Tag Archives: Cloud Services

The Gap Between Cloud Demand and Delivery

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With IT infrastructure changing due to the rise of cloud services, many enterprises have tried their hardest to get on top of these trends. They’d certainly be well-advised to do so; cloud services are ultimately more cost-effective, scalable, and flexible than traditional server-based computing. However, this sudden influx of demand has left IT and cloud experts struggling to keep up.

Four out of five enterprises have experienced unplanned downtime in this transitionary period, with it becoming more of a problem within the last twelve months. Beyond this, other issues, including cyber attacks, natural disasters, and infrastructure problems have put the hurt on enterprises interested in transforming their IT services.

According to a recent poll from Veeam, a disaster recovery firm, around two-thirds of UK-based IT professionals reported that downtime has hurt critical efforts, limiting digital growth over time. Even beyond this, unplanned downtime can damage revenue or brand image and cause incidents when dealing with customers or clients.

The bottom line? IT services are hard-pressed to meet growing business demands, particularly when it comes to data backup and recovery. The interested observer may think of these as growing pains, but until they’re solved, further losses can be expected. For digital growth to continue unabated, better security and backup services are necessary for distributed computing. As a relatively new technology, there’s something of a dearth of experts, leaving many veterans of the industry scrambling to pick up the new skills necessary to work effectively with the cloud. It makes sense; leveraging the cloud effectively involves a new kind of thinking that has not been used by IT professionals.

For the errant wannabe cloud expert, there are a quite a few resources available to get yourself the knowledge necessary to help address the current need for cloud professionals. Of course, a simple Google search will fetch knowledge on any aspect of the subject, but online learning outlets have never been a better place to learn.

For instance, the National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes a great series of guides on the minutiae of cloud computing. For a more structured approach, codeacademy.com offers lessons on the subject as well. However, a lot of the information found online can be a bit overwhelming, so feel free to visit cloudpatterns.org for a better look at industry trends. Maintained by industry professionals, the site compiles patterns in skill and experience among individuals getting hired in cloud positions, and is a great way to stay informed on what’s relevant.

Cloud computing is going to continue to grow as an industry, to the point where cloud services are expected to comprise 46% of IT spending by 2019. In this time, private IT services will become increasingly popular as the presence of hybrid models eases businesses into this new model.

But for now, what the industry needs is highly motivated individuals willing to keep up with current trends and assure that this continued transitional period goes smoothly for all businesses involved.

Hiring a Cloud Professional: Skills to Look For

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I think it’s safe to say that I’ve written a few times about the value of the cloud in business. And, as it turns out, a lot of people agree with me. The cloud is growing incredibly quickly, with cloud services such as Amazon AWS and Microsoft reporting massive upsurges in revenue. For agile businesses such as startups, entrepreneurs have been able to easily adopt the cloud and gain a huge advantage over competitors.

With this increase in demand for cloud services, businesses are looking for cloud-savvy professionals in their IT departments. Perhaps your company is even one of those businesses. With that in mind, these are some of the skills you’ll want to look for when it comes to hiring a cloud professional, or perhaps even learn for yourself.

Data Systems and Databases

Data is the cornerstone of the cloud, and any professional working with it needs to be familiar with the workings of a database in order to qualify. Big Data is increasingly enabled by the cloud, with the sector growing at a similarly rapid rate. In fact, cloud experts are convinced that this trend will become even more pronounced in the future, with businesses storing and accessing their data through the cloud.

SQL and MySQL are standard languages for databases and crucial for any cloud professional to know. However, open source data platforms such as Hadoop and MongoDB. In fact, the former is well suited for processing large volumes of data, making it ideal to embrace the advent of big data.

Linux

While it’s not strictly necessary for working with the cloud, the majority of cloud software platforms are based in Linux. While Linux hasn’t made a huge impact when it comes to desktop computing, it has gained popularity in the cloud community for its rapid innovation and flexibility. Its primary rival is Microsoft Azure, which even includes an option to run Linux’s openSuse OS.

Dual booting your computer is a great first step to start if you’d like to learn the ins and outs of Linux. As an open source operating system, the community is robust and helpful resources are plentiful.

Cloud migration

It can be difficult to switch over to the cloud from typical IT infrastructure, especially as a large business. When it comes time to make the transition, businesses often have to rely on professional services for migration.

