabilities that cloud providers can leverage.

Although the concept of compromised identities is not new to IT security, it has, however, been largely overlooked in virtual worlds and other online environments. The rise of the internet age has made identity theft easier for attackers to execute, but digital identity theft can have far more impact when applied to the metaverse.

For instance, digital identity theft can allow bad actors to access valuable data and take control of assets stored in the metaverse. A thief could spoof your identity, hack your accounts, and take over your avatar. The impact is not only financial, as these cybercriminals using your digital persona possess the power to either purposefully or incidentally ruin your reputation. The anonymity of the metaverse may lead attackers to feel protected and are given the confidence to expand upon such actions.

Fortunately, the metaverse will require an identity and authentication mechanism to secure digital identities. To mitigate cyber risk amongst users, identity verification systems must evolve to match the changing cyber landscape and prevent account takeover in Web3. That said, the metaverse itself offers many promising solutions for addressing digital identity theft challenges.

For instance, using virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) glasses or headsets in the metaverse opens up an opportunity to develop new authentication tools and mechanisms. VR sensors could be configured to provide cutting-edge, uniquely identifying biometric systems such as body motions, hand motions, and gestures.

The metaverse will store a wealth of user data. This includes information on how these consumers interact with the metaverse as well as personal information derived from AR, VR, and IoT devices. As these new devices become available, so do the opportunities for attackers to gain access to valuable information on individuals who may not be aware theyre being tracked by their phone or an IoT device.

New types of sensors in the metaverse allow devices to collect more information than before. This includes biometric data such as fingerprints, retina scans, or voice patterns and audio recordings based on conversationsas well as smartwatches, which can track blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature. This surge in the amount of sensitive personal data transmitted to and from the cloud will require metaverse vendors leveraging the cloud to look closely at how they manage, share, and store information.

Regardless of how regulators govern the handling of personal data in the metaverse, the techniques used to protect personally identifiable information in conventional cloud environments cannot be ignored. Consumers and organizations hosting metaverse entities should consider a hybrid cloud environment to improve privacy, reliability, scalability, and security.

A hybrid cloud solution adopts a separate yet connected architecture comprised of on-premise, private, and public environments. Youre given the option to store sensitive data or run sensitive workloads on private servers. Encrypted APIs facilitate the security of workloads and data in transit between data centers and cloud environments. To minimize data exposure, it is recommended to host sensitive workloads in the private cloud and less sensitive workloads in the public cloud.

More connections, more challenges

The metaverse will be proven an essential technology for a number of sectors and industries. However, much like any new technological advance, security challenges will undoubtedly arise, namely the impact of the metaverse on cloud platforms.

The metaverse will lead to a connection of more devices in the cloud, expanding the digital attack surface for organizations and individuals. The use of blockchain as the inherent medium of exchange in the virtual world also raises questions about security in the cloud. Identity theft and theft of personally identifiable information in the metaverse remain critical areas of concern.

Read the original here:

How Will the Metaverse Affect Cloud Security? - Trend Micro

(This is the second of two stories on the continuing impact being made by fully online Western Governors University, a non-profit bachelors degree institution based in Salt Lake City.)

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated Maya Angelou

Perhaps no field, no industry, no pursuit of excellence has perpetuated quite as many barriers for womenand especially women of coloras STEM has in the past four decades. Despite myriad calls for more inclusion, their representation remains paltry at best.

Women of color have only a 4% stake in positions in tech fields. Men are still the dominant force, and often an intimidating one that continues to distance females from even considering a future in those realms, let alone pursuing them with vigor. Without them, however, has U.S. tech lost its way? In some fields, it has completely struggled to keep pace with demand, wherein cybersecurity job openings alone have risen above 500,000. It also has been oft-criticized for not being more open to diverse pools of thought, which can deeply impact innovation.

What the field needs is an upheaval, or as one higher education academic leader notes, a virtuous cycle where consistent financial support and messaging support adult women and young girls of all races to jump in and embrace tech. Marni Baker-Stein, Chief Academic Officer and Provost at the highly creative, highly flexible Western Governors University, says until now that has been difficult to achieve.

In both credentialing programs as well as in the workforce, they have been prevented from rising, she says. There are some systemic challenges around women and girls as early as elementary school moving into pathways that are math- and science-based, just because they are not encouraged to. We lack an infrastructure of encouragement for girls to move into STEM pathways from those earliest grades.

