From outsourcing to Cloud computing: evolution of IT services

Abstract

PurposeMany organizations are outsourcing their information technology (IT) related services to a third party vendor for quite some time. However, the IT services industry including outsourcing is going through rapid changes with the increasing adoption of Cloud computing. The purpose of this paper is to compare global IT outsourcing with Cloud computing along with the evolution of traditional IT services.Design/methodology/approachCloud computing is a model for provisioning and consuming IT capabilities on a need and pay by use basis. This helps in shifting the cost structure from capital expenditure to operating expenditure and also helps the IT systems to be more agile. This innovative model of acquiring IT related services has made organizations revisit their infrastructure and platform services strategy and optimize their IT spending while improving overall agility. This paper compares global IT outsourcing with Cloud computing along with the evolution of traditional IT services.FindingsThe impact of Cloud computing on IT outsourcing is no doubt significant. Cloud computing represents a fundamental shift in how organizations pay for and access IT services. It has created new opportunities for IT services providers and the outsourcing vendors will have to modify their strategy to take advantage of this new computing paradigm.Practical implicationsThis research is relevant for practitioners as well as researchers in the field of IT outsourcing and Cloud computing.Originality/valueThis research compares global outsourcing with Cloud computing along with the evolution of IT services. Very little research has been done in this nascent and important area.

Cloud Computing Issues and Countermeasures

“…The accompanying graph demonstrates the parameters that impact cloud security. Security issues for countless structures and headways are material to distributed computing [3]. For example, the framework that interconnects the systems in a cloud must be secure.…”

IT controls in the public cloud: Success factors for allocation of roles and responsibilities

“…The researcher could not find any cloud computing theories related to the topic. However, the cloud has been described as a method of computational "outsourcing" (Lei, Liao, Huang, & Heriniaina, 2014) and the latest trend to outsource part or complete IT operations to run a business from the public cloud (Dhar, 2012).…”

“…(Alborz et al, 2003) Cloud computing, considered to be the latest outsourcing trend (Dhar, 2012), inherits the "roles and responsibilities" factors from outsourcing (Table 3.2). However, outsourcing differs from cloud computing by not being able to provide the self-service, on-demand IT resource consumption model that organisations require to react quickly to business needs and to defer capital IT expenses (Reeves, 2009).…”

Data Security Issues and Challenges in Cloud Computing: A Conceptual Analysis and Review

“…Infrastructure is the main hardware components and their management software that includes servers, network, storage, file system and operating systems [1,17]. Customers using IaaS have a limited control over the actual infrastructure, as their usage is based on pay-per-use only [3]. Securing the IaaS layer is divided into two main areas, the virtual environment and the physical environment [8,12].…”

“…The expansion and evolution of the electronic services requires continuous improvement in terms of infrastructure. Cloud computing offers a relatively low-cost scalable alternative to in-house infrastructure, both in hardware and software [1][2][3][4][5]. NIST [6] defined the term "Cloud Computing" as an ubiquitous on-demand model for accessing common resources over a network.…”