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Application of cloud computing services in business

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DOI: 10.15547/tjs.2015.s.01.067

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 Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 13, Suppl. 1, pp 392-396, 2015
Copyright © 2015 Trakia University
Available online at:
http://www.uni-sz.bg
ISSN 1313-7069 (print) doi:10.15547/tjs.2015.s.01.067
ISSN 1313-3551 (online)

APPLICATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING SERVICES IN BUSINESS

G. Kiryakova*, N. Angelova, L. Yordanova
Faculty of Economics, Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

ABSTRACT
Dynamism of all business processes and a huge amount of information of different nature are the main
characteristics of today's business environment. They require the use of information technologies as an
integral and essential part of the management strategy of companies. One modern and alternative
approach to business management is the use of services based on cloud computing. The movement of
the business to the cloud empowers companies to achieve significant economic benefits without
investments in building their own IT infrastructure. The purpose of the current work is to present the
nature and advantages of different types of cloud services. Popular cloud services for business are
discussed.

Key words: cloud computing, cloud infrastructure, software as a service; platform as a service,
infrastructure as a service

INTRODUCTION 1. NATURE OF CLOUD

Recently, cloud technologies are extremely TECHNOLOGIES
popular. They are based on well-known Cloud computing is a model that provides a
technologies and upgrade and integrate them in ubiquitous and convenient access to shared
a new way that improves the efficiency of their computing resources that can be quickly
use. delivered to a large number of users (upon
request) and activated with minimal
Cloud technologies are seen more as a new management effort or assistance by the service
business model, rather than a new technology. providers (1).
They offer attractive opportunities for
acquisition and management of computing In essence cloud computing is merging
resources and software platforms and computational power of different hardware
capabilities for promptly addition of new devices that can be shared and used by many
features according to changing needs. Cloud users.
technologies allow companies to carry out their
main functions in a new environment that The main characteristics of cloud technologies
provides a good basis for starting or expanding that distinguish them from other technologies
a business without large investments. There are are (1, 2):
opportunities for optimization of business  On-demand self-service. Users can
processes and reducing the time to adapt and unilaterally declare and obtain computing
adjust to the changing market conditions. resources when they need them. Cloud
Technologies support the rapid growth of the computing creates the illusion of infinite
business by ensuring access to virtually computing resources available on demand and
unlimited resources when they are needed. eliminates the need to make preliminary plans
Based on the cloud technologies, companies for their long-term supply.
can create a flexible strategy for development  Permanent network access. Computing
with maximal usage of resources, minimal resources are available anytime and anywhere
efforts for their maintenance and effective over the network via standard mechanisms
implementation of business activities. (standard Web protocols). These mechanisms
_______________________________ allow and facilitate access to services

Correspondence to: Gabriela Kiryakova, Faculty regardless of the devices (mobile phones,
of Economics, Trakia University – Stara Zagora, tablets, laptops and workstations) and
Bulgaria platforms.
gabriela@uni-sz.bg

