Critical Success Factors for a CRM Program A Discussion

Introduction Today, in the business world, organisations competing for market power and success are continuously looking for avenues to step ahead of their competitors.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Success Factors for a CRM Program: A Discussion specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This, however, is becoming a more taxing objective for organisational managers as rapid advancements in information technology lead to mounting transparency of management activities across companies, making it exceedingly challenging to realize long-lasting differentiation (Kimiloglu Zarali 2009). But since the realization by management that customers are the core of a business and that an organisation’s success depends on effectively managing relationships with them (Nguyen et al 2007), companies are increasingly adopting and implementing customer relationship management (CRM) programs to maintain competitive advantage and prevent customers from switching to other companies (Kotorov 2003). The present paper discusses the critical success factors for a CRM program by illuminating the essential components making up the program. Essential Components of a CRM Program Perhaps the most essential component of a CRM program is the customer. Extant literature demonstrates that customers are the only source of the organisation’s present profit and future growth (Kotorov, 2003), hence must be located at the core of any successful CRM program by virtue of the fact that CRM has to result in the delivery of a valued customer experience (Kimiloglu Zarali 2009). An efficient CRM program, according to Payne Frow (2006), must be able to extract and deliver value to the customer through integrating and managing different channels of communication (e.g., face-to-face contacts, phone, Internet or other interactive media) to allow for an ongoing dialogue between customer and the firm across channels. As postu lated by Peelen et al (2009), the organisation must work deliberately and in a premeditated way to ensure that the product, the service offerings, the communications and interactions, the context and the price match or surpass customer expectations if it is to create a positive and long-lasting impact on customer loyalty, retention, recommendation behaviour and lifetime value.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The second essential component of a CRM program is the relationship. As acknowledged by Kimiloglu Zarali (2009), the relationship between an organisation and its customers assumes a continuous two-way communication and interaction approach, which may be short-term or long-term, continuous or detached, repeating or one-time, and attitudinal or behavioural. Even though customers may have developed a positive attitude towards the organisation and its products or services o fferings, a stream of extant literature (e.g., Payne Frow 2006; Maleki Anand 2008) demonstrates that their buying behaviour is highly situational and context-oriented. Consequently, as suggested by Wang Feng (2012), an efficient CRM program must have the capacity to manage the customer-organisation relationship in a proactive and structured way to ensure it is profitable and mutually beneficial. Scholars and practitioners consider management to be a critical component of any successful CRM program. Payne Frow (2006) argue that CRM should not be perceived as an activity within the marketing domain; rather, it involves continuous corporate change in vision, strategy, culture and processes. The organisation’s management, including its top leadership, must therefore contribute positively for the CRM program to be able to collect customer information and transform it into corporate knowledge that leads to activities that take advantage of the collected information and of exist ing market opportunities (Maleki Anand 2008). For the CRM program to achieve success, the management should spearhead a comprehensive change in the company and its people. Another component which is inexorably linked to management is organisational collaboration. For CRM initiatives to bear fruit, scholars and practitioners have realized that the firm has to be built around customer needs (Nguyen et al 2007), and that customer management success must be appraised based on intermediate customer-oriented outcomes, such as satisfaction, loyalty and increased customer profitability (Peelen et al 2009).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Success Factors for a CRM Program: A Discussion specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These authors further contend that â€Å"†¦the customer management function has the responsibility of creating reciprocity in a sense that actions taken by the company are matched by actions from the customers and vice versa† (p. 456). This therefore means that reciprocity is a fundamental characteristic of CRM, and entails the timely and accurate delivery of products and services, the creation of empathy toward the customer, and the expertise to commence a co-creation relationship with customers. Another key feature within the domain of organisational collaboration is the continuous and bi-directional customer-oriented feedback system, which assist the firm to not only learn about its customers but to also respond to their needs in a structured and proactive way (Peelen et al 2009). Hence, employees are expected to develop a customer-oriented culture to be able to share and interpret the meaning of customer data (Kotorov 2003), but more importantly to understand customers needs and ensure they are addressed ahead of those of owners, management or employees (Peelen et al 2009). Still, CRM vision is seen as an essential constituent of a successful CRM program. Sch olars are in agreement that the firm needs to articulate or review its vision, related to CRM, if the program is to achieve success (Payne Flow 2006). Peelen et al (2009, p. 455) define CRM vision â€Å"†¦as an organisation’s top management commitment to customer centricity as a path to business success.† Having realized that many CRM programs fail due to a disconnection of CRM vision and execution (Nguyen et al 2007), many managers charged with the responsibility of executing CRM programs have now acknowledged the critical importance of CRM vision not only to align the program with the business strategy and therefore increase the value of the customer relationship (Maleki Anand 2008), but also to align the scope and direction of CRM within the firm and therefore the development of other components (Peelen et al 2009).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The last component to be discussed in this paper is the CRM strategy, which is basically a description of how the firm plan to realize its vision. Peelen et al (2009, p. 455) acknowledge that â€Å"†¦without the CRM strategy, the vision will remain without (significant) impact on the other components.