But if that push continues to happen in K-12, where there has been a more cognizant embrace from school leaders, state and local agencies and philanthropy, higher education can level those barriers. WGU, for one, is putting an increased emphasis on supporting women who pursue STEM from the moment they sign on with abundant resources.

There are some areas where we can really bear down in higher education, Baker-Stein says. Girls and women need context, training and development so they truly understand business and industry and the job role theyre interested in. And they need as much financial and wraparound aid and support services that allow, especially adult women.

More from UB: By the numbers: How different is this fully online university from a traditional one?

Western Governors has a steep stake in ensuring that happens, not only because its student body is comprised of two-thirds women, but also because it is one of the worlds education leaders in flexible, digital learning for students. Its reach, like a few of its online contemporaries, is broad enough, powerful enough and collaborative enough to upend the narrative and swing those closed doors wide open. One of its latest endeavors is a partnership with Reboot Representation, which awarded WGU $1 million to raise the number of Black, Latina and Native American women getting IT degrees in the next three years. Its a start.

But to learn more about what can be done to elevate women, and women of color, in tech fields, University Business sat down for an in-depth conversation with Baker-Stein:

This generation of women and girls are extremely tech-savvy. So what are the barriers preventing them from pursuing tech or STEM fields?

The whole generation is tech savvy, but I dont think they necessarily interpret that as a career path. We are still seeing, even in K-through, lower rates of participation of young women and girls in engineering-focused programs and pathways, and math-focused programs and pathways. Thats a deep problem that has cultural roots. They are the minority in those situations. As we are working on that problem, in higher education, there are things that we can do, but they may require far higher and more personalized touch than were used to. From the very moment that a woman is considering going into computer science, cybersecurity, IT or cloud computing, we believe they need extra supports in making that decision, and then understanding how their prior experience fits in with admission criteria and ultimately, with hiring criteria.

The percentage of women of color in these fields is low. WGU has the Reboot partnership happening. What has WGU been doing to try to close some of these gaps?

We have been attentive to making sure we provide broad access to not only women, but women of color. Not only are we worried about their access, we are worried about their progress. Access without attainment means nothing. We are making incredible gains on that. We still struggle, though, in the College of IT, which is still aligned with national averages. We have created a Women in Technology club, which is an academic alliance that brings together students as well as female faculty to focus in on the context of work in tech, gender and wage gap issues, thinking about healthy working environments for women in tech fields. The club has over 1,800 students. Weve got the Reboot representation tech coalition to support women seeking bachelors degrees in the College of IT. We endorse an educational partnership which looks at how can we get more women of color into our programs and how can we place them in jobs. And we try to make sure we are there every hero moment of the way. But its hard, even for us, where we are designed for adult working professionals.

Weve seen studies that show that even girls who are interested and pursue majors in STEM quickly abandon them for other fields. How is WGU working to prevent that?

We have really looked at the course-level frictions in Term 1 and Term 2 thats caused by curriculum sequencing in that first year. From a mastery and competence perspective, we dont want to give the hardest courses up front to students where theyre building up confidence. Developmentally, if were going to flip that course in the second term, what do they need to take in the first term to be ready? Our students take a course on planning assessment to know what their strengths and weaknesses are in that disciplinary level. So we have a good sense when a student starts, this is going to be a breeze for them, or this is something where theyre going to need extra measures of support. We also think about how we diagnose a students readiness for a particular course and proactively support them, rather than realizing that once the course is halfway done.

Employers funding women in tech initiatives are largely pouring money into the K-12 space. But higher ed receives only about 3% of those donations. That must change, right?

Theyre trying to understand the root cause of the systemic problem. Meanwhile, there are so many women out there who perhaps have a four-year degree or an associates degree and have credentials, work experience and leadership experience. With one more credential in IT skills or cybersecurity, they could find themselves in a job market where there are severe employment gaps and where they are incredibly underrepresented. Thats the opportunity. You could really change things overnight. Funders, employers and industry should be attentive to that problem because thats a short-term win. And it creates that virtuous cycle that ends up having impact on younger girls.

What is WGU doing to ensure those career pathways for women pursuing tech fields?

We have a team that maps those credentials against demand for particular job roles. If youre in this degree program, these are the industries, the sectors and the employers. We have the ability to geotarget, as well. We want to say if you are interested in cloud computing, these are the opportunities in the zip code where you live. Thats the intelligence we want to be able to surface to them just in time, not just for the degree, but all the critical competencies on the way to the degree. So, to be able to use that data, align your programs to it, and then provide the supports we need for low-income students of color and women of color. Were so excited about that because not only are they going to get a credential, but we know they have a massive opportunity to get a job.