392 Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 13, Suppl. 1, 2015

 KIRYAKOVA G., et al.
 Pooling and sharing of resources. servers, storage, network equipment. The
Computing resources are pooled and can serve provider of IaaS owns and maintains the
multiple users. They do not set aside between equipment. Users can install and use whatever
users in advance. Computing resources are software they need and they are responsible for
distributed and assigned dynamically managing applications and data.
according to consumers’ needs.  Platform as a service (PaaS). Platform as
 Elasticity (scalability). Depending on the a Service is a model for providing a
current needs, users can dynamically change development environment for creating and
(increase or decrease) the hired resources. The launching web and mobile applications. The
ability for scaling the rented infrastructure components of the environment are pre-
allows consumers to respond promptly to configured and maintained by the service
dynamically changing needs. provider. This is a significant advantage that
 Pay-per-use. Payment for cloud services grants software developers flexibility during
depends on the consumption. It is determined the development process of applications and
by the level of users’ activity – users pay for releases them from obligations to manage the
actual used resources. environment.
The most important advantages of cloud  Software as a service (SaaS). Software as
infrastructure compared to the traditional one a service is a model that allows users to use
are: different applications as hosted services, rather
 Reducing the cost of creating and than installing them on local computers.
maintaining IT infrastructure. Cloud Software as a service offers a diverse range of
computing model significantly reduces the software applications.
initial expenses for purchasing hardware and The three service models are interrelated. The
software and later for their maintenance. There choice of model influences the processes and
is no need to hire qualified IT staff to support activities that serves. SaaS model serves
and serve the equipment because the mainly end users (including businesses). PaaS
maintenance is a responsibility of the service interact with software developers (including
provider. software companies). IaaS model facilitates IT
 Effective use of resources. Cloud specialists in maintenaning hardware
computing is based on virtualization, which resources.
assures the utilization of hardware capacity.
Virtualization allows creation of many virtual 1.2. DEPLOYMENT MODELS
machines on a small number of physical There are different deployment models of
servers and the computational power is used cloud computing that can be implemented (4):
more efficiently and economically. Virtual  Public cloud – the cloud infrastructure is
servers can serve large number of users, available to a large group of users (general
offering them opportunities to work with public). Resources can be used by any
various applications. registered user and they are available over the
 Payment for actually used services. For Internet usually through web browsers.
consumers it is of utmost importance that they  Private cloud – the cloud infrastructure is
pay only for actual consumption. They can intended for use by a private organization or
request changes (on demand) to the necessary group. It is not shared with other users and is
resources to meet the peaks or dips in their accessible only through the private network
business, as payment changes according to controlled and used by the organization. The
their activity. private cloud has a higher level of security than
a public cloud and most businesses prefer to
One of the key issues related to cloud use this deployment model because it
computing is a security and data protection. guarantees greater reliability and security.
For businesses deploying all their information  Hybrid cloud – the cloud infrastructure is a
to remote locations, which are shared with combination of distinct cloud infrastructures.
other users, is a risk. Despite the fears and The hybrid model allows the deployment of
contrary to the expectations, data in clouds are information and applications with significant
often better protected than if they are stored on importance on a private cloud, while
local companies’ servers and maintained by applications with lower security requirements
internal IT departments. and wider access can be deployed on a public
cloud.
1.1. SERVICE MODELS
There are three basic service models (3): Besides the mentioned deployment models,
 Infrastructure as a service (IaaS). there are also Community Cloud, Combined
Infrastructure as a service is a model that cloud, Cloud of Clouds.
allows users to rent computing resources –
Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 13, Suppl. 1, 2015
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 KIRYAKOVA G., et al.
2. CLOUD COMPUTING FOR BUSINESS  Reduced costs. Companies do not need to
Cloud computing became a mandatory pay legacy license fees. Usually, prices are per
technology for each company. It has user per month, but sometimes there are annual
significant potential and provides effective plans with discounts.
business opportunities for organizations that  Accessibility. Documents are accessible
adopted this approach. anywhere at any time, from various devices
(including mobile) with different operating
Along with all the advantages associated with systems and browsers.
cloud computing, businesses can elicit  Documents sharing and collaboration.
additional benefits (5): Cloud office suites give opportunities for
 Reduced investments for building IT documents sharing, joint simultaneous work on
infrastructure and administrative costs for them with options for tracking changes. All
IT personnel. Cloud technologies eliminate these possibilities increase the office work
the need for significant capital investments – productivity.
companies do not have to purchase expensive
equipment (servers and network equipment) The most popular office suites are Google
and software licenses. They can start their Apps for Work, Microsoft Office 365 and
business by employing less computing Zoho Docs.
resources and increase them only when their
needs grow. There is a transformation of Google Apps for Work (previously known as
capital investments to operational expenses Google Apps for Business) is an office suite
and thus eliminates the high barrier to entry in based on cloud technologies that includes
the business. Small and medium businesses additional features specific to business.
can afford to hire resources and technologies, Applications in the package can be grouped
which can not buy, and start from equal into four categories (7, 8): Communicate
positions with other competitors on the market. (Gmail, Hangouts and Calendar, Google+),
 Possibilities of using modern ICT, which Store (Drive), Collaborate (Docs, Sheets,
enable efficient management of business Forms, Slides and Sites) and Manage (Admin
processes. Small businesses can not afford to and Vault). There is a free 30-day trial period
buy the latest versions of the software and to (up to 10 users). There are different payment
pay licenses, but by cloud technologies they options with opportunities for flexible adding
have up-to-date applications. new user accounts – Flexible Plan (payment is
 Scalability of the business. From a for the services used during each month) and
business perspective cloud technologies allow Annual Plan (the contract is for one year with
companies not only to increase or decrease discounts). Google Apps for Work provides
computing capacity, but also to expand their opportunities for offline work – users can