† Since the most immediate aim of the firm is to optimize the value of the customer base, CRM strategy assists it to not only position the customers at the heart of its activities but to also provide direction to all parts of the organisation to operate in tandem to realize end outcomes that balance the firm’s revenues/profits with customer satisfaction and loyalty (Wang Feng 2012). This exposition shows that the most important function of CRM strategy is to assist in the realization of the firm’s CRM vision, but to also deliver customer value and extract business value simultaneously. Conclusion From the discussion, it is clear that a successful CRM program m ust be grounded on some core components for organisations to reap the benefits associated with CRM, including maintaining competitive advantage, customer loyalty and retention. Although there are other essential components of a CRM program, the current paper has discussed several critically important ones including: customer, relationship, management, organisational collaboration, CRM vision and CRM strategy. The management of firms intending to adopt CRM programs should consider incorporating these components into their systems to achieve competitiveness, customer loyalty and retention. Reference List Kimiloglu, H Zarali, H 2009, ‘What signifies success in e-CRM’, Marketing Intelligence Planning, vol. 27 no. 2, pp. 246-267. Kotorov, R 2003, ‘Customer relationship management: Strategic lessons and future directions’, Business Process Management Journal, vol. 9 no. 5, pp. 566-571. Maleki, M, Anand, D 2008, ‘The critical success factors in customer r elationship management (CRM) (ERP) implementation’, Journal of Marketing Communication, vol. 4 no. 2, pp. 67-80. Nguyen, TH, Sherif, JS Newby, M 2007, ‘Strategies for successful CRM implementation’, Information Management Computer Security, vol. 15 no. 2, pp. 102-115. Payne, A Frow, P 2006, ‘Customer relationship management: From strategy to implementation’, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 22 no. 1/2, pp. 135-168. Peelen, E, Van Montfort, K, Beltman, R Klerkx, A 2009, ‘An empirical study into the foundations of CRM success’, Journal of Strategic Marketing, vol. 17 no. 6, pp. 453-471. Wang, Y Feng, H 2012, ‘Customer relationship management capabilities: Measurement, antecedents and consequents’, Management Decision, vol. 50 no. 1, pp. 115-129. This essay on Critical Success Factors for a CRM Program: A Discussion was written and submitted by user Madilynn Andrews to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

buy custom The Relevance of Ballroom Dancing in Texas Schools essay

buy custom The Relevance of Ballroom Dancing in Texas Schools essay The Relevance of Ballroom Dancing in Texas Schools Ballroom dance is a set of dance performed by partners and is enjoyed both socially and competitively on stage, film and television. This kind of dance is performed in a specially designed large room referred to as a ballroom. Initially, it was a social dance meant for the upper class members of the society. The lower class enjoyed folk dancing- a rather non-professional dance designed for non-public performance but dominated by an inherent customs and traditions rather than innovation (George Zona, 2008). Literature Review The introduction of ballroom dance can be traced back to the effect of societal changes. Knowles (2009) explains that the shift in the trend of social dances is a manifestation of the interpretation and response to the dynamics of the contemporary society. Gillis (2008) asserts that ballroom dance started during the period of Renaissance (1300-1500 AD) and was popular with kings and queens. Knowles (2009) supports this assertion when he identifies waltz as one of the oldest ballroom dances. The original waltz dance was performed in a ballroom with the man facing outward from the centre of the room and spiraling clockwise with his partner while moving around the ballroom floor counter-clockwise (Knowles, 2009). This dance dominated the Renaissance Period. On the contrary, George Zona (2008) asserted that the emergence of waltz was criticized by religious and social leaders for being too sexual in nature. Critics argued then that the dance promoted a very close contact between the dancing partners referred to as couples. Other forms of dances emerged like the polka and due to abolition of slavery waltz became even more popular as people wanted more time to escape, to celebrate and to dance (George Zona, 2008). The modern ballroom dance has been identified as elegant, restrained and sedate (Knowles, 2009). The Mad Hot Ballroom Program Ballroom dancing has transformed from a dance of the affluent to that which can be performed in either a social situation or at competitive levels. Most institutions of learning have introduced dance education to their curriculum. McCutchen (2006) defined the purpose of an educational dance as to educate learners in dance as an art form in all its dimensions. The intention of such programs has been to educate learners on how to dance and use artistic processes in learning and social interactions. With an interest to pursue more educational outputs, educationists have incorporated numerous dance patterns in educational curriculum, one being the Mad Hot Ballroom program currently being implemented in Texas. This is a detailed ballroom dance program launched by Antonio Dulaine and Yvonne Marceau for New York City public schools. This program involves kids in elementary and high schools exploring their lives in a rather sometimes hilarious perspective. Methodology Persuasive Interview In order to ascertain the importance of Mad Hot Ballroom Program in the elementary and high schools curriculum in Texas, this paper will detail a persuasive interview carried out on three public elementary and high school teachers. Two of the interviewees are dance teachers while the other is a socials and religious studies teacher. Four sets of directional questions formed a basis of the interview as outlined below. What is your opinion on the Mad Hot Ballroom phenomenon in educational process? Do you support its inclusion in the elementary and high schools curriculum in Texas? In what ways will the introduction of the Mad Hot Ballroom in the elementary and high schools in Texas affect our children? What are some of the recommendations that the curriculum should adopt while implementing the Mad Hot Ballroom program? Interview Questions Guide This interview and primarily the questions were directed by the Antonio and Yvonne assertions on the importance of Mad Hot Ballroom inclusion in the elementary and high schools curriculum. All the interviewees were professionally trained teachers and employees of three different elementary and high schools in Texas. Precisely, two were from different high schools while the other religious and social studies teacher was from a public elementary school. Findings of the Interview Physical and Mental Development The public elementary school teacher argues that thugh Mad Hot