Why is WGU positioned so well to help this group of students?

The first is, we design and build our programs against a clear need. We can ensure that if you spend the time to get a credential that there is a value for that credential in the marketplace. The second is, we have this highly flexible and highly personalized system, so that when you come to usregardless of your strengths and challenges and potential gaps in your academic record we can create personalized pathways for you to get to your goal. If you are an adult or working professional, or youre a caretaker for your family, we allow the maximum flexibility for balancing work and school. Our community of care, because it is so expansive, does allow us to give levels of service to these women that is pretty unprecedented in higher education. The kind of grace that comes from all that for women builds competence for a population of learners who may not have the confidence they need.

So ultimately, how does the narrative change in getting more women and women of color into these fields?

There is great hope and opportunity in the proliferation of providers of short-term credentials in this space. Whether it is CompTIA, Udacity, Coursera, Google, Meta or Microsoft, these bite-size, valuable points of entry that are priced well are much less intimidating than trying to bite off a whole four-year degree program or two-year degree program. So how do we as an ecosystem come together? And as women raise their hands to take those Grow with Google certificates, or those Meta certificates, how do we value that into career pathways so that they can continue on and get that credential thats going to take them to the next level? Im very hopeful about that. I love the alternative credential ecosystem because I think it gives people a route into building a skills and credential profile that they need to be successful in the future.

See the original post here:

Can higher ed rally to boost the number of women of color in tech fields? - University Business

NOIDA, India, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new report published by UnivDatos Markets Insights, theNetwork as a Service Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 28% from 2022-2028, reaching USD 47 billion by 2028. The analysis has been segmented into Type (Local Area Network (LAN) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wide Area Network, Communication and Collaboration, and Network Security); Application (Video Conferencing, Cloud and SaaS Connectivity, VPN, Bandwidth On Demand, Network Access Control, and Others); Organization Size (Large Enterprises and SMEs); End-User (Banking and Financial Services, Manufacturing, Information, and Communication Technology, Retail, Healthcare, and Others); Region/Country.

Click here to view the Report Description & TOC

Network as a Service (NaaS) Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2022-2028)

The Network as a Service market report has been aggregated by collecting informative data on various dynamics such as market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. This innovative report makes use of several analyses to get a closer outlook on the NaaS market. The NaaS market report offers a detailed analysis of the latest industry developments and trending factors in the market that are influencing the market growth. Furthermore, this statistical market research repository examines and estimates the NaaS market at the global and regional levels.

Request for Sample Pages

Get a sample form

Market Overview

Network as a Service is defined as network infrastructure hardware, software, services, management, and licensing components used in a subscription-based or flexible consumption model. NaaS enables organizations to outsource network infrastructure provisioning, deployment, network administration, maintenance, and lifecycle management. Financing flexibility, enhanced security, proactive management, and scalable centralized management are some of the major benefits of NaaS.

The global NaaS market is uplifting on the account of the demand for reduced automation time and costs and high reliability and protection for mission-important enterprise applications. Moreover, factors such as the rise of Software-defined networking (SDN) integration into existing network infrastructure, and the accelerated adoption of cloud computing among large and small, and medium enterprises are also contributing to the growth of the market. For example, according to Eurostat, 41% of EU companies used cloud computing primarily for hosting email systems and storing files in electronic form in 2021, and 73% of these companies used cloud computing for security software applications, and hosting enterprises used advanced cloud services.

Some of the major players operating in the market include Verizon Communications Inc., Telefnica S.A., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Orange S.A., Vodafone Group Plc, BT Group plc, Lumen Technologies Inc., AT&T Inc., Comcast Corporation, and KDDI Corporation.

COVID-19 Impact

The adoption of work-from-home during the pandemic has increased the global demand for NaaS. Increased demand has greatly contributed to the development of cloud network services, accelerating the growth of his NaaS market during the pandemic. Additionally, enterprise network licensing and software management components drive market growth through subscriptions.

Click here to view the Report Description & TOC

Network as a Service (NaaS) Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2022-2028)

The global NaaS market report is studied thoroughly with several aspects that would help stakeholders in making their decisions more curated.

