Paper Example on Cloud Computing in Higher Learning Centers

Introduction

The literature will focus on the topic "Challenges and Opportunities for implementing cloud computing in higher education. The objective of this literature review will determine the challenges, opportunities, and advantages of using cloud computing in the learning institutions around the globe. Cloud computing is the storage and accessibility of data, information, and programs on the internet rather than personal hard drives. Since cloud computing is over the internet, it can be accessed anytime and anywhere as long as the individual possesses a desktop, mobile phone, palmtop or a laptop. Cloud ensures all the services that are provided are known by the users from which point they are arising from thus making it easy to acquire services. This technology has become adoptable in organizations thus easing the way they carry out their activities. The higher education institutions are utilizing cloud computing in helping them to achieve their set goals and objectives. The articles were sorted depending on the information they had since some discussed the challenges while others addressed the benefits of cloud computing hence making the reader acquire more information related to cloud computing.

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Themes Discussed in the Articles

Security

According to Ahmed, Jaafar & Ghareb (2017), the security issues are brought about by sharing some of the properties which can lead to uncertainty depending on particular information. Cloud security includes a set of controls, policies, technologies, and procedures which can work together so that they protect the cloud-based data, systems, and infrastructure. The security measure which is provided to the cloud computing support the regulatory compliance, protect clients data and set authentication rules to be followed by the individual users and other devices. Due to the enhancement of the security issues in cloud computing the information technology teams can focus on different areas in the business. To enhance cloud security the solution provider and the business owner have to work together. The article gives the advantages of ensuring cloud security as it centralizes the data and applications it also concentrates protection. The disaster recovery plans are quickly and easily implemented whenever they are managed from a specific place. Also, investing in cloud security helps to minimize the costs since it helps in the elimination of investing in the dedicated hardware. The cloud security is also responsible for reducing the administrative overheads since it delivers the proactive features of security which protect throughout with or without the human interventions. Therefore, selection of the appropriate cloud security helps firms in ensuring they are protected from data breaches, unauthorized access, and other threats.

On the other hand, Shahzad, Golamdin & Ismail (2016), believed that security issues were a significant challenge which affected cloud computing. This is because they needed the higher institution to switch to cloud computing thus facing the problem of security of data and other information. The higher institution is usually responsible for the data which is processed and stored in their servers thus being sensitive to the cloud's security. To avoid issues with data leakage and loss of information the higher learning institutions opt to utilize protection and security in cloud computing.

Privacy

In the research conducted by Gonzalez-Martinez, Bote-Lorenzo, Gomez-Sanchez & Cano-Parra (2015), confidentiality of data and information has been termed to be relevant in the cloud architecture of software and hardware. Privacy of data in an organization is essential since it avoids deletion, fabrication, and modification of information which can lead to losing the stored data. In an organization, the cloud users are utilizing the cloud software to access and generate information quickly without interruptions. Through privacy, the cloud can ensure data integrity since it is maintained through the database transactions and constraints which are completed by the database management systems. The transactions which are made available to the users follow the ACID properties thus ensuring data privacy and integrity. In the learning institutions, the privacy of information is enhanced so that there can be no leakage to the other parties. In strengthening the data privacy and security, authorization is required to control the accessibility of data by people. The users tend to have secure resources which are controlled by the cloud systems. Therefore, cloud computing not only provides privacy to the stored data but also it provides the processing services.

Cyber attack

The literature by Ali, Wood-Harper & Mohamad (2018), showed that cyber-attack was among the challenges which affected cloud computing in the higher education centers. Cyber-attacks have developed fear among the institutions since hackers send a malicious virus to the cloud thus destroying the data and information stored in the cloud. This makes the clients, students, and stakeholders of the institution lose trust with the cloud since they cannot have accessibility to their information. The cyber-attacks might come from within the institution or outside from unknown sources. The institutions have to provide security to their users and ensure their cloud providers also safe to avoid loss of information and data. The organizations can ensure they are safe from the cyber-attacks through encryption methods which use the complex algorithms in concealing the cloud protected data and information. The data which is present in the cloud requires to be encrypted at the source, transit and in the cloud database making it hard for the hackers to carry out decryption. Also, the usage of strong passwords and the multi-factor authentication ensure the cloud system is free from cyber-attacks. Therefore, the higher learning institution can utilize these measures to avoid malicious activities occurring on their data.

