A Review of Evolutionary Trends in Cloud Computing and Applications to the Healthcare Ecosystem

Abstract

Cloud computing is a technology that allows dynamic and flexible computing capability and storage through on-demand delivery and pay-as-you-go services over the Internet. This technology has brought significant advances in the Information Technology (IT) domain. In the last few years, the evolution of cloud computing has led to the development of new technologies such as cloud federation, edge computing, and fog computing. However, with the development of Internet of Things (IoT), several challenges have emerged with these new technologies. Therefore, this paper discusses each of the emerging cloud-based technologies, as well as their architectures, opportunities, and challenges. We present how cloud computing evolved from one paradigm to another through the interplay of benefits such as improvement in computational resources through the combination of the strengths of various Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), decrease in latency, improvement in bandwidth, and so on. Furthermore, the paper highlights the application of different cloud paradigms in the healthcare ecosystem.

The Role of Cloud Computing in Personalized Medicine: A Systematic Review

“…The integration of cloud computing in healthcare represents a significant technological leap, addressing the growing demands for efficient data management and accessibility [6][7][8]. Cloud computing, defined by its on-demand availability of computer system resources [9], especially data storage and computing power, has revolutionized the way healthcare data is stored, accessed, and processed [10,11]. Agapito & Cannataro [12] highlight the ideal fit of cloud computing for managing Big Data in omics sciences, crucial for personalized medicine.…”

Towards Smart and Green Features of Cloud Computing in Healthcare Services: A Systematic Literature Review

“…However, the model overlooks accessibility, energy efficiency, shareability, and collaboration in healthcare. According to [21], cloud computing offers opportunities like scalability, flexibility, on-demand,payper-use, and resource pooling but faces security, regulation, privacy, and control challenges. However, [21] lacks solutions for addressing these challenges.…”

“…According to [21], cloud computing offers opportunities like scalability, flexibility, on-demand,payper-use, and resource pooling but faces security, regulation, privacy, and control challenges. However, [21] lacks solutions for addressing these challenges. A study [55] reveals security, integration, and transition challenges in cloud computing deployment in e-health systems but lacks specific solutions.…”

“…Solving such limitations with traditional IT requires high capital expenditure (CAPEX) [16] and contributes to high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from many data centers. On the other hand, numerous research studies [12], [17], [14], [21], [18], [19], [20] have identified various smart and green features of cloud computing, such as energy efficiency, cost efficiency (operational expenditure, OPEX), storage scalability, resource-saving (optimal resource usage), location-independent access, reducing paperwork, and a pay-per-use model to eliminate the shortcomings of traditional IT infrastructures. Based on the references [19], [18], [20] virtualization, containerization, automation, environmental sustainability, multi-tenancy, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprints), health data consolidation, and reduced paper consumption (paperless) can be considered smart and green features of cloud computing in healthcare services.…”

“…This study [18] designed a classification framework for cloud computing in healthcare. Another review paper [21] listed cloud computing's opportunities like scalability, flexibility, on-demand delivery, pay-per-use, and resource pooling, but still faces challenges such as security, regulation, privacy concerns, and loss of control in emerging cloud-based technologies. Also, a review study [22] examined the criteria that offer a roadmap to decision-makers before cloud computing adoption in the healthcare sector, such as organization, the external environment, technology, economic, social, human-environment, and trust.…”