Ballroom promotes physical and mental development in children in her school, there is a concern on its morality as the performance promotes too much partner closeness. She notably argues that the use of visual art in learning is important in that it opens a learners potentials and imaginations. Pircat (2006) asserts that the use of visuals in art education emphasizes the potentiality in a learner due to the explicit attention, interrogation and the mental construction of the visual objects and experiences it relays. Thus, the inclusion of art and dance in the curriculum would help promote learning especially in the dimensions of culture, ethnicity, gender and religion. The teacher however notes that Mad Hot Ballroom program, in order to be successful, should only include socially relevant contents with increased attention on the contemporary society. Knowles (2009) supported the inclusion of socially relevant content arguing that it would enhance exploration in classroom discussions and school assignments. Pircat (2006) summarized the role of art and specifically ballroom dance as reawakening the scholars body through the fusion of the intelligent and sensual dimensions to scholarly representations. Building Self Esteem and Confidence Hot Ballroom Dance is identified by the second interviewee - a high school dance teacher as developing multiple perspectives in an individual. These perspectives develop from the ability to master the codified steps and styles and integrate them to both social and recreational aspects. Picart (2006) explains this aspect through the analysis of the adaptation of the bodies, skills and styles in a Ballroom dance. The teacher describes the adaptation as cohering and motivating to learners hence building the learners self confidence and esteem. Marion (2008) expounds that the learners self confidence blossoms as they learn to fox trot and tango during the dance. In fact, according to the dance teacher Mad Hot Ballroom dance has very challenging steps and the ability to learn something learners never imagined they could perform enhances self confidence in itself. Infotainment Dancing is also a form of infotainment. The dance teacher indicates that dance has a tendency to refine the manners and behaviors of young ones in a rather entertaining manner. Aldrich (1991) regards dancing as a utility describing it as the most enchanting of all human amusements. Thus, the introduction of mad hot ballroom program in learning institutions in Texas would make learning enjoyable and cheerful. The dance teacher remarks that its introduction in the curriculum would banish grief resulting from daylong studies among learners and cheer their evening hours with delightful sensations. Development of Learners Potentials The third interviewee says that Mad Hot Ballroom develops learners potentials. When such abilities are identified at elementary and high school level then they can be nurtured to greater levels. Ballroom dancing has been already referred to as a highly competitive dance. Gillis (2008) refers to the competitive dancing as Dance Sport and identifies it as common on television shows. Thus encouraging the teenagers to dance while still in schools enhances creativity and specialization. Development in Physical Education Gillis (2008) further argues that this kind of program may increase physical activity for teenagers while they are in school. The roles of physical education in a child development are numerous. For instance, according to McCutchen (2006) it offers an effective content for the development and appreciation of aesthetic values. Dance in itself offers aesthetic education which is valuable for an individuals cultural and beauty appreciation. Secondly, the interviewee attests that dance would also serve the purpose of offering artistic values. This argument is supported by McCutchen (2006) when she indicates that among all physical activities it is only dance that is symbolized by the ability to make symbolic statements to create meaning. Finally, Mad Hot Dance would enable the learners to acquire control, coordination and versatility in use of the body to maintain flexibility and to develop strength. This would provide an opening in health education and consequently reduce obesity and other ailments caused by lack of physical education. The involvement of physical education instructors, teachers and teenagers increases the physical activity and interest in the learners who may later perform the dance at home with their parents and siblings. The dance teacher reported a more concentration level among the learners after the implementation of the dance program. Recognition and Appreciation of Gender Roles Another aspect of ballroom dance is its appreciation for gender and learning of gender roles. The fact that this dance is performed by a couple gives it a vantage for teenagers to appreciate the role of gender in their development. It provides an opportunity to filter studio cultures from social orientations especially with regards to gender and to infuse these cultures in their normal lives. Marion (2008) explains that learners are given opportunity to perform as both same sex and mix sex couples thus enabling them to reflect the impact of gender in educational activities. She further illustrate this argument through the manner in which boys are instructed to hold or lead their girl partners while girls are taught to be passive and submissive as some of the gendered identities ballroom dances relay. Picart (2006) expounds this aspect through the argument that ballroom dance enables children to communicate clear bodily cues and to explore both the traditional masculine and feminine r oles. Recognition and Appreciation of Aesthetic Values Another impact of this program is the fact that it recognizes aesthetics and behavior as both cultural sources and products. Marion (2008) indicates that this program addresses the role of culture in mediating the interconnection between bodily practices and aesthetic values. In retrospect, it analyses how culture work through the mind and how it is translated to the body. In deed, the Mad Hot Ballroom presents a clear illustration on how cultural practices can determine both the intended and unintended consequences through dance (Marion, 2008). The inclusion of this program in the elementary and high school in Texas would, according to one of my interviewees, instill a spirit of cultural awareness and appreciation. The kids would transform from urban-state life to a life of cultural awareness, appreciation and diversity. Elimination of Cultural Stereotypes One of the high school drama teachers acknowledges that there are cultural stereotypes among students and teachers in Texas. He asserts that Mad Hot Ballroom film is rich of visual culture with contents to inspire meaningful learning experiences for students. Aldrich (1991) explains that dances are not complete unless they take into account culture as a whole. Another writer, McCutchen (2006) explains