Cloud Computing Now

First posted on: http://trainingtechnologies.blogspot.com/2015/08/cloud-computing-now.html

During the presentation of our Information System Strategic Plan, I was asked about what system I was using for our Performance Information System (v.1). The question was raised as an item in discussion was about the Knowledge Warehouse, which was supposed to make all our separate information systems and databases inter-operable (i.e., data can be shared with one another easily, and these separate systems can can “talk” to one another). Without going into the details of the system I am developing, I said that it is Google-based, and so, cloud-based.

There were different reactions to the idea of the system being cloud-based. While there were expressions that making something cloud-based made data available, most of the following expressions were on security and where the data will be actually stored. Obviously, I cannot expect top-level managers and executives (including the oversight official for our information systems) to understand the concept of cloud computing in a precise manner (cloud computing as a concept has slightly differences depending on the source, I must admit). Hence, I thought I have to update my knowledge about this concept, just in case somebody asks me.

I wrote briefly about cloud computing before here. Back then, cloud computing in the Philippines was not that popular. Actually, even globally. Cloud computing as a term only became popular then, with people promoting it emphasizing economy and allowing the business to focus on its core functions rather than get bogged down with setting up their IT requirements (which big companies usually require of their supply chain partners). Those against it emphasize (just like in the paragraph before) security and location of data. Since then (about five years past), a lot of developments have happened. The Wikipedia article is a testament to that.

On September 10, 2009, the Wikipedia article on cloud computing described the concept as a “paradigm of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet.” If you would access the same article today (August 30, 2015), it says that “Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources.” I agree with both, actually, but the latter definition has some terms which are highly technical, so I prefer the former.

As I said in my blog post in 2009, for me, it is just a way of computing (or doing your work with your computer) with your data or your applications--or both--on the Internet. To make the concept tangible, look at Google Drive or Zoho, both of which allow you to create documents (i.e., text, spreadsheets, presentations) on the web. Their online system constantly saves your work, so you don't need to manually save every few minutes or so.

Also, previously, when one thinks of a website, you use either your Notepad or Microsoft Frontpage to create your web pages on your computer, then upload them to your server (either your own server where you or your business is located, or to some webhosting provider). Now, you can create websites with Google Sites, which, among others, reduces your need to learn HTML or similar languages and hosts your webpages in their server. I will stop for now about the benefits of using Google Sites and talk about this later when I go to the Benefits part.

So we have an idea now what it is. What is it not? For example, is email a part of cloud computing?

In its previous form of POP3, email was not cloud computing. In the Philippines, however, we were introduced to its cloud-based form – the webmail. We used to access Yahoo! Mail and Google Mail from the web browser. Those email services, which you can access using your browser from any computer instead of an email client installed in your own computer with the settings preconfigured, are cloud-based.

Chatting, again, in its previous form of Internet Relay Chat (IRC), was not cloud-based, because there is a central server that moderates communication of messages among different users that access the chat through a preconfigured client. However, recent chat services through your web-browser (e.g., Google Hangouts and Yahoo! Mail's chat) would be considered cloud-based.

I am briefly delineating the difference between cloud and non-cloud computing to emphasize how cloud computing delivers its supposed benefits.

Cloud computing has a lot of benefits, and technical papers can list a lot. However, for us mere mortals (i.e., non-IT people), I will focus on what you may need to know.

• Mobility and device independence (borrowed from the Wikipedia article) – You can access your data (e.g., download your data, make changes, create new file or record) from any device or location so long as you have internet connection and maybe a browser. 
• Cost – Particularly if you use public clouds (we will define what a public cloud is later). Creating information systems that will give you the intended benefit would be costly both in monetary and experiential terms. Adopting cloud computing avoids the experience cost and as well as capital costs associated with systems development, as well as leveraging on the learning of other users that have used the system (and provided feedback to the cloud service provider).
• Focus on your core function – For small businesses, public organizations or educational institutions, all of which may not have very big capital budget for information technology, cloud computing allows them to use technology available to support their core function without the need to develop (and spend on) their own systems. Looking back at my previous example of Google Sites, it allows collaboration in creating a website; multiple types of access (down to the page level), and easy addition of content. An additional feature of creating websites with Google Sites is that Google takes care of converting the website to a form that is mobile- and tablet-friendly. As it is Google-hosted, it allows you to also integrate other Google services to the website, like adding a calendar that will display information based on the person's Google account.  Imagine if you will have to write all these in code, and you are not a computer science graduate.
• Security in data redundancy – While anti-cloud computing individuals say that it is risky, it can actually give IT people peace of mind as they know their data is stored and backed up in an off-site location (i.e. not in the place where the business is located). In the eventuality of disaster in the organization's area of operation, the  company knows that their data is backed up at a place where the disaster is not likely to have taken place as well. Of course, this requires [and does not take off the organization's or its delegated responsible person's responsibility to conduct due] diligence in determining where the cloud service provider actually stores your data. 
• Collaboration – This feature of Google Docs (an example of a cloud-based software) ensured me buying into the idea. Google Docs (and its sister services, Google Sheets and Google Presentation), allowed multiple users to edit a file at the same time from different computers. Instead of sending back and forth different versions of a file, cloud computing allowed us to work on ONE file instead of sending back and forth different versions, which confused everyone which should they be using. Imagine if you have a web-based project management software, so that different project staff can update their responsibilities in the system, and the project manager can have near realtime update on how the project is doing. 
• Maintenance – Cloud computing also allows IT administrators (if they use private clouds) to update just the back end (maintained by system administrators) of a computer system without tinkering the software on the front end (used by the end-users). They can simply update everything and the front end will update as they (usually) access the system through a web interface. 
• Security in maintenance – As mentioned above, cloud computing allows system administrators to update the system without worrying about the end-users' client software. As most of the protocols are in the backend, cloud computing reduces the risk of a non-compliant end-user not updating his/her client software. 