Educational Usage of Cloud Computing

According to Ercan (2010), describes how the learning centers are adopting cloud computing since it utilizes the virtualized resources and the changing scalability as the service accessed through the internet. Through the usage of cloud computing, it requires to be managed since it consists of the dramatic predictions which create an impact in the cloud systems. The service providers are responsible for maintaining the information and data which are spread through the organizations thus contributing to its usage. The institutions face challenges in managing the challenging functionalities of the cloud hence limiting its usage. The services which were expensive during the earlier days are free to the individual who has access to the web browser. People can share videos, music, blogs and collaborative software through cloud computing thus expanding its usage among the population. The education system has taken advantage of this system thus promoting the learning in the higher institutions and enlightening of the students.

Financial Crisis

Mircea & Andreescu (2011) stated that the learning institutions experienced the financial crisis which is facilitated by the needs of wanting to utilize information technology. Despite the support from other researchers who wished to the promotion of cloud computing, this study by Mircea and Andreescu 2011 determined the alternatives used in information technology to enhance savings. The higher learning institutions are adopting this technology since it has proved to reduce the expenses thus saving on the costs. The financial crisis was led by the high income which was used to pay for the internet services whenever one required to access some information. Storage of data and information of people was challenging since the organizations used to store them on files. Before the adoption of cloud computing, neither the security nor the privacy of peoples' information was guaranteed to make the organization to undergo greater expenses when trying to retrieve lost data.

Data Concealment

Data concealment is responsible for promoting confidentiality of data present in the cloud. In the research conducted by Ercan (2010), he described the concepts of concealment which ensured the security of the database. The approaches utilized in concealing data merge the real data and the fake information thus helping to falsify the appropriate or actual volumes of data. Through the concealment approaches, the higher learning institutions can maintain their data privacy in the cloud system. The objective of concealing data was to control and prevent the malicious attackers and users of the cloud system from accessing the real data which is stored in the cloud by the higher learning institutions. Therefore, to enhance the confidentiality of the institutions' data, the authorized users have access to the critical watermarking which ensures that real data is accessible to the appropriate users.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

The learning organizations have been anticipating in using cloud computing on their learning institutions making them achieve their set goals and objectives. According to Ali (et al., 2018), cloud computing will develop a sider base for learning in the higher institutions since the population is rapidly growing. The article described how cloud computing helped in the dissemination of information technology services that involved the leasing of the computing tools situated in the cloud. It also explained how cloud computing has become cost-effective since it has developed the people's creative capabilities through utilization and sharing of peoples' knowledge and thoughts. The dissemination of information through a given platform has helped people to learn and acquire more experience which is used in ensuring they attain their set goals and objectives.

According to Attaran, Attaran & Celic (2017), has noted that cloud computing has helped in the optimization of the operational efficiency and the cost of the information technology platforms. Cloud computing helped in lowering both the administration and operational expenses thus making its services affordable to every individual in the learning centers. There is vast information under this platform since people can access any information which might be useful in their learning processes. People can access this platform anytime and at a low cost making it to become reliable in terms of generation of information and openness. In the learning institutions, the cost of operation has reduced, and people are getting accessibility to the platform quickly without difficulties. People who needed to acquire more information about cloud computing were trained thus getting to know how the platform operates.

On the other hand, Ercan (2010) stated that the cloud computing technology was the appropriate alternative for the academic institution which experienced challenges in the shortage of the budget thus promoting the operation of the information systems without much expense in the computers and network tools. The students and other users can use the applications which are related to cloud computing thus promoting the acquisition of knowledge among them. Learners and the administrative personnel can access various forms and the resources through the web pages that are on higher demand. This platform has reduced the cost of operation in the institutions hence providing adequate functional capabilities. The staff in the universities can undertake the accountability of maintaining different burdens which exist in the institutions thus helping in the elimination of capacities, simplification of the scalability and the reduction of operational costs.