that dance is not an entity in itself but rather belongs to the wider cultural context. Hence, a deeper understanding on ones culture and those of others through dance would counteract biases and stereotypes that may have been formed. Recommendations With regards to the above views of three teachers considered in this paper on the introduction of Ballroom dance program in elementary and high school curriculum, it is noteworthy that a few policies be put in place. It has noted that dance is one of the major arts forms which children require to develop their cognitive, physical and manipulative skills. It has also discussed the role of Mad Hot Ballroom with regards to cultural and aesthetic preservations. However, there is a few of morality aspects especially with regards to the couples closeness during the performance of ballroom dance which should be addressed. Consequently, this paper highlights a few recommendations which an effective school curriculum should adopt. First, the curriculum should ensure that the program is mandatory and taught during the schools regular hours. That is to say, it should not be relegated to an afterschool activity or reserved for a few (McCutchen, 2006). Secondly; the program should be modeled to promote essential skills as well as critical thinking. In this regards, the program should not only be for fun but must be effectively objective. Thirdly, the curriculum should set guiding principles on the program. The set standards should cohere with the general school curriculum and should give equal opportunity for achievement to all learners. Finally, it is recommended that the program integrate aesthetic and kinesthetic aspects to enable children learn ballroom dance as an expressive language with which to communicate. Conclusion In light of the above recommendations, this paper concludes that ballroom dancing should be introduced in elementary and high schools in Texas. It recognizes the multi dimensional roles played by dancing. Educational dance has been presented as an educational tool that increases aesthetic value and affecting the total cognitive and manipulative abilities of children. It stretches not only the body but also the mind hence an integral part in the educational pursuit of an individual. Buy custom The Relevance of Ballroom Dancing in Texas Schools essay

Lack of Staff diversity in prisons Research Paper

Lack of Staff diversity in prisons - Research Paper Example Added to this is the diverse racial and ethnic population in today’s prisons, the diverse levels of education of the prison population, the lack of diversity of staff in the corrections system and the need for educational support that is equitable for all prisoners. Lack of Staff Diversity in Prisons Introduction There has been a dramatic increase over the past few decades in the number of women who enter the field of corrections and in fact, there is reported to be significantly more women employed in jails and prisons than men. This has resulted in gender-based issues relating to corrections employment that needs examined in the research. In addition, there has been a significant increase in the number of women who are being incarcerated in today’s prisons and this too has affected and served to change the face of the environment for those employed in prisons corrections facilities. Added to this is the diverse racial and ethnic population in today’s prisons, t he diverse levels of education of the prison population, the lack of diversity of staff in the corrections system and the need for educational support that is equitable for all prisoners. I. ... y reported having been conducted at three Midwestern prisons states finding that â€Å"no relationship between gender and job stress was found.† (Lambert, et al, 2007, p.18) A separate study conducted of correctional officers at a Southwestern correctional facility reports findings that â€Å"no significant relationship between gender and job stress† was found. (p.18) In yet another study conducted among Pacific Northwest correctional officers findings show that â€Å"†¦female and male staff had similar levels of burnout in terms of emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment.† (Lambert, et al, 2007, p. 18) Findings show that female and male respondents â€Å"generally reported the same level of job stress.† (Lambert, et al, 2007, p. 18) Lambert et al (2007) reports that the research on differences in corrections to date on gender issues is â€Å"rather mixed. There is support that men and women differ in some areas, while in other areas, there appears to be no gender difference between correctional officers and their works and work attitudes.† (p.19) Britton (1997) reports conclusions from a qualitative study that â€Å"gender was important in how correctional staff perceived their work environments† although quantitative studies are reported to have found no differences. However, other quantitative studies did find differences in this area of study. The work of Reijnders (1996) entitled â€Å"A Library Service for Multicultural Groups in Dutch Prisons† reports that many of the prisoners in the Netherlands are not able to understand Dutch and this results in isolation for these prisoners. However, delivery of books in the language of the prisoners assists in easing the time they are incarcerated. However, gathering a collection of foreign books that are diverse in

Final Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Final Paper - Essay Example I will verify about existence of the problem myself. In the next step, I will try to gather relevant information so as to support the claim that the bike will accelerate dangerously when operated for long hours in hot climate. I will analyze the problem as well as confirm the same with production department that root cause of the problem is overheating of the solar panel. I would further discuss with the production and maintenance departments about possible solutions and select the appropriate one. Following this, an outline of the cost that the company will incur for each alternative solution will be prepared. The next step is to approach the management along with other employees from production and maintenance department with a report that explains the problem, associated cost of alternatives and future cost of company in case the problem is overlooked (Ho 583-593). It is important to note that payment of $5000 to buyers for placing the product on his selves is firstly a wrong approach as this will open an avenue for the buyer to repeat such claims in future. Secondly, the practice of bribing for business expansion purpose in the United States is illegal under the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977. The company, being a reputed one operating in production of sustainable products, must consider sustainability and transparency in the transactions made as well. Paying the buyer will result in breach of the FCP act as well as code of corporate governance of the company. In addition, it will also imply that the company is not sufficiently confident about its products and prefers buying shelf area from retailer. After considering all these factors, as a responsible employee of Green Move, I would not recommend payment of the special fee to particular buyer as the move is unethical and illegal (â€Å"Foreign Corrupt Pr actices Act of 1977†). For any product, it is important

