DEV Community: Amrita Satpathy

How Passpoint Delivers a Seamless Wi-Fi Experience at Airports

Amrita Satpathy — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 10:23:26 +0000

Passengers expect a hassle-free experience with connecting and accessing Wi-Fi on their devices from when they check in, right up to the departure gate. Seamless Wi-Fi services allow passengers to stay connected, check emails, access flight information, and use various travel apps, thus enhancing their overall airport experience.

Passengers at airports often experience long waiting times, and having access to the internet becomes paramount to keep them engaged. In addition, a reliable Wi-Fi network allows the airport to relay real-time updates about flight delays, gate changes, and baggage claims, thus reducing frustration and confusion among passengers. Therefore, the demand for a seamless Wi-Fi experience at airports has increased.

Lastly, a common pain point for passengers regarding airport Wi-Fi is the lack of security. Indeed, airport Wi-Fi is just as unsecure as any other public Wi-Fi implementation, leading to distrust among travellers in connecting to the airport Wi-Fi.

Current Challenges with Airport Wi-Fi

Here are some challenges people face with the Wi-Fi available at airports.

Complex login procedures: The first challenge is encountered at the first touch point where passengers interact with the login portal. The current state of Wi-Fi onboarding is one where passengers encounter complex login procedures and confusing captive portals, which results in difficulties in connecting to the network, leading to frustration. This also puts more pressure on the helpdesk staff, who get overburdened with resolving these issues while also tending to critical issues in airport operations.

Security concerns: Passengers express their concern with public Wi-Fi at Airports due to the following reasons:

Airport Wi-Fi networks are open and unsecured, meaning they do not require a password for connecting.
Lack of robust encryption protocols, allowing attackers to insert themselves between the passengers and the connection point and intercept the communications.
Attackers may also pose as the airport network itself by establishing rogue hotspots in what is called an “evil twin attack,” thus tricking passengers and infiltrating their devices.

**Scalability: **This poses yet another challenge, with the airport network being able to onboard heavy traffic without disrupting it during rush hours.

Meeting Compliances: Any Wi-Fi solution must comply with the regulatory environment, which includes data privacy laws such as GDPR and CDR/IDPR log management.
Finally, as airports are incorporating a technology-focused approach to all areas of operation, they understand the need to collect valuable data from which they can extract actionable insights. Data that can improve the user experience and operations and provide new monetization streams.

How NGH Tackles the Problems Encountered with Traditional Wi-Fi?

HSC’s Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) is a leading managed Wi-Fi platform that uses Passpoint™ to simplify the login process and improve network security. Passpoint™ is a Wi-Fi standard that allows devices to automatically connect to trusted Wi-Fi networks without having to enter a username or password. This makes it much easier for passengers to connect to the Wi-Fi network at the airport. NGH can integrate easily with the existing network infrastructure at airports, automatically connecting users across networks with a one-time authentication.

Let us break down what that means in the context of the airport Wi-Fi experience. A passenger can connect to the Wi-Fi network at their source through a simple login process consisting of device-based authentication, which creates a unique and locally stored profile. When they land at their destination airport, they will find that they are automatically connected to the new network and do not have to repeat the onboarding process. Hence, NGH facilitates an improved guest experience for travelers with an “always on, always connected” Wi-Fi experience.

NGH also uses WPA2/WPA3 enterprise security to improve network security. WPA2/WPA3 is a set of security protocols protecting Wi-Fi networks from cyberattacks through enhanced authentication and encryption.

1. An Improved Travelling Experience

In addition to improving the security and convenience of Wi-Fi, NGH also provides a number of features that can improve the passenger experience at the airport.

Location-based alerts and notifications:
NGH leverages the location or proximity-based data from the network’s access points, providing the approximate whereabouts of all connected passengers at all areas inside the airport. This data can be leveraged to push location-based alerts and notifications to users’ devices, providing them with useful information such as flight delays or gate changes.

Proximity Engagement:
Businesses operating within the airport can also leverage this feature. For example, travelers can receive prompts to access the digital menu or see the day’s value meals at restaurants near the food court. Similarly, they can get notified about lounge access when they are near the international lounges, forming a great value-add for business travelers.