Have a Look at the Chapters - https://univdatos.com/report/network-as-a-service-naas-market/

NaaS Market Geographical Segmentation Includes:

North America captured a prominent share of the market in 2020 owing to the rapid adoption of cloud computing and Network as a Service among enterprises. Further, the presence of significant players such as Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc., and Lumen Technologies Inc. among others, have propelled the growth of the market. Companies are investing tremendously in the research and development of data centers, and network infrastructure is also contributing to the growth of the market.

The major players targeting the market include

Competitive Landscape

The degree of competition among prominent global companies has been elaborated by analyzing several leading key players operating worldwide. The specialist team of research analysts sheds light on various traits such as global market competition, market share, most recent industry advancements, innovative product launches, partnerships, mergers, or acquisitions by leading companies in the Network as a Service Market. The major players have been analyzed by using research methodologies for getting insight views on global competition.

Key questions resolved through this analytical market research report include:

We understand the requirement of different businesses, regions, and countries, we offer customized reports as per your requirements of business nature and geography. Please let us know If you have any custom needs.

Browse Other Related Research Reports from UnivDatos Market Insights

Network as a Service (NaaS) Market Report Coverage

Report Attribute

Details

Base year

2021

Forecast period

2022-2028

Growth momentum

Accelerate at a CAGR over 28%

Market size 2028

USD 47 billion

Regional analysis

North America, Europe, APAC, Rest of World

Major contributing region

North America to Dominate the Global Network as a Service (NaaS) Market

Key countries covered

The United States, Canada, Germany, The United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, China, Japan, and India.

Companies profiled

Verizon Communications Inc., Telefnica S.A., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Orange S.A., Vodafone Group Plc, BT Group plc, Lumen Technologies Inc., AT&T Inc., Comcast Corporation, and KDDI Corporation

Report Scope

Market Trends, Drivers, and Restraints; Revenue Estimation and Forecast; Segmentation Analysis; Impact of COVID-19; Demand and Supply Side Analysis; Competitive Landscape; Company Profiling

Segments Covered

By Type; By Application; By Organization Size; By End-User; By Region/Country

About UnivDatos Market Insights (UMI)

UnivDatos Market Insights (UMI) is a passionate market research firm and a subsidiary of Universal Data Solutions. We believe in delivering insights through Market Intelligence Reports, Customized Business Research, and Primary Research. Our research studies are spread across topics across the world, we cover markets in over 100 countries using smart research techniques and agile methodologies. We offer in-depth studies, detailed analysis, and customized reports that help shape winning business strategies for our clients.

ContactUnivDatos Market InsightsAnkita GuptaDirector OperationsPh: +91-7838604911Email: [emailprotected]Website: https://univdatos.com/

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1225049/UnivDatos_Logo.jpg

SOURCE UnivDatos Market Insights Pvt. Ltd.

View post:

Network as a Service (NaaS) is expected to showcase a strong CAGR of around 28% due to the accelerated adoption of cloud computing among large and...

On 12 13 October at Marina Bay Sands, Tech Week Singapore will bring together leading events like Cloud Expo Asia, Cyber Security World Asia and Data Centre World Asia for two full days of inspiring talks and valuable collaboration.

SINGAPORE, Oct. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CloserStill Media today announced the Main Stage line-up for Tech Week Singapore, featuring industry leaders from AWS, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, Digital Realty, Equinix, GitLab, Google Cloud, Groupon Singapore, Huawei, Lenovo, Microsoft, The Sandbox, Tencent Cloud, Visa, and more.

Tech Week Singapore: 12 - 13 October 2022, Marina Bay Sands

Tech Week Singapore brings together seven co-located events, including Big Data & AI World,Cloud Expo Asia,Cyber Security World,Data Centre WorldAsia,DevOps Live,eCommerce Expo AsiaandTechnology for Marketing.

Chi Chuan Poh, Executive Director (Exhibitions & Conferences) at Singapore Tourism Board will open the two-day event on 12 October by welcoming thousands of technology enthusiasts and visionaries at Marina Bay Sands.

"It is a great pleasure to have Chi Chuan Poh as the events Guest of Honour at Tech Week Singapore. Having the support and recognition of the Singapore Tourism Board represents the significance and importance of technology events in Singapore and Southeast Asia as a place to get inspired and find the best opportunities for businesses to ride the digital wave," said Andy Kiwanuka, Managing Directorfor Asia Pacific at CloserStill Media.