Murder Trial and Murder Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Murder Trial and Murder - Case Study Example The Circumstantial evidence that could be deduced was that of Massachusetts State Police chemist Deanna Dygan who in her testimony in the superior court held up the floral underpants of the Rachel stated that blood samples and sperm cells were found in the crotch area. However seminal fluid could not be tested positive. Further, the shirt of Rachel which was covered with blood was found to have sperm cells and three holes out of which two had tested positive to lead which is present due to a gunshot. Finally, it was found that the death of the infant had been caused due to a contact shot. The circumstantial evidence which had been put forward by Dylan was said to be inconclusive and thus was of not much help. The objectivity of the investigation was put into question by the lawyer of Elliot Weinstein who put in the relevant evidence that is if prior to or during the investigation Dylan had put in Entwistle’s name in the suspect box on crime scene sheet. Dylan stated in the affirmative on which Elliot stated that this had affected the investigation procedure. Further, he argued that the bullet wound had not been found at the crime scene and had been found during the autopsy, a vital element not noticed during the investigation of the crime scene. Finally when Weinstein asked if the bullet trajectory had been carried out which was answered in the negative by Dylan. The relevant evidence which had been established in the specific case led to the establishment of the fact that Dylan had been led to believe that Neil Entwistle the possible suspect was the culprit. and so a biased opinion had been possibly established by the chemist. The direct evidence that was provided was that by Drugan, the senior chemist in the state police crime lab's arson and explosives unit who stated that the residue of gun primer was found only on the hands of Rachel. He went on to say that quite a few items of the BMW had been tested at the airport and it was deduced that neither the steering wheel, keys and a shirt had all been found to be negative when the tests for the gun primer had been carried out. Further eleven knives had been tested for the knife block but all came negative. The direct evidence that had been provided for by Drugan was in itself a bit inconclusive which led to a stronger case being established for the possible suspect. Further the items that had been tested had strengthened the case of the husband of Rachel. The testimonial evidence was provided by Trooper Stephen Walsh who is a member of the fire arms identification unit. He provided that he had tested a bullet which had been removed from the body of the victim Rachel's chest and had further removed two fragments of bullets.

The Future Prospects Of Cloud Computing

The Future Prospects Of Cloud Computing Cloud computing involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. These services are divided into three types: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The name was inspired by the cloud symbol thats often used to represent the Internet in flow charts and diagrams. Cloud computing is used to describe both a platform and type of application. A cloud computing platform provisions, configures, reconfigures, and deprovisions servers as needed. Servers in the cloud can be physical or virtual machines. Cloud computing also describes applications that are accessible through the Internet. Anyone with a suitable Internet connection and a standard browser can access a cloud application. Characteristics of Cloud Figure 1: Cloud Structure Dynamic computing infrastructure Cloud computing demands a dynamic computing infrastructure. The foundation for the dynamic structure is a scalable, standardized, and secure physical infrastructure. There should be redundant levels to ensure high levels of availability, but mostly to extend as usage growth demands it, without requiring architectural rework. It must also be virtualized. These services require easy provisioning and de-provisioning via software automation. IT service-centric approach Cloud computing is IT service-centric. This is in contrast to system- or server- centric models. In most of the cases, users of the cloud would prefer to easily access a dedicated instance of an application or service. Service Centric approach enables user adoption and business agility, reducing costs or driving revenue. Self-service based usage model This model must provide an easy to use user interface that enables users to manage the service delivery lifecycle. The advantage of self service from the users perspective is empowerment and independence that yields significant business agility. One benefit often overlooked from the service providers perspective is that the more self service that can be delegated to users, the less administrative involvement is necessary. This saves both time and money. Minimally or self-managed platform In order for a service provider to efficiently provide a cloud for its clients, they must leverage a technology platform that is self managed. A provisioning engine for deploying services, recovering resources for high levels of reuse, mechanisms for scheduling and reserving resource capacity, and capabilities for configuring, managing, and reporting to ensure resources can be allocated, tools for controlling access to resources and policies. 2.5. Consumption-based billing Cloud computing is usage-driven and consumers pay for only the resources they use and therefore are charged or billed on a consumption-based model. Cloud computing must provide mechanisms to capture usage information that enables integration with billing systems. The value from a users perspective is the ability for them to pay only for the resources they use, helping them keep their costs down. From providers perspective, it allows them to track usage for charge back and billing purposes. Types of Clouds Figure 2: Cloud Types Public cloud Public cloud also referred to as external cloud describes cloud computing in the conventional sense. Here the resources are dynamically provisioned over the Internet, through web applications or web services, from an off-site third-party provider who shares resources and bills on a utility computing basis. Community cloud A community cloud can be established where many organizations have similar type of requirements and seek to share the infrastructure so as to realize some of the benefits of cloud computing. This option is comparatively expensive but offers a higher level of privacy, security and/or