Home » Articles posted by lecturersnotes (Page 4)
Author Archives: lecturersnotes
Merging PaaS and SaaS to provide a new cloud accounting offer – SAGE and Salesforce
Here is a good example of two companies that use SaaS and PaaS in a strategic partnership to provide a new cloud accounting offer to businesses. SAGE is a provider of accounting software, already offering cloud-based products in their portfolio. In this particular case, however, they decided to enter a partnership with Salesforce that provides a strong PaaS, using the unique capabilities of the Salesforce platform to improve their product.
Data security as means to data privacy in the cloud
All to often, when it comes to cloud risk, there is no clear distinction between data security and data privacy. Accordingly, they are often used synonymously or all-encompassing. As this post by Brian Anderson details, this is not the case. Data security comprises of concepts and instruments that are put in place to ensure that sensitive data is not accessed, modified or taken by unauthorised parties. Data security instruments are therefore data protocols, access level rights, firewalls and even antivirus software that picks up on trojans or key loggers that may enable a third, unauthorised person to access data that they should not. At the same time, data security ensures that the data is reliable, integer, available and confidential.
Distinct from that is the concept of data privacy that details the adequate use of sensitive data. Companies in the UK, for instance, are required to follow the Data Protection Act that requires companies to use sensitive data fairly and lawfully, for limited, specifically stated purposes, and in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive. At the same time, the information embodied in the data needs to be accurate, kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary, handled according to people’s data protection rights, kept safe and secure, and not transferred outside the UK without adequate protection. Therefore, data security protocols need to be in place to ensure the privacy of sensitive data, mostly customer-related data. Often, companies are criticised on how they treat the data they are supposed to protect. Facebook, for instance, has been heavily criticised (and even sued) for their data security protocols, impacting the data privacy of their users’ personal data.
To summarise the relationship between data security and data privacy, data security is the means to ensure data privacy. They are certainly not the same, but typically come together.
Could your small business benefit from using cloud services? [The Guardian]
On June 5, 2014, the Guardian offered a live online Q&A session on the question “Could your small business benefit from using cloud services?”. Although 9 months old, it is very enlightening to read the comments of users at the bottom of the page. Cloud experts, providers and users discussed the benefits and drawbacks of the cloud on small businesses, and the main themes that emerged revolved around the well-known issues of security, privacy, performance improvements, cloud hosting and content editing, as well as the “next thing on the cloud”. It is worth a read even 9 months on.
A History of Computing: From CPU to Cloud [Infographic by Geeky Globe]
Infographics are all the rage these days, and a quick Google search revea
ls that there are many on cloud technology out there. The nice people of Geeky Globe have published a very detailed infographic that summarises the history of computing all the way to the cloud in a very comprehensive manner – it’s worth printing out and pinning it to the wall.
Cloud terminology handbook – Databarracks
The cloud security provider Databarracks has published a Cloud terminology handbook that is available after registering for it (it is free!). It provides a very brief but comprehensive explanation of various cloud terms (old and new), such as BaaS, hypervisor or a fourth cloud deployment model after public, private and hybrid cloud – the community cloud. This white paper is a good resource to have.
Bringing retro back! – How the cloud delivers old games to a new generation
When I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, I was a very avid video gamer, playing on the Commodore C64, Atari, and MS-DOS based video games. Like many that played back in the day, I have fond memories of very pixellated sprites (= game characters), point-and-click adventures like Monkey Island and Indiana Jones, and games that were spread over several floppy disks. For a game afficionado (that I still am to this day), it was almost tragic that with changes in technology and ever-increasing computer processing power, it was almost impossible to play these old games because they required the old systems. Floppy disk slots for instance have entirely disappeared from computers years ago.
However, after many years of weak emulations that rarely ran properly, the cloud once more provided the means to distribute old games via the internet. The (legitimate) website Software Library: MS-DOS Games enables retro-gamers to play the classics via web browser, a majority of them free of charge. In fact, many young gamers re-discover these old games, as user statistics of this website show. As such, it is an almost perfect marriage of new and old technology.
Learning Excel 2013 online – free resources
I have posted a few weeks ago about the new Office 2013. In this post, I would like to focus a more on Excel 2013, a great piece of software in my view. Here is a link to a great website that lists free Excel tutorials and reference websites for the 2013 version.
Comics in the cloud – the re-awakening of a struggling genre
I have to admit – I am a massive comic book fan. Have been for the major part of the last 37 years, and will continue to do so because – well, why not?
As a young bloke, I was often unable to get my hands on the latest Batman or Spider-Man outing, and getting access to the original English versions was nigh impossible in Austria back in the 1980s. It got better with the likes of Amazon to order these comic books online, but a struggling genre was re-awakened by an adequate cloud-app based offering of comic books old and new ready to read immediately on tablets and computers. Although the old-school comic book reader in me was cautious at first (“It’s not the same unless it’s printed!”), I have to admit that it has its benefits. A well-adapted online comic book that for instance allows zooming into individual panels is quite a nice thing to use.
Here is an interesting article about the market leader in this segment, Comixology.
The internet of things and the cloud
As the “internet of things” (e.g. the microwave, the fridge and one’s favourite sweater going online) is being promoted as the next big hype, here is an interesting blog by David Linthicum on InfoWorld how the public cloud could boost the advance of the “things” that could become accessible online.
Microsoft Office 365 – Office 2013 discovers the cloud!
The latest version of Microsoft Office, Office 2013, has an entirely cloud-based life called Office 365, indicating that a subscription to it (and not a one-off payment for the software suite) is valid for one full year.
The good news for all students and university teachers is: Microsoft offers a subscription model for university use, aptly named Office 365 University, with a four-years-for-the-price-of-one subscription, one terabyte of online storage, and the benefit to be able to access and work on your Word document or Excel spreadsheet on a tablet on the go (as I do). I found it incredibly useful to have a software that I used for the last two decades in the cloud now.
More information on Office 365’s features can be found in this Business Insider blog by Julie Bort.
Business information systems for accounting students 