Of course, cloud computing, like any HUMAN ACTIVITY, has its costs and risks. Here are some of the most commonly cited ones:

• You need an internet connection. For you to access your data, you need to have internet connection. Most of the cloud storage services, like Dropbox and Google Drive, however, allow offline access by downloading your data on your computer and synchronizing it with your online account when you get online. 
• You don't know where your data is located. As mentioned before, this requires you to conduct due diligence if your data is sensitive (e.g., related to national security or politics). Let me point out, however, that this is not limited to cloud computing. You could store your data in your USB flash drives. But if you are not careful, you could save your data to a virus- or malware-affected storage device, which may either corrupt the data or send it to an unknown person without your knowledge. Again, due diligence is required. 
• Virus affecting all data in a cloud or networked system. Even if cloud-based systems are inter-connected, it does not mean that anyone (including a virus or piece of malware) can access data to another system without proper credentials (which is one of the foundation principles of information security). So even if a virus finds itself in a cloud storage device, being there does not mean (most of the time, if your system is designed right) will not mean corruption of everything in it. Another way of mitigating this is actually to ensure that you have your data backed up. 

Relatedly, if you are considering of outsourcing some of your information system processes, you should note what the contract says about ownership of the data.

To address the commonly raised concern on security and privacy, organizations may consider a private cloud facility. A private cloud facility harnesses the technical benefits of a public cloud (e.g., doing transactions on the server instead of installing applications in the end-users' computers) while ensuring that their data is in a facility they own. However, private clouds may not be able to leverage the economic benefits of public clouds as the organization will have to operate just as they have with a client-server system (i.e., maintaining a data center with its required supporting facilities, such as an airconditioned and secured room, back-up data storage facility, back-up power source, among others).

Personally, I am looking into the idea of getting a Network Attached Storage (NAS) with cloud capability, such as Western Digital's My Cloud Mirror or Synology's BeyondCloud Mirror. While we do have external hard disk drives, moving them makes the ports prone to wear and tear. I previously had to throw a 500GB external hard disk drive because I cannot access the data anymore (and I didn't know of any other way to get my data). With a NAS with cloud capability, my team can share files in a network environment (only those allowed through a username can access it) and access the same files when I am away through the internet.

Considering the benefits and the risks, and given due diligence in selecting the service provider or the facility, and being reminded of the supposed responsibility of ensuring security in designing ALL TYPES of information systems, I think cloud computing presents a real business case that executives should consider.

Encoded using LibreOffice

Sources:
Wikipedia, "Cloud Computing," accessed on 30 August 2015.
University of North Carolina, "Cloud Computing," accessed http://www.unc.edu/courses/2010spring/law/357c/001/cloudcomputing/examples.html on 30 August 2015.

S2: My Brief Experience in Cloud-Based Database Design and Google Fusion Tables

My last post was about Google Calendar, and the ones before that were about the Philippine power sector. I will not talk about either of those, but instead talk about my brief stint in designing a database (and user interface) for our staff performance evaluation and tracking system.

After our last performance evaluation exercise, I saw the need to create an information system that supports a real, learning-oriented, knowledge management (KM)-oriented staff performance evaluation system. After reading a few literature about the concept (notably, the Strategic Performance Management System and the RA 6713, or the "Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees"), I designed the entity relationship diagram. You can read my concept proposal here.

Obviously, it was a self-imposed proposal that I was excited about so I went ahead and spent time and money (for staying at Starbucks... oops!) to contemplate, design, correct, recreate and re-do the database backend and the individually oriented user interaces. As a learning exercise, I tried to document as much as possible, which led to the user manual here.

But that is a big jump from the proposal to the system I was able to finish (well, almost. It still lacks the policy decision on how much is the weight of each evaluator's grade, and what are the criteria of evaluation). Obviously, before that, there were a lot of choices.

I have heard of Google Fusion Tables when I was still working at UP Manila, but it seemed too technical to me. I didn't have training on database then, too, so I did not even have the conceptual appreciation then. However, when I went to PMS, I already had the appreciation of database design and management, so I was able to appreciate Google Fusion Tables.