business processes and activities. The create and edit content even when they are not
opportunities for fast and almost unlimited connected to the Internet and synchronize it
provision of computing power and software later when they are online.
applications support the growth and expansion
Microsoft Office 365 includes traditional
of the companies.
office suites components and provides almost
 Adaptation and adjustment to the all features of standard office. Office 365
changing market conditions. Today's
provides tools for collaboration and data
economic situation and environment requires
sharing in real time – documents are stored in
the ability to react quickly and respond to
the cloud and everyone has access to their
changing conditions and needs of consumers.
latest version. There are options for tracking
Through cloud computing, companies can
changes and recovering older versions. The
adapt processes, products and services to the
collaboration includes online meetings, portal
new market circumstances quickly and they are
for sharing corporate videos and etc. Microsoft
more competitive.
Office 365 involves enterprise social network
3. CLOUD SERVICES FOR BUSINESS Yammer, which supports collaboration and
3.1. CLOUD OFFICE SUITES cooperation among employees. There are
The advantages of cloud office suites various options for using Microsoft Office 365
compared to the traditional ones are: – 3 Business plans and 3 Enterprise plans,
 Easy administration. Office suites are which offer different functionality at different
accessible via web browser and can be used prices (9).
regardless of the operating system. There is no
Zoho Office Suite is a free software package
need to install the packages on the local
that includes applications for text processing,
devices and software versions are updated
spreadsheets and presentations. There are
regularly by the service provider.
opportunities for synchronizing files across
394 Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 13, Suppl. 1, 2015
 KIRYAKOVA G., et al.
various devices and maintain different offers opportunities for sharing workspace
documents versions. Zoho supports all types of between multiple users. Box allows
Microsoft Office documents, allows export to collaboration by ensuring the security and
XML, PDF and LaTeX format. Zoho provides privacy of data by setting and assigning
opportunities for sharing files, integration with different permission levels to each
Google Apps, task management. The package collaborator. There are tools for controlling
includes application Projects to facilitate and managing content shared with external
projects work. Zoho offers real-time users and monitoring users’ performance –
collaboration, such as online meetings, desktop what content they share and whom they work
sharing and a private social network Connect together. Box supports collaboration on
that allows employees to share data and projects by task management which allows
collaborate with each other. The main Office assigning and tracking individual tasks to team
Suite advantage is the availability of members and reducing inefficient
applications that are specific to business – communication. Box provides opportunities
marketing and finance tools, CRM system, for integration with different applications (12).
human resources management and others (7,
10). Google Drive is part of cloud solutions offered
by Google and is not just a service for storing
3.2. Cloud storage services data, but also provides opportunities for real-
Cloud storage services allow companies to time interaction. There is free service with
avoid buying additional hardware for data some restrictions as well as paid services
storage, maintenance in order to prevent data (Google Drive for Work) with unlimited
loss, regular activities in data backup. These space for data storing. Google Drive allows
cloud services enable data sharing between synchronization of information, which is
company’s employees as well as between accessible from different devices. Sharing
company and its partners – customers, information can be both internal (with
suppliers, etc. The main advantages of cloud colleagues) and external (with customers and
storage services are: partners), and is even possible with users who
 Access to data anytime and anywhere do not use Google Drive. Google Drive and
regardless of hardware devices and software Google Docs enable joint work on the same
(most cloud solutions provide mobile access to document simultaneously. There are tools for
stored data). automatic updates and notification of changes
 Data synchronization between different in shared documents, tracking and maintaining
devices and users. a history of changes, management of different
 Integration to the operating system file versions (8).
managers.
OneDrive is a Microsoft cloud service, which
Among the most popular cloud storage provides users storage space and remote data
services are Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and access. The service allows integration with
OneDrive. Microsoft Office and Windows Phone and
different options for uploading and accessing
Dropbox is one of the most popular cloud data – via Web, directly from Microsoft Office
storage services. Its main advantage is the applications, through mobile apps. OneDrive
ability to synchronize data between different offers a free personal disk space for data
devices. The service is available for both storing. OneDrive for Business is a service
individual and business users. Dropbox for designed to organizations to store their
Business provides additional services such as information which can be accessed, shared and
improved data security by using cipher synchronized among many users. The storage
encryption for file data, unlimited storage, service is part of Office 365 or SharePoint
collaboration management tools (tracking data Server 2013, which also allows real-time
sharing process, restricting access to files or collaboration on documents. OneDrive for
their sharing with external people who are not Business provides tools for maintaining
part of a business account), integration with documents versions and reviewing and
other applications (over 300,000), etc. Users approving made changes (13).
can connect and at the same time there is a
separation between personal and work 3.3. CLOUD BUSINESS INFORMATION
Dropbox (11). SYSTEMS
Today business information systems are an
Box is a cloud service that provides space for extremely important factor that provides the
data storage – free with certain restrictions as necessary information for decision-making.
well as paid versions, which are designed Companies implement various software
primarily for business users. Box for Business
Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 13, Suppl. 1, 2015
395
 KIRYAKOVA G., et al.
applications – from traditional (accounting, achieve significant economic benefits without
human resource, warehousing) programs to having to invest in building their own IT
integrated software solutions (CRM, ERP, BI, infrastructure. Cloud computing should not be
etc.). Information systems are expensive regarded only as a means of achieving greater
software, which is a large investment for savings in terms of hardware and software.
companies and requires proper IT They are a prerequisite for building a strategy
infrastructure. More vendors offer cloud based for business development that transforms the
versions of business information systems. overall activity of companies and over time
Cloud solutions allow transforming the large will lead to more effectiveness and flexibility.
investment cost into operating expenses, which
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