policy compliance. Example of community cloud includes Googles Gov Cloud. Hybrid cloud A hybrid cloud consisting of multiple internal and/or external providers is most common for enterprises. By combining numerous cloud services, users are able to ease and facilitate the transition to public cloud services. Another perspective on deploying a web application in the cloud is using Hybrid Hosting, where the hosting is a mix between Cloud Hosting for the web server, and Managed dedicated server for the database server. Private cloud For private cloud, implementing the cloud is controlled completely by the enterprise. They are hence also referred to as internal clouds. Private clouds are implemented in the companys data center and managed by internal resources. A private cloud maintains all corporate data in resources under the control of the legal umbrella of the organization. Architecture of Cloud Computing The architecture of cloud computing is rooted in hardware and software infrastructures that enable scaling and virtualization. Many data centers deploy these capabilities today. Figure 3: Cloud Architecture Virtualized Infrastructure Virtualization ensures that applications or business services are not directly dependent on the underlying hardware infrastructure such as storage, servers, or networks. This allows business services to move dynamically in a very efficient manner, based upon predefined policies. Virtualized Applications This component helps the application to decouple itself from the underlying operating system, storage, hardware, and network to enable flexibility in deployment. Virtualized Application servers can take advantage of grid computing along with SOA and ensures scalability to meet the business requirements. Development tools Development tools can facilitate clouds distributed computing capabilities. These tools not only facilitate service orchestration but also enable business processes to be developed that can leverage the parallel processing capabilities. The development tools must support dynamic provisioning. Enterprise Management Enterprise management provides the top-down, end-to-end management of the virtualized infrastructure. The enterprise management layer handles the full lifecycle of virtualized resources. Security and Identity Management Clouds must make use of a security infrastructure and unified identity to enable flexible provisioning. As clouds provision resources external to the enterprises legal boundaries, it becomes absolutely necessary to implement an Information Asset Management system to provide the requisite controls to meet compliance requirements. Current Benefits of Cloud Computing Decoupling and separation of business from infrastructure Elastic nature of the infrastructure to rapidly allocate and de-allocate massively scalable resources on a demand basis Reduced costs due to operational efficiencies Cloud makes it possible to launch Web 2.0 applications scale up applications as much as needed when needed supports traditional Javaà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ and Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) stack-based applications as well as new architectures such as MapReduce and the Google File System, which provide a means to scale applications across thousands of servers instantly Business Problem The main issues related to cloud computing in current situation revolves around: How does cloud computing alter the business model of ITeS? What are the economic and technical aspects of cloud implementation? How cloud computing will affect business? What are the potential drivers and barriers in cloud computing? Cloud computing can help users avoid capital expenditure (CapEx) on hardware, software, and services when they pay a provider only for what they use. Consumption is billed similar to a utility (like electricity) or subscription (like a newspaper) basis with little or no upfront cost. Another advantage of this time sharing style approach is low barrier to entry, shared infrastructure and costs, low management overhead, and immediate access to a broad range of applications. Users can generally terminate the contract at any time and the services are often covered by SLAs with financial penalties. Other factors impacting the scale of any cost savings include the efficiency of a companys data center as compared to the cloud vendors, the companys existing operating costs, and the type of functionality being hosted in the cloud. Existing Scenario The Existing Cloud Computing Adoption Model The existing cloud computing adoption by enterprise is modelled on Capability Maturity Model (CMM). The Cloud Computing Adoption Model proposes five steps: Level 1: Virtualization as the Cloud adoption employs application virtualization technology for shared server infrastructure and seamless portability. Level 2: Cloud Experimentation since Virtualization occurs internally or externally, based on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) to compute capacity and as a result of the reference architecture. Level 3: Cloud Foundations occurring due to procedures, policies, Governance, controls, and best practices begin to form around the deployment and development of cloud applications. These efforts always focus on non-mission critical, internal applications. Level 4: Cloud Advancement. Government foundations allow organizations to scale up the volume of cloud applications through broad-based deployments in the cloud. Level 5: Cloud Actualization as the Applications are distributed based on proximity to user, cloud capacity, cost. This Model outlines the readiness criteria, expected returns, risk factors, strategic goals, key investment requirements for graduating to the next step. Cloud Computing Alters ITeS Business Models The conventional value chain for IT services, extending from design, development, maintenance and support of IT infrastructures to the maintenance of the application and ITC landscape, is changing as a result of cloud computing concepts. The existing ITeS Business model as shown below is altered due to the impact of cloud computing and is explained below: Figure 4: ITeS Business Model Infrastructure Core Capabilities: The core capabilities required to deliver cloud services to the customers can be classified into 3 segments. These are: Service management and provisioning: This segment consists of Operations management, Service Provisioning, SLA management, Utilization Monitoring, Backup, Data Management. Security and Data Privacy: This segment consists of Authentication and Authorization, Data Network Security, Data Privacy, Auditing and Accounting Data Center Facilities: Under this part comes the Routers/Firewalls, LAN/WAN, Internet Access, Hosting Centers. Partners: If companies want SAAS to live up to its potential in a community-focused business model-centralizing communication, collaboration and business synchronicity across multiple, diverse companies-they need to augment technology implementation with a fresh