Cloud Computing Enterprise Resource Planning

Question: Discuss about the Cloud Computing for Enterprise Resource Planning. Answer: Introduction: Cloud computing refers to the style of computing where resources are shared. Resources can be in any form be it virtual storage, softwares, database. There are 4 types of cloud delivery models i.e. Public Could, Private cloud, Hybrid cloud and community cloud. Considering the requirements of Child protection, Public cloud will work best for them because it is most economical and also the requirement of Child protection is very limited as they wanted to deploy only module of payroll processing system (Forslund, 2010). Private cloud models are suitable for those businesses which have heavy usage of IT applications along with numerous modules like Purchasing, Inventory, Payroll, Account receivables, Payables and General ledgers. In private cloud, there is a separate firewall that will prevent any unauthorized entry. To access to that cloud, you need be in the network of the organization or use virtual private network. But this setup is expensive to setup and maintain and suits only large globalized businesses. Child protection needs Payroll module at this point of time to improve the efficiency in data and files exchange. Payroll is complicated part of business and dealing with it using MS excel files is traditional way. With growing business and complications, software is definitely required. Explain the impact on the current staff from your proposal Current staff will perceive the proposal in both positive and negative ways. Some people will feel resistance of change of adapting to new things and will oppose the change. They will feel uncomfortable initially about this new way of doing things and would try to oppose the new system. Some staff members like Payroll manager and other members working for managing payroll may feel insecure about their jobs thinking that cloud will take their jobs away as majority of the things will be managed by the cloud however this is not true in reality. People are still required. Staff members with open mind may like the idea and appreciate that new way of doing things will ease their work so that they can focus more on the real things rather than the operational things. They will appreciate the flexibility that is offered by the Cloud and they can pay based on the usage of the system. Automatic software updates, disaster recovery and backup will be maintained by the Cloud service provider. All this will increase the efficiency of the internal IT team (Otieno, 2008). Also, since many people are working from remote and home in child protection, Cloud is very flexible and can be accessed from anywhere. To conclude, there will be both positive and negative impact on the current staff members. While some members will try to oppose the use of Cloud, some will welcome the idea and look forward. Provide a tabulation consists of cost and billing comparison from 3 major cloud vendors for data exchange and 3 major cloud vendors for payroll services which are offering from Australia Major cloud vendors for Payroll services are MYOB, XERO and QuickBooks Online MYOB essentials XERO QuickBooks Online It offers payroll for one at $35per month and $45 month for unlimited no, of users. There are various version of MYOB like MYOB AccountRight that provides more features. (https://www.myob.com/au/accounting-software/compare) Its pricing comes in 3 packages. Started is priced at $20 per month, Standard at $30 per month and premium at $40 per month with unlimited number of users and maximum facilities. (https://www.xero.com/pricing/) There are many versions offered by Quick books. Most basic is self employed at 5$ per month and advanced is plus priced at $ 28 per month. (https://quickbooks.intuit.com/var2/#/pricing) Major Cloud vendors for data exchange are Area9, Cloud central and CSC Australia. Area9 Cloud Central CSC Australia Area9 is one of the most common cloud services providers with largest number of clients in Australia. It was designed to allow data storage and pay as you grow with no initial costs. CSC offers various Cloud services like cloud lab, data exchanges and has around 13 datacenters There are various offerings and cost is not mentioned in the website. Instant messaging, email and data exchanges cost is 7.95$per month per user. Other services include 10GB, backup, anti-virus. (https://www.cloudcentral.com.au/products/platform-as-a-service/email-and-collaboration-as-a-service/ ) CSC Australia has various offerings and the actual pricing is customized based on the requirements or proposal. Briefly describe the cloud service information security features from the service vendors that your proposed MYOB is very secure. It comes up with a firewall and many levels of security that makes it difficult for the intruder to break the security. It continuously updates its anti-virus and protects the cloud from malicious software (Chyan, 2009). Apart from this, it maintains the backup at multiple locations across the world and thus provides robust disaster recovery system. XERO also provides very robust security system. There is round the clock physical security, multiple firewalls and network security, 2 step authentication and regular third party audits and inspections. It also maintain multiple backups (https://www.xero.com/accounting-software/security/). QuickBooks Online is also very safe and uses multiple firewalls and levels of authentication. In a nutshell, it can be concluded that security is a top concern not only for the cloud users but also for the cloud services providers and hence all cloud vendors are making appropriate efforts to keep their cloud safe from attacks and malicious softwares. All uses firewalls and multiple levels of authentication (Jonsson, 2010). References Chyan Yang, Yi-fen Su, (2009) "The relationship between benefits of ERP systems implementation and its impacts on firm performance of SCM", Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 22 Iss: 6, pp.722 752 Helena Forslund, (2010) "ERP systems' capabilities for supply chain performance management", Industrial Management Data Systems, Vol. 110 Iss: 3, pp.351 367 Otieno, J. O. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems challenges: A Kenyan case study. W. Abramowicz and D. Fansel (Eds.): BIS 2008, LNBIP7(2008), 399-409. Helena Forslund, Patrik Jonsson, (2010) "Selection, implementation and use of ERP systems for supply chain performance management", Industrial Management Data Systems, Vol. 110 Iss: 8, pp.1159 - 1175.