I needed a system that would do these things:

1. Allow the staff to enter records about their outputs.
2. Allow supervisors to evaluate their staff's outputs, but only access outputs of their own staff (direct reports) and not edit details about the output. Also, supervisors cannot change the grade other supervisors give to that output of that staff.
3. Automatically calculate overall rating for each output (because each output is rated by many evaluators, and each evaluator makes an evaluation on many criteria).
4. Allow supervisors to quickly know the current standing of that staff based on given evaluations.
5. Allow staff to see evaluation (and constructive feedback) on their outputs, as well as summary calculation of their standing.
6. Download the data.
7. Make special reports, based on what the the data the system gathers. 

At first, I wanted to use Google Forms, which would then feed the data into a Google Sheet. Google Forms can be easily created, and it also allows conditional data-inputs and required fields. Google Sheets allows range-based access, meaning I can designate which areas in a spreadsheet a person can edit. For example, I can give one Supervisor A permit to change (input and edit) data in Column I only, while Supervisor B will enter the grade in Column AA, and Supervisor A cannot change any part of the sheet other than those columns. Google Sheets allows strong data crunching functions, due to its Pivot Table function. The two are almost perfect. Well, I said almost.

The problem is that the Sheet is a very big online document, which any manager, unless I were that manager, would not want to go to. It is just a perfect example of information overload. Working for an organization that attempts at every moment to lessen the load to the bosses with the belief that they have more important things to do than read your complete and comprehensive input, Google Sheets was simply not an adorable, manager-level type of information system that they would adopt.

Remembering Google Fusion Tables when I was still studying an online system for program monitoring database, I re-read the system and what it can do, and implemented the Staff Performance Information and Evaluation System with that as the technology base. 

With Google Fusion Tables, I was able to create input forms (well, actually, input tables) for each staff, some data of which will enter in the unique user interface of supervisors so that they can grade them. The supervisors only see records of outputs which they have not evaluated yet. Once they evaluate a record and close the window, and open it again, those record will no longer appear. 

On another view, the staff can see the evaluation of the supervisors (if they have already done that), but they cannot edit it. They can only see their own records, not those of other staff. And unit heads can only see records under their individual unit, not those of others. 

As it is a database, one can easily manipulate the presentation to suit the needs of managers. 

Unfortunately, it was not utilized, so I was not able to test its full operational capability - that is, simultaneous multiple users using the database. I did the "alpha" testing alone, if that would be considered as alpha testing. 

I sure hope that I would get the opportunity to implement a system like this. I had hoped to integrate this with our dashboard, but even that would probably just go to my charge-to-experience list.

Google Calendar: A User's Introduction

For this post, I will not talk about Philippine energy. I will briefly introduce Google Calendar, with the hope that you (I hope you understand who you are) will use it to increase productivity and collaboration.

Google Calendar is (obviously) Google's take on calendar and task management. As far as I remember, Yahoo! has calendar also in their Yahoo! Mail, but it was not as integrated to their other products, and did not have a lot of collaborative functionalities (why does Google say that 'functionalities' is incorrectly spelled?) that Google Calendar introduced.

Google Calendar is a simple take and presentation on how we see dates vis-a-vis tasks, activities, sharing and communication. If you have a Gmail account, just look up, at the gray ribbon of Google services available, and you will see Calendar on the right-middle part. Click it, and that's almost it. (You will probably need to agree to the terms of services.)

There are a number of features in Google Calendar that I like, such as:

1. Sharing of Calendar - By sharing calendar, this means you share one of your calendars. As people, we have different aspects of our lives. For example, we live as an employee, a part of a circle of friends, and member of a volunteer organization. For each of these circles, we can have a calendar, which we can share. And there are many ways of sharing: Allow certain people to see your calendar, edit existing appointments, create new ones, or manage the calendar, which means they can re-share your calendar to those who need access to your schedule. Of course, there is also the option of making your calendar public. When another user adds an appointment in your shared calendar, you get notified (via email or SMS, to be discussed next).
2. Mobile Notifications - For me, I configured my Google Calendar to send me SMS to remind of in advance of my schedules  (many times for each event/schedule). This is, of course, in addition to notifications via the email. As discussed in the previous number, you also get be notified if a shared calendar is changed (someone requested an appointment or added a schedule, or edited an existing appointment, among others)
3. Integration with other Google services - If you use Google Sites, for example, for managing a project or a team dashboard, you can (and I did) integrate the Google Calendar gadget so that it displays your calendar there. If your Google Sites is login-based, it would display your own Google Calendar.

Google Calendar is a very useful productivity tool that I hope you would use to increase productivity (of course) and enhance collaboration in shared activities.

For more information on how to do the things I listed here, you can go to the Google Calendar Help site https://support.google.com/calendar/?hl=en

No, I am not a Google advertiser or stockholder. Just a Google Fan. :D

I may update this as soon as I have the time and realize its other exciting features.