Professionals will want to obtain a certificate in migration for the cloud platform of their choice. Giving the complexity and security concerns associated with migration, finding a professional and plan that fits your needs is very necessary.

Quality assurance

QA is one of the most common skills requested in cloud computing job postings, and the cloud presents new challenges to QA developers. QA and QC engineers have always been in demand, and with the expansion of the cloud, ensuring the integrity of a piece of software is more important than ever.

Security

Cyber security for cloud applications is still developing, leaving many systems vulnerable to hackers. With over 90% of cloud applications not secure for enterprise use, the burden falls to developers to secure their systems and protect the organizations that they work for.

Due to mounting security concerns, data protection regulations are being implemented to ensure compliance amongst businesses and leverage fines if their systems are not secure enough. Like many of the other skills on this list, certifications exist for any professional wishing to bring cloud applications up to spec.

Healthcare Compliance—A Short Guide for Businesspeople

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When healthcare companies try to achieve operational compliance, expertise regarding physical offices is usually fairly well-known. However, when it comes to online and cloud operations, the requirements are much more obscure. Generally, when we talk about cloud compliance in healthcare, we’re considering ways to drive risk avoidance, increase revenue, and improve patient outcomes. Naturally, these three objectives don’t just apply to technology, but are a good starting point when considering technology plans. Beyond this, the primary objective of any healthcare company when it comes to technology should be data protection for any and all stakeholders, and there are a few ways of going about this.

HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, is a federal statute mandating requiring adequate security for any healthcare information. Complying with this act is highly important for any organization possessing Protected Healthcare Information (PHI), and can apply to a company even if it only has custody of a small amount of electronic PHI.

This is because the HITECH Act allows HIPAA to cover more businesses; including business associates that aren’t healthcare providers or payers.

EHNAC

EHNAC, the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission, is an organization dedicated to helping companies determine whether or not they are HIPAA compliant and assist them with setting up proper information security measures.

Of course, there’s nothing stopping a healthcare company from completing their own compliance assessment, but generally, unless a company already has a large staff dedicated to operational compliance, auditing, and analysis, it’s more financially sound to leverage the services of an existing hosting provider. Note that, if a healthcare company chooses to strive for compliance on their own, they will likely still need a third party to conduct a comprehensive risk analysis.

EHNAC is a great way for companies to provide themselves with a strong compliance framework without the need to hire full-time specialists.

HITRUST

Similar to EHNAC, HITRUST is another organization dedicated to helping businesses meet health data compliance standards. HITRUST is more expensive, but their Common Security Framework (CSF) covers HIPAA, HITECH, and a number of other standards such as ISO, PCI, CMS, and COBIT.

HITRUST certifications are difficult to obtain and even more difficult to maintain given the ever-changing standards of the industry. However, if a company successfully does both of these things, they are guaranteed a good reputation when it comes to data security.

Existing BAAs

BAAs, or Business Associate Agreements, can also be gained from public cloud companies such as Amazon or Microsoft. Unfortunately, these services will not provide you with the compliance measures that you need. For instance, some general utility BAAs will not provide companies with the minimum breach notification as specified under HITECH, leaving the burden squarely on the company to detect any sort of breach. Look for providers willing to assume some or all of the risk associated with compliance measures.

Cloud Computing in Rural India

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Cloud computing has been hailed unanimously as a positive development for the healthcare industry. Thanks to the cloud, medical professionals can easily track, store, and analyze data, improving both research and patient care.

Perhaps one of the most notable applications of new cloud technology is the enhanced capability to provide care to patients in remote areas. This may sound counterintuitive, as most cloud systems are dependent on a robust Internet connection to operate at their fullest, but a health technology company has created a cloud platform capable of operating at low bandwidth, addressing some of the hurdles faced when implementing these systems.

While India offers free healthcare to its citizens, its system is far from perfect, as the 70% of citizens that live in remote villages are often unable to receive attention as readily as their urban counterparts. To attempt to bring some balance to the healthcare market in the country, Sameer Sawarkar and Rajeev Kumar recently released ReMeDi (Remote Medical Diagnostics) to allow individuals with little training to represent doctors in remote areas.