approach to partner management. Key Processes: Cloud Services currently offers various services like Test and Development, Internet application Hosting, Disaster Recovery, File Storage, On-demand Storage, utility Computing, SaaS Applications, Log processing, Batch Computing, Jobs, Application Development. Offering Value Proposition: There are certain compelling benefits that the customers receive from Cloud Computing. These are: Reduce Cost: Reduction in total cost of ownership by optimally using the hardware and Software licenses Agility: The infrastructure can be provisioned quickly Global Scale: Massively scalable engines allow building highly scalable services for consumers Customers Customer Segments: The main target segment for the cloud services are the big enterprises, medium enterprises, small enterprises, independent software vendors, developers, etc. Customer Requirements: The main things that the customers require from cloud service providers are easy to use console, reliability, security, flexibility, low cost, green IT, etc. Finances Cost Structure: Cloud computing builds on established trends for driving the cost out of the delivery of services while increasing the speed and agility with which services are deployed. The cost of these environments is minimal because they can coexist on the same servers as production environments because they use few resources. Revenue: Cloud computing enables a shift in IT provision from direct purchase and payment for services to provision of services which are free at point of use and where revenue is derived from advertising. The largest component of the overall cloud services market is cloud-based advertising. Profit: Thus with reduction of cost in a great extent and a shift of revenue model to the advertisements, the profit for the Cloud Services is expected to be quite bright. The maturity model structure helps to classify and compare Cloud computing offerings Figure 5: Cloud Computing Maturity Model For Software as a Service (SaaS), there are business models based on pure SaaS solutions, with independent architectures. The Internet browser plays a key part and becomes part of the SaaS applications and acts as the user interface. A SaaS provider manages an application in their proprietary data center and makes it available to multiple users over the Web. Oracle CRM On Demand, Salesforce.com, and Netsuite are some of the well known SaaS examples For Platform as a Service (PaaS), the largest variant involves extensive middleware components. This platform comprises of infrastructure software, and typically includes a database, middleware and development tools. Creation of full-service platform solutions means that independent software vendors (ISVs) and IT departments of system integrators can develop and deliver applications online using third-party infrastructure services. For example, Google AppEngine is a PaaS offering where developers write in Python or Java. EngineYard is Ruby on Rails. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) business model comprises three different types: public, private and hybrid cloud models. It is the evolution of conventional hosting that doesnt need any commitment and at the same time ensures the users to the provision of resources on demand. Amazon Web Services Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Secure Storage Service (S3) are examples of IaaS offerings Economic Aspects of Cloud Implementation Due to recessionary impact as the demand for cost optimisation rises high, cloud computing is emerging as an option for large and small players, seemingly to the benefit of consulting companies in that domain. Cloud computing offers virtualized resources as a service over the internet, incorporating infrastructure, software and platform as services, without a user having to bear large costs by way of acquiring expensive assets in any of the three. It reduces capex into opex and enables computing at a fraction of the investment required to buy all the hardware and software. Technical Aspects of Cloud Implementation The three most important technical aspects of the cloud three items of the Cloud: 1) infinite computing resources 2) elimination of an up-front commitment and 3) pay for use of computing resources on a short-term basis as needed. The other important aspects are discusses below Server Compute Capacity The most important reason for leveraging cloud capabilities is to quickly gain access to hundreds or thousands of computers for compute capacity as and when required. Use of the cloud can be up to 90% faster than using servers in data centers. It is ideal for seasonal business load and traffic spikes. Storage Capacity There is so much structured and unstructured data on Enterprise storage servers that managing it requires a major cost. As building compute capacity in the Enterprise has become expensive, so has the building of storage capacity. The use of cloud computing for storage capacity can be ideal, especially for spikes in usage. Network Access Cloud computing services are generally accessed and delivered through and over the web. Compared to a traditional model, the use of a public network rather than a private network is a big change. The inherent routing delivery advantages of TCP-IP that gets messages to their destination even when multiple paths are down can be applied through cloud computing. Multiple Locations A cloud provider with multiple locations for delivery, fail-over and back-up. The technical capabilities enables load to be easily transferred from one location to another. Easy to use Cloud computing can be used as programming and technical conventions are similar enough to those of conventional computing, and leading cloud computing platforms have open APIs. How Cloud Computing will Change business New generation of products and services Cloud computing allows innovative companies offer products that are significantly less costly due to reduced capex and new business models Lightweight form of real-time partnerships and outsourcing with IT suppliers Cloud computing will provide agility and control that traditional outsourcing providers cannot match for the most part. Awareness and leverage of the greater Internet applications and Web 2.0 in particular A reconciliation of traditional SOA with the cloud and other emerging IT models Web-Oriented Architecture fits very well with cloud technologies which are heavily Web-based and its a natural way of building SOA at every level of the organization. Rise of new industry leaders and IT vendors Well-funded new cloud startups will bring new technologies, new sensibility (radical openness and transparency, and Web-focus) thats often needed with cloud computing More self-service IT from the business-side SaaS will require increasingly less and less involvement from the IT department. More tolerance for innovation and experimentation With lesser and lesser economic and technological barriers creating new ways to improve the business, cloud computing