Answering the tech world's burning questions

Trending topics including digital waste and sustainability, Web3 and blockchain, Metaverse, and hybrid cloud transformation are amongst the many discussion points to be dissected on the Tech Week Main Stage, sponsored by Digital Realty.

May-Ann Lim, Emeritus Director at Asia Cloud Computing Association, will explore the regulatory landscape of Web3 and Metaverse with an audience of business leaders to identify future opportunities where these transformative technologies can be applied.

"I really like the physicality of in-person events. It's a valuable experience to connect humanly with people. I think that there are a lot of new and exciting industry opportunities that are really unexplored, so I would love to chat with people at Tech Week Singapore who have ideas, projects or concepts that they are testing out," said May-Ann.

The Main Stage will also feature the inspirational story of how Chris Chong dropped out of university at the age of 20, moved to Singapore, founded Beeconomic and turned it into an eight-figure buyout in 6 months.

"I'm very excited to speak at Tech Week Singapore. It is where all the pieces can come together, memories are made and new ideas turned into businesses and innovations," said Chris Chong, Co-Founder of Groupon Singapore.

Leaders from the healthcare and financial industries will present how advancing technologies can be used as a force for good.

Daniel Laverick, Chief Digital & Data Officer at Zuellig Pharma will highlight how blockchain can be used to build trust and intelligence at a time when consumer privacy is a key priority for businesses and public services.

Medhy Souidi, Metaverse Lead and Head of Innovation at DBS Bank, is set to share how Metaverse and virtual worlds can be leveraged to showcase the importance of building a better, more sustainable physical world.

Wei Ming Lim, Head of Data Architecture, Group Technology Architecture at OCBC Bankand speaker at Cloud Expo Asia said: "Data is the new growth currency in the pursuit for an immersive and connected experience. The ability to transform data into actionable insights and to personalise individual customer journeys drive efficiency. Availability, searchability and usability are all vital factors for next-generation data platforms to build an embedded ecosystem."

Tech Week Singapore will take place on 12 and 13 October 2022 at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre.Tickets are free for all visitors.

About CloserStill Media

CloserStill Media organises international B2B tradeshows. In the technology markets, these events reach across five global territories, more than 70,000 delegates and over 2,500 exhibitors. Its portfolio includes some of the fastest growing and award-winning events, including Tech Show London, an umbrella brand featuring Cloud Expo Europe and Data Centre World. Having delivered unparalleled quality and relevant audiences for all exhibitions, CloserStill has been repeatedly recognised as a leading innovator. Its teams and events have been recognised in Europe and Asia, with awards including Best Marketing Manager five times in succession, Best Trade Exhibition, Best Launch Exhibition, and Rising Star two years in succession, among others. CloserStill is headquartered in London, with offices in Singapore, and across America and Europe. For more information, visit http://www.closerstillmedia.com.

Register your FREE ticket and get complimentary access to all 7 events: https://bit.ly/3rCDaBG

Exclusive VIP tickets are available for businesses that meet the criteria. For more information, please visit http://www.cloudexpoasia.com/why-visit/vip-badge-requirements

Members of the media can get a free press pass at https://www.gevme.com/CEA2022/?promo=press

To arrange interviews with speakers, please contact Stuart Crowley:s.crowley@closerstillmedia.com

See original here:

In Less Than 2 Days, Experts from AWS, Digital Realty, DBS, Huawei, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and Visa to Speak at Tech Week Singapore - PR Newswire...

Advanced thermal and visual sensors allow utilities to monitor the condition of remote substations from a centralized location. With continuous, real-time thermal and visual data, operations and maintenance teams can allocate resources more effectively, reduce the cost of maintenance and repairs, and improve reliability through condition-based maintenance programs.

Utilities have two primary choices to connect to the sensors and access the data. Traditionally, they would turn to their IT department to build an internal network, invest in IT infrastructure, install software on user devices, and individually update software whenever a new version was available.

Today, however, many utilities are transitioning to the cloud and accessing their data through an easy-to-use online dashboard. There are significant advantages to this approach, not least of which is that it does not require utilities to build and manage a network for each substation.

That said, some utilities are still unsure if the cloud is the right approach for their organization. This article will introduce the cloud before discussing the benefits of each approach.

Despite the seemingly ubiquitous role the cloud plays in our daily lives, many of us still arent entirely sure what the cloud actually is. This uncertainty can lead to confusion when deciding whether to embrace the cloud or turn to an internal network.