Kumar and Sawarkar’s company, Neurosynaptic Communications, has dispatched medical technicians to over 2,000 villages across India to provide on-site examinations. The technicians use ReMeDi to gather basic information about patients, entering it all into a cloud-based medical repository. Patient information is then reviewed by an offsite doctor, who can provide recommendations and diagnoses based on the provided data. Additionally, an audio/video connection allows for personal consultations between doctors and patients.

And, as with any other cloud system, it gets better the more data is gathered. Studying health trends based on Big Data can help detect early signs of certain ailments and lead to administration of potentially lifesaving care. The integration that cloud computing provides is helpful not only for managing a large number of patients, but for fueling future research and innovation.

Other diagnostic platforms, such as Sana, Intelehealth, and CliniPAK, seek to solve similar issues as ReMeDi. Sawarkar has been ardent about the potential changes that ReMeDi can make to the Indian healthcare system, with the stated goal of lowering costs for companies and enabling more rapid delivery of health services, something that ultimately benefits patients. To that end, he has stated that the basic cost for a consultation under this new platform is under a dollar.

India’s healthcare system does little to service outlying areas, and as a result, many residents of remote villages seek out private healthcare, which can be costly for families and individuals with little income. 80% of Indians use private healthcare, and costs to travel and receive medical attention are financially crippling to many. This is the root of Sawarkar’s excitement with ReMeDi; what would require hours or even days of travel and weeks worth of wages can now be accomplished in the villages that need attention.

Sawarkar has strived to make ReMeDi as flexible as possible, and the platform is capable of running on a wide range of devices. With the market for cloud-based healthcare systems growing, Sawarkar intends to expand distribution of the platform in India as well as developing countries without decent access to healthcare.

Currently, ReMeDi is used in eight countries, including Bangladesh, Ghana, and Kenya. With African countries facing similar issues with disadvantaged citizens in remote areas, it stands to reason that their governments will be similarly interested in improving healthcare distribution.

Street Smarts—Pioneering the Smart City

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Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud technology are two of modern business’ biggest disruptors because of the extent to which they integrate company data architecture and logistic management. Though businesses have heavily adopted this technology, it is starting to gain ground on a greater level.

Enter the smart city. Invisibly, amongst skyscrapers and heavy traffic, devices exchange data, creating a detailed and complicated picture of city life. Any aspect of a city’s infrastructure can be monitored, be it water usage, traffic patterns, information systems, and waste management.

If this sounds a bit Orwellian to you, don’t worry—we’re far from installing surveillance on every street corner. Still, individuals have raised concerns about privacy as it relates to smart cities, an expected development when considering the similar controversy surrounding Big Data.

However, it’s hard to, at this juncture, define what a smart city is. Several “flagship cities” have already claimed the title as a result of their integration of IoT technology into the city’s infrastructure. Across the board, most of these cities have similar goals—to better manage factors such as traffic, energy consumption, and crime to create a better environment for their citizens.

Based on the widespread adoption of this technology, it’s hard to set a threshold for what qualifies as a smart city. Most modern cities have monitoring devices tied into their infrastructure in some way, but truly smart cities have cross-platform integration, where multiple facets of management are tied into a single massive network.

Another important way to define smart cities is their potential to benefit citizens. While monitoring city infrastructure may sound like it only benefits local governments, it should be noted that the implementation of citywide networks is ideally completed to improve the lives of those living there.

For instance, Madrid’s smart city initiative, known as the Smarter Madrid Platform, is dedicated to studying social issues and then using technology to help solve these problems. Other than the applications already discussed, Madrid also seeks to assist startup companies throughout the city.

There are certainly ways that a smart city can go wrong. As previously mentioned, privacy concerns may hamper progress, and for good reason. Some smart cities have opted to make all data collected publicly available, and this level of transparency may have to become a standard as the idea develops further.

So where can smart cities go from here?

The ideal is to use technology to create a safer, more automated lifestyle. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, but the general consensus seems to be that linking household technology to large scale city technology is the most solid start. Many aspects of life, including personal agendas, power efficiency, and financial management can be improved with cloud networks.

Better communications lead to more efficient offices, which in turn begets employee happiness and encourages new ideas. Waste can be minimized. I could spend an entire post listing the applications of smart city technology, and it would sound like a compilation of science fiction ideas. The result, however, is perhaps not utopian cities of glittering spires, but cities much like our own, albeit with a higher standard of living that civilization has always strived for.