TTeecchhnnoollooggiiccaall UUnniivveerrssiittyy DDuubblliinn AARRRROOWW@@TTUU DDuubblliinn Dissertations School of Computer Sciences 2010-09-01 CClloouudd CCoommppuuttiinngg::SSttrraatteeggiieess ffoorr CClloouudd CCoommppuuttiinngg AAddooppttiioonn Faith Shimba Technological University Dublin, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/scschcomdis Part of the Computer Engineering Commons, and the Other Computer Sciences Commons RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn Shimba, F.:Cloud Computing:Strategies for Cloud Computing Adoption. Masters Dissertation. Dublin, Technological University Dublin, 2010. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Computer Sciences at ARROW@TU Dublin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ARROW@TU Dublin. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License School of Computing Dissertations Dublin Institute of Technology Year  Cloud Computing:Strategies for Cloud Computing Adoption Faith Shimba Mr. Dublin Institute of Technology, [email protected] ThispaperispostedatARROW@DIT. http://arrow.dit.ie/scschcomdis/1 — Use Licence — Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 You are free: • to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work • to make derivative works Under the following conditions: • Attribution. You must give the original author credit. • Non-Commercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. • Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the author. Your fair use and other rights are in no way affected by the above. ThisworkislicensedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike License. To view a copy of this license, visit: • URL (human-readable summary): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/ • URL (legal code): http://creativecommons.org/worldwide/uk/translated-license Cloud Computing: Strategies for Cloud Computing Adoption Faith Shimba A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Dublin Institute of Technology for the degree of M.Sc. in Computing (Information Technology) September 2010 I certify that this dissertation which I now submit for examination for the award of MSc in Computing (Information Technology), is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the test of my work. This dissertation was prepared according to the regulations for postgraduate study of the Dublin Institute of Technology and has not been submitted in whole or part for an award in any other Institute or University. The work reported on in this dissertation conforms to the principles and requirements of the Institute’s guidelines for ethics in research. Signed: ________________________________ Date: 01 September 2010 i ABSTRACT The advent of cloud computing in recent years has sparked an interest from different organisations, institutions and users to take advantage of web applications. This is a result of the new economic model for the Information Technology (IT) department that cloud computing promises. The model promises a shift from an organisation required to invest heavily for limited IT resources that are internally managed, to a model where the organisation can buy or rent resources that are managed by a cloud provider, and pay per use. Cloud computing also promises scalability of resources and on-demand availability of resources. Although, the adoption of cloud computing promises various benefits to an organisation, a successful adoption of cloud computing in an organisation requires an understanding of different dynamics and expertise in diverse domains. Currently, there are inadequate guidelines for adopting cloud computing and building trust. Therefore, this research project aims at developing a roadmap called ROCCA (Roadmap for Cloud Computing Adoption), which provides organisations with a number of steps for adopting cloud computing and building trust. An associated framework called ROCCA Achievement Framework (RAF) is also proposed. RAF is a framework that uses the criteria in the ROCCA to build a framework for measuring the adherence level to the proposed roadmap. This dissertation focuses on a range of strategic issues from a broad cross section of areas of expertise required to ensure a successful cloud computing adoption. It presents in detail the technological factors key to a successful cloud computing adoption, and it introduces the technology underlying cloud computing, and describes different cloud computing delivery and deployment models. It explains how an emphasis on collaboration between clients and vendor is essential for successful adoption of cloud computing. If the organisation feels free, confident and secure to use cloud services then it is more likely that the adoption rate will increase. By following the guidelines outlined, organisations can ensure that their adoption of cloud computing are effective, efficient and provides a high degree of satisfaction. This dissertation also covers ii cloud computing from a business perspective, ensuring that cloud computing adoption projects are fully costed, and risks are properly understood. Key words: Adoption, cloud, cloud computing, security, trust, ROCCA, RAF iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing an acknowledgement is not an easy. This is because there are so many people who have helped along the way. The authors’ greatest fear is forgetting someone, so I start off by saying thank you to all. If your name is not mentioned, please forgive me! Thanks go to Dr. Pierpaolo Dondio of the Distributed Computing Group, at Trinity College, who served as my supervisor during the course of writing this dissertation. Dr. Pierpaolo Dondio also helped greatly by providing critical directions whenever needed (of course if this dissertation is a mess the blame falls on me and only me!). Thanks to Dr. Ronan Fitzpatrick for his challenging seminars and discussions during the taught part of this course and for his invaluable feedback in the preparation of this dissertation. Dr. Fredrick J. Mtenzi, for his never ending support and encouragement throughout the course of my studies. Mr. Wawila Mwazembe for providing the author with the case study outlined in chapter eight and feedback on the roadmap and framework proposed in this dissertation. Special thanks to Zanifa Omary for sharing her experience in research and dissertation writing. I would be negligent if I did not mention my family, my parents Joel and Helena; and especially my Wife Irene and our boys Shalom and Jedidijah, who have supported me through the thick and thin of this MSc studies and Kenneth and Witness special kids. Last but not least, all DT 230 lecturers and students for the different discussions, challenges and experiences shared during the taught part of this MSc. Course. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................IV TABLE OF FIGURES..............................................................................................IX TABLE OF TABLES................................................................................................XI 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1 1.1 WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING?...........................................................................1 1.2 TRUST AND CHALLENGES IN CLOUD COMPUTING ADOPTION.............................1 1.3 RESEARCH PROBLEM..........................................................................................2 1.4 INTELLECTUAL CHALLENGES..............................................................................3 1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES......................................................................................4 1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY................................................................................4 1.7 RESOURCES........................................................................................................5 1.8 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS....................................................................................5 1.9 ORGANISATION OF THE DISSERTATION...............................................................6 2. CLOUD COMPUTING........................................................................................8 2.1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................8 2.2 CLOUD COMPUTING...........................................................................................8 2.2.1 Definition: Cloud Computing...............................................................10 2.2.2 Characteristics......................................................................................13 2.2.3 Technology............................................................................................14 v 2.2.4 Service/Delivery and Deployment Models............................................16 2.2.5 Drivers for adoption and benefits of cloud computing.........................21 2.3 CONCLUSION....................................................................................................23 3. TRUST IN COMPUTER SCIENCE.................................................................24 3.1 TRUST IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS.........................................................................24 3.1 Definition: Trust...................................................................................24 3.2 Situations that demands trust in cloud computing................................26 3.3 Qualities of trust relationship...............................................................28 3.4 Models of trust......................................................................................29 3.4.1 Cloud computing trust models..............................................................31 Trusted Cloud Computing Platform (TCCP) (Santos et al., 2009)....................31 Private Virtual Infrastructure (Krautheim, 2009).............................................32 Cloud Cube Model (JERICHO, 2009)..............................................................32 3.5 CONCLUSION....................................................................................................33 4. SECURITY, LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES.....................................34 4.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................34 4.2 SECURITY.........................................................................................................34 4.2.1 Security challenges in cloud computing...............................................35 4.2.2 Vulnerabilities and Threats in cloud computing..................................37 4.2.3 Cloud computing: source of perceived security threats.......................38 4.2.4 Security and cloud computing (Standards and Best Practices)............40 4.3 LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES......................................................................48 vi