Amazon, the worlds largest cloud provider, defines cloud computing as the on-demand delivery of IT resources over the internet.

Rather than purchasing and building hardware, you simply access computing power, storage, or databases on an as-needed basis. An easy example of this is productivity software such as Office 365 or Google Workspace, where documents are stored on the cloud and can be accessed from any device using a web browser and a login. Banking, e-commerce, streaming platforms, and email are all examples of the cloud being used to transmit and store sensitive information.

Across industries, enterprises are increasingly turning to the benefits of the cloud, and 2020 saw cloud infrastructure spending surpass on-premises data center spending for the first time.

As mentioned above, the key difference between the cloud and an internal network is that the cloud does not require utilities to build out their own infrastructure. As a result, theres significantly less upfront capital investment required to connect sensors and start accessing the data.

Instead, utilities simply pay the cloud provider a monthly or yearly fee depending on their usage requirements, shifting the cost from a capital expense to an ongoing operating cost and reducing the burden on IT departments.

A second benefit of the cloud is that it is easy to scale up or down depending on the needs of the utility. While building out network infrastructure for a single remote substation may be viable, this process must be repeated for each site the utility installs thermal and visual sensors. With the cloud, utilities can simply add substations, sensors, and users without building new infrastructure or installing new software each time.

Finally, an internal network requires software to be installed on each user device. Any time a new user is added, a new software license must be installed, and it must be continuously updated every time an update is made available.

Instead, cloud-based software can easily be accessed wherever the user is on whichever device they are on. Further, this simplifies the software maintenance process because updates only need to be pushed out once to take effect for all users.

Combined, these benefits make the cloud more affordable, scalable, and easier to implement and maintain than an internal private network, especially when utilities are monitoring multiple substations.

Given the benefits above, it may seem like the cloud is the obvious choice. And for many utilities, it will be. But there are some scenarios where an internal private network comes out ahead.

Some utilities, especially larger ones, may have governance policies that require all data to remain inside the organization. Where the cloud stores and transmits data using the cloud providers infrastructure, an internal network keeps everything within the utilitys control.

Large utilities may also have the IT resources and skills needed to build and manage the network. In these cases, they may be able to justify the added expense, but they should still evaluate whether this will take scarce IT resources away from other strategic initiatives.

Finally, an internal network can reduce the risk of outages when utilities require continuous access. The cloud depends on a connection to the internet, meaning that downtime caused by a mobile or internet service provider can prevent access to thermal and visual data.

The most common concern around using the cloud typically comes down to security. As mentioned, the cloud stores data outside of the organization, meaning utilities lose some control over it when compared to an internal network.

However, utilities must assess the type of data that is being transmitted and stored to determine if it is truly sensitive data worth the additional investment. For example, thermal and visual sensors deployed at remote substations transmit temperature readings, an image of the site, and some basic information about maintenance and repairs. In most cases, malicious actors cannot use this data, and it cannot be used to disrupt the flow of power to customers.

Additionally, cloud providers can often invest far more heavily in security than even the largest utilities. Despite the concern, the cloud is generally highly secure, and utilities can ensure that their data is kept within their country of origin to comply with any regulations.

A recent Gartner report shows that cloud infrastructure will suffer 60 percent fewer security incidents than those in traditional data centers, suggesting that security should no longer be an inhibitor to the adoption of the cloud.

In the end, both the cloud and an internal private network will allow utilities to access the data they need when monitoring remote substation assets. For most, the cost, scalability, ease of implementation, and simplified maintenance of the cloud will outweigh any potential advantages of building an internal network from scratch. For those who must ensure all data remains inside the organization, an internal network can still be a viable option, as long as utilities are willing and able to absorb the higher upfront cost.

Systems with Intelligence has solutions that meet the needs of utilities regardless of which approach they choose. Before deciding which approach is best, utilities should focus on the benefits of gaining a continuous view of the health of their assets. With access to real-time data, utilities can reduce maintenance costs, improve safety, and enhance reliability by transitioning to a condition-based maintenance program. From there, they can decide whether the cloud or an internal private network is best suited to their business needs.

John Nam is Vice President Engineering at Systems With Intelligence.

For more information contact us at info@systemswithintelligence.com, or visit our website at http://www.systemswithintelligence.com.

Follow us on LinkedIn.

Sponsored By:

Read the original:

Fears of the Cloud Have Been Greatly Exaggerated The Advantages of Cloud Computing for Remote Substation Monitoring - T&D World