will enable prototyping and market validation of new approaches much faster Drivers Barriers of Cloud Computing Customer Perspective: Drivers economics Faster, simpler, cheaper to use cloud apps No upfront capital required for servers and storage No ongoing operational expenses for running datacenter Applications can be accessed from anywhere, anytime Customer Perspective: Barriers Data Security Many customers dont wish to trust their data to the cloud Data must be locally retained for regulatory reasons Latency The cloud can be many milliseconds away Not suitable for real-time applications Application Availability Cannot switch from existing legacy applications Equivalent cloud applications do not exist Vendor Perspective: Drivers economics Easier for application vendors to reach new customers Lowest cost way of delivering and supporting applications Ability to use commodity server and storage hardware Ability to drive down data center operational cots Vendor Perspective: Barriers Service Level Agreements What if something goes wrong? What is the true cost of providing SLAs? Business Models SaaS/PaaS models are challenging Much lower upfront revenue Customer Lock-in Customers want open/standard APIs Need to continuously add value Risks Security Issues in Cloud Computing Currently many companies are considering moving applications to the cloud but still there is doubt about the security of third party services. There are following risks security issues involved with cloud computing: No ownership of Hardware Companies who want to audit the providers and do their own testing need to consider the fact that they dont own the hardware. Conducting a penetration test requires the permission of the cloud-service provider .Otherwise; the client is illegally hacking into the providers systems. While some SLAs such as Amazons specify that testing of their software running on the providers systems can be done but getting explicit permission is key. Need of Strong policies and user education Cloud computing provides companies numerous benefits, to allow access to data from anywhere and removing maintenance headaches from the IT staff, but the phishing attacks that hit workers at home could threaten the company. Thus there is need for training the employees for the proper use of benefits especially to non technical users Risk related to machine instances There is always a risk during the use of virtual machine from a provider; companies should never trust the system. Companies should create their own images for internal use, and protect themselves legally from potentially malicious third-party developers. Privileged user access Sensitive data processing brings with it an inherent risk, because outsourcing services bypass the physical, logical and personnel controls IT shops exert over in-house programs. So it is advisable to fetch as much information as you can about the people who manage your data. Regulatory compliance Customers are finally responsible for the integrity and security of own data, even if it is held by a service provider. Traditional service providers are subjected to external audits and security certifications. Cloud computing providers who do not undergo this scrutiny are indicating that clients can only use them for the most trivial functions. Risk related to Data location Data can be located at any location and one might not even know where it will be stored like the name of the country also. So it may not be clear, whether the provider is obeying the local privacy requirements. Risks with Encryption Schemes Data in the cloud is in a shared environment along with data from other customers. Encryption is effective but isnt panacea. It is important to find out what can be done to segregate data at rest .The cloud provider should provide proof that encryption standards were designed and validated by experienced specialists. Recovery Risk On the one hand user does not know the location of data while on the other hand he doesnt know what will happen to his data and service in case of a disaster. Any absence of disaster recovery or offering that does not replicate the data across multiple sites is potentially vulnerable to a complete failure. Recommendations Future Prospects Lower costs of market entry Application deployment, faster payback on development costs, and superior return on investment will drive cloud-based platform adoption for both entrepreneurial and enterprise developers. Internal Clouds Most IT organizations will opt for internal clouds. These are cloudy environments that are implemented within a companys own data centers. The case for this perspective is that before IT orgs reach out to external cloud providers, theyll want to get better use out of the equipment they already have. Providers that Understand their target audience Ride the new wave of Virtualization solutions Migrations, business process automations, BPM,consultancies Chose to be an IaaS Appropriate visibility, analytics, OS, storage, DR, compute power, security, on demand billing, Fully integrated Platform as a Service IaaS, ERP, Databases, XML files, flat files, web services, API availability, DNS Niche specialists -Mobile or VoIP platforms

Homeless Diary :: Papers

Mom and dad always seem to be fighting. They never stop and it's normally over something small and insignificant like what to watch on the television. It's really starting to make me depressed and getting me down. It's even starting to affect my schoolwork. Not once have they asked me how I feel about something, it's always well I don't want to do that or I do want do that never is it well Paul what do you want to do? My so-called mates aren't any use. They've just stopped coming to my house making the excuse that they don't feel comfortable about being there when my parents fight. Which you can't really blame them for, as I too would be uncomfortable in the same situation. Ashley is taking it harder than me, she just can't handle the arguing, but which kid her age could. She's only 9, how could they leave her locked in her room while they argued. I sometimes think that we would be better off if we left. I don't know where we would go but it's got to be better than where we are now. Maybe we could go and live with Aunt Jane, ok so she isn't all that better than our parents are now. But I'm sure she would stop drinking if she had to start looking after Ash and me. It's starting to get worse now they wont even talk to each other. They just both sit there and drink. They drink till the early hours if the morning. Then they don't get up for work early enough, and end up rushing. Then they take it out on us, so far it's only been verbally, I don't know what I would do if either of them laid a finger on Ashley. I would just loose it; I wouldn't be able to control myself. I love her too much for anything like that to happen to her. I'd rather die then have my baby sister beaten about like some sort of animal. I don't know what to do anymore, don't know how much longer I can keep