Cloud computing and SaaS Web Apps Deployment

SaaS (Software as a Service) had almost met its doom in 2001 but it crawled back into contention due to the need of companies to combat with high-cost IT infrastructure. SaaS was revolutionary when it came in, but the expectations were too huge to be fulfilled. SaaS has now managed to smother other new technologies and has several versions in the form of Infrastructure as a service and Platform as a service. SaaS has considerably regained its stature since the dot com bubble burst and has grown in recent years.

SaaS web apps started out as point solutions and the first players in the market included UpShot and SalesNet. These solutions provided services related to specific business needs but did not have a huge customer following even though the idea was new and useful. The features were limited and the resources were limited too at their disposal. The competitors who started out offering SaaS solutions offered better features after the dot com bubble while the originators lost their place of importance and eventually vanished into thin air.

Feasibility of cloud computing and SaaS

The feasibility of cloud computing services has always been undetermined since it is difficult to quantify the benefits as well as its utility in any business context. Business requirements have always mentioned the need for low cost but efficient infrastructure but with no solid and structured cloud computing solution in place, it was difficult for businesses to opt for cloud computing. SaaS proved to be an efficient mode of delivery but it is important to know that the IT setup has evolved well over the years and the security measures are better than they were, years before.

Nowadays, there are businesses that are not wary of offshore software testing because of the fantastic setup of offshore service providers. Most are willing to outsource their non-core IT tasks to offshore locations. The cloud has made it possible to save time and money and set up virtual offices to get their tasks done.

Importance of Cloud computing and SaaS web apps

Cloud computing solutions are great for small businesses since they are scalable according to the needs. Additionally, they can even handle the immense workload at cheap monthly prices.

SaaS has grown to several heights and now has become mission-critical too. It has transitioned well from being a unit silo process to a full-fledged enterprise mode of delivery and the SaaS web apps are used for mission-critical purposes related to ERP solutions.

Cloud computing services consumed from external service providers have taken a huge chunk of the total services offered, according to a Gartner report. The cloud market is preferred today by many with the advent of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure capitalizing on the surge of interest in people for cloud computing. Many organizations have expressed their desired to get into cloud computing by allocating a part of their IT budget for the same. Many of them plan to allocate budget for cloud computing in the near future.

Cloud computing Web Apps are really distracted technology for interdependence resources like hardware and software. Cloud Computing Companies are changed the way of our businesses. There are so many companies are offering Cloud Computing and infrastructure services where Elan Emerging Technologies is one of them which provides professional services by skilled Cloud Computing Developers.

Cloud Computing, the Benefits and its Feasibility

The name "cloud computing" derived its name with the cloud symbol that was used to represent the Internet in most diagrams and technical flowcharts. Right from the start, cloud computing and its feasibility have always been debatable among analysts although most of them rooted for the cloud and against desktop computing. The volatile nature of its definition signaled distrust in the minds of experts.

Business requirements have demanded a lot from IT resources which necessitated the advent of cloud computing. Most enterprises opt for cloud computing options to prevent upfront infrastructure expenses. The cloud has ensured nowadays that the companies based in western countries are not wary to get the software solution. Potential flaws in the software development plan are pointed out before actually implementing the solution on the cloud.

Cloud computing has witnessed a huge interest in the technology world in recent years. It is an oft used term for referring to independent hosted services over the web. Cloud computing services can be classified into three main categories:

• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
• Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and

Analysts agree that it is imperative for offshore software development companies to make use of applications that can make use of the cloud. Here are some of the benefits of cloud computing:

• Low Cost of Infrastructure: There is no reason to invest heavily on infrastructure and a company can have limited number of hard disks and less memory for storage while they can have good and efficient processors. Peak computing needs can be easily handled by robust servers in the cloud
• The cloud setup will let computers to pitch in a good performance since it will run with fewer programs loaded into memory.
• Few maintenance costs will be the order of the day since cloud computing reduced hardware and software maintenance costs easily.
• Only those who need access to particular software will have license to use it through the cloud. Cloud services will be cheaper than desktop versions. Web-based applications are available for free and the upgrades of most software come cheap.
• Unlimited Storage Capacity: The cloud boasts of unlimited storage capabilities since it can store any number of data without any restriction. Even the computer’s 200GB hard drive would look like peanuts compared to the size of the cloud which would come to about hundreds of petabytes.
• Increased Data Safety: Data is safe and secure in the cloud since the information and files in a desktop might get corrupted or your disk can get crashed. Data gets duplicated in the cloud hence it won’t have problems with data security.
• Improved Document Format Compatibility: All documents created through document based applications can be read and easily accessed by the other user. In the cloud, there are very less problems related to format incompatibilities. Documents can be accessed easily and universally with a web connection.
• Easier Group Collaboration: Anyone and everyone can collaborate and communicate in real time with the help of cloud computing services.
• No need for Tether to connect to System: You apps and important documents will still be available if you change your desktop or laptop.

Cloud computing Trends and the Employment Impact

Cloud computing has reduced the infrastructure overheads which has been troubling different companies. Additionally, it has managed to increase employment too. Cloud computing has diverted all workload shift. Now the network of computers which constitutes the cloud can handle any amount of data and workload. A company does not have to invest upfront on hardware or software for regular updates.

Post-cloud computing support, the hardware and software demands of most companies decrease. The only thing that the computer should be ready to run is the interface system of the cloud. The cloud’s network takes care of the rest of the things.

