SOFTWARESOLUTIONS

The Trend in the IT Industry: Cloud Computing

Cloud Trend

Modern IT applications do not require installation on the computer (desktop applications) but are called up via Internet browsers. The browsers are licence-free and therefore cost-neutral. With cloud computing, all the data communication takes place via the Internet (LAN/W-LAN) and GPRS, which means satellite supported, and the database is no longer located in the internal network but in the cloud, i.e. on a web server.

Independency from workstations

The advantages are obvious. While desktop applications must firstly be installed on the user’s PC (workstation) and therefore compatibility with the operating system is essential, the cloud-based application software works without any installation and is independent of the operating system. In addition you achieve a high degree of flexibility, particularly if a computer shuts down temporarily and a replacement computer must be made available. With a desktop application, operations would be interrupted in this case.

Indepenceny from operating system

This advantage is particularly obvious when upgrades to the operating system are required, or when a switch is needed, for example to a licence-free system (open source solutions). This independence also offers an advantage in that the licence is no longer linked to the workstation, but the application can be used from any chosen PC that has a browser and access to the Internet.

Independency from data bases

What’s more, cloud-based applications also offer the advantage of not requiring the database and the database server to be managed and updated by the internal IT department or external IT contractors. Since updates are the responsibility of the operator of the database, massive cost savings can be made here. In addition, the costs of expensive database licence fees
and hardware for the server and its security are also saved.

Data security

The use of cloud-based applications means data security becomes a bigger issue. In this case too, the central database in the cloud has clear cost benefits over the decentralised database in the internal network. The software package for protection from attacks from the network and its licensing costs are no longer the responsibility of the user, but of the supporter of the software cloud.

belastet nicht mehr die Kostenstellen der Nutzer, sondern die der Anbieter der Software-Clouds.