Most have already used some sort of cloud computing technology, just that many are not aware of it. Every web-based e-mail service including Yahoo! Mail or Gmail, one has used is part of the cloud computing setup. All email programs are logged in remotely. The software and storage of emails is stored on the service's computer cloud and not on one’s personal system.

Lately cloud computing has proved to be a strong driver of employment growth since it has created thousands of jobs, according to a new study which was conducted recently. Based on the trends, analysts presume that cloud computing has potential for big business opportunities along with new jobs for the professionals.

According to the statistics indicated in the report, 11 cloud computing companies have added 80,000 jobs for the year 2010 which is incredible by any standards. The employment rate was five times than the employment rate of the overall high-tech sector. Additionally, cloud computing companies have projected growth in revenue by $20 billion on an average per year. This growth is a projection for the next five years. With the growth, it is expected that more than 472,000 jobs would be added in the US and abroad in 5 years!

The study also reveals that the boom in mobile computing devices has driven the growth in cloud computing and employment rate. Also, the “social” trend in online services has propelled the growth in increased use of cloud computing development services.

Cloud computing does have a direct impact on the whole business lifecycle since business growth leads to jobs and that is why there is a growing incidence of employment in the sector compared to other industries. Also, analysts believe that the combined growth of mobile computing, social media tools and data management have all grown on the cloud, which is why they attribute continual success of all aspects of information technology if introduced through cloud computing services.

Cloud computing and its types preferred around the world!

Cloud computing has been a former buzzword which had inspired overtime imagination amongst the geeks. But not many can be sure about what it actually means!

Cloud Computing Development has been always one of the major buzzwords in technology and most organizations have already ventured into the cloud. Cloud computing has proved to be quite cost-effective with the arrival of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. Everyone though seems to have different definitions of the same concept.

Many analysts have labeled cloud computing to be a version of utility computing which refers to different virtual servers across the world and all over the Internet. Some even refer anything outside their own firewall system to be "in the cloud," including outsourcing.

Cloud computing has helped many companies though, to add capabilities without having to train new guys or spend on costly infrastructure. Any subscription-based paid service comes within the purview of cloud computing. Everything from full-blown applications to storage services has been in the canopy of cloud computing. For most companies, nowadays, it is very important for them to participate in cloud-based services.

Here are some types of cloud computing services:

• SaaS (Software as a Service) delivers a single application through the browser to plethora of customers utilizing a multitenant architecture. It does not force any upfront investment in buying servers or even in software licensing, which means that costs are drastically low compared to conventional hosting. Salesforce.com is one of the best enterprise applications running on SaaS.
• Compared to SaaS, utility computing is not new, but this sort of computing is backed by many sites like Amazon.com, Sun, IBM who host servers on demand. Most companies who adopted it some years back used it for non-critical purposes but slowly and steadily, utility computing is bound to replace datacenters.
• Web service providers offer APIs that help out developers to make the best use of its functionality online rather than creating full-blown applications. There are many companies which provide a full range of APIs  like Google offers with its Google maps.
• PaaS is a variation of SaaS where you can use the platform as a service. You build your own applications runs on the provider’s platform. One does not get complete freedom here but one gets predictability and pre-integration.
• Managed service providers are the oldest forms of cloud computing. It is basically an application which manages IT and its applications rather than being useful directly to the end users. The best example of a MSP is a virus scanning service or even a monitoring service and anti-spam services. Even some desktop management services come under the canopy of managed services.

Requirements of a Web Development Service Provider and the various stages involved

While searching out for a web development company or provider, one needs to check out for the following criteria:

• Proven track record of delivering different types of projects
• Years of experience at executing outsourced projects related to web development
• Versatility of the provider in different technologies and domain-specific expertise
• Certifications and achievements along with relevant portfolio
• Quality control measures for better quality of final web application
• Better and flexible engagement models for working out web development projects
• Use of multiple web development frameworks and ability to work with multilingual features
• Content management support as well as SEO services
• Price competitiveness and reasonability in budget
• Sound understanding of Cross Cultural and Time Zone issues

Even after doing a background check of the client, an onsite visit will do no harm. Check out the reputation of the company, the current projects that they are involved in and the overall portfolio. Check out the staff and the professionals who are going to be part of the project and the transparency in the dealings. A view of the quality procedures practiced at the organization will give you a better idea about the deliverables.

The Different Stages of Web Development – for Vendors

There are several stages of web development before a website is ready for general use:

• Concept/Pre-Alpha: In this stage of development, the idea is basically an abstract idea than the eventual site. Through this stage the overall framework is formed and the coding starts.
• Alpha: In this stage there is a site which can be visited but is full of bugs which need to be tracked out.
• Beta: In this stage the site is near completion. The various menus and submenus are in working condition and the links are redirecting to the landing pages perfectly. Additionally the Flash/ Silverlight animation should be working fine in different browsers. Some bugs are needed to be sorted out but the site is open for public testing.
• Final/Stable Launch: After you have Beta tested your site for a fair amount of time and the design is worked out, the site is ready for launch. This is the last stage which indicates that the site is completely developed.

By being aware of what needs to be done during the web development process and then planning out systematically keeping into account the total days involved, success is assured. Picking up the right web development vendor is critical for clients while vendors themselves need to be systematic in their planning and execution.

Elan Emerging Technologies is an "ISO 9001:2008 certified” Web Development company that provides Cloud Computing Services and mostly adept in Amazon Web Services including Amazon Cloud Computing, Offshore Software Development, Windows CE Apps, Windows CE Embedded Development