Voucher Management:
On the other hand, this feature allows foreign travelers, who may not have a local SIM card to onboard easily onto the network and avail of the same benefits.
An improved guest experience for passengers directly translates into improved satisfaction, allowing them to access their boarding passes on their phones, check into their hotels remotely, and access kiosks, lounges, and other remote services the airport provides.

Thus, tapping into this customer demand for easily accessible connectivity improves customer loyalty. A loyalty driven by improved user engagement & retention and increased trust and confidence in the airport services.

2. Business Value-Add: Leveraging Analytics and Additional Monetization Streams

NGH provides airports with valuable insights into passenger behavior and preferences. This information can be used to improve the passenger experience, optimize airport operations, and generate additional revenue.

Analytics offer insights into areas of congestion and help optimize passenger flow, allowing airport authorities to reconfigure security checkpoints, seating arrangements, and other areas to reduce bottlenecks.
Dwell time analytics allow airport management to gain insights into passenger behavior and preferences, which can be used to improve pathfinding and push proximity-based offers and alerts to travelers.
Passenger behavior insights also enable strategic advertising and promotional materials placement throughout the airport.
Heatmaps allow for monitoring the crowd density in various areas, which can be used to make decisions about capacity planning, staffing, and crowd management during peak hours.
NGH also allows airports to introduce tiered pricing plans for Wi-Fi services. This will enable airports to generate additional revenue from Wi-Fi while still providing a good value for passengers.

For example, domestic travelers who check in just in time can be offered limited data for a limited time, whereas international travelers or those who face long layovers for connecting flights would have higher data requirements and hence can be charged for data usage. Hence, plan management allows the airport to introduce tiered pricing plans for their Wi-Fi services, resulting in additional monetization streams.

Conclusion

NGH is a powerful Wi-Fi platform that can help airports improve the passenger experience, reduce operational costs, and generate additional revenue.

As airports continue to explore and integrate technology solutions into their business processes, hotspot standards such as Passpoint™ will continue to evolve and empower airports with better and more actionable data.

As we roll out NGH to even more airports worldwide, we gain a deeper understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities that airport operations bring and how we can be a part of the ongoing journey and provide the most value from what you do every day.

Role of Cloud Computing in Hospitality Industry

Amrita Satpathy — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 13:19:46 +0000

Hospitality has been a part of human culture for millennia. With the evolution of industries and the addition of newer technologies, the hospitality industry has evolved as well, and the services which were once considered exceptional have become the basic expectation of customers. Today, services like WiFi, TV, AC, and Parking Space are expected by every customer booking a hotel. However, 20 years ago, many of these were a delight. Thus, for anyone involved in the industry who wants to survive and thrive in the longer run, it is crucial to upgrade continuously and integrate emerging technologies. Today, hospitality technology amalgamates technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Analytics, Cloud Computing etc., to address the changing customer demands and improve their overall experience.

Classification of Hospitality Industry:

The hospitality industry can be broadly classified into the following three sectors:

Accommodation – The Accommodation sector consists of Hotels, Motels, Hostels, and Resorts which essentially provide lodging facilities to both local and non-local guests.,

Food and Beverages – The food and beverages sector includes Restaurants, Catering services, Bars, and Cafes, primarily offering a satisfying dining experience consistent with the budgetary constraints of its customers.

Travel and Tourism – The Travel and Tourism sector includes Vehicle rental services, Cruises, and Casinos, targeting customers away from home seeking a memorable vacation.

All three sectors run parallel to one another and often complement one another by offering a variety of services to the customer in geography.

Managing hospitality services often involves complex processes, and even a minor human error may lead to an underutilized employee and a dissatisfied customer, eventually impacting the balance sheet of the company. This is where technologies play a major role. Traditionally, in the hospitality sector, too, companies have IT infrastructure and dedicated teams which are responsible for handling functions like Reservations Management, Customer Management, Employee Scheduling, Marketing etc. However, with time, companies have begun streamlining their IT processes by opting for Cloud Computing in Hospitality Industry.

Application of Cloud Computing in Hospitality Industry

According to Microsoft, Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of computing resources like data storage, Analytics, and software over the Internet without actively engaging the user in their management. Cloud Computing saves the effort of building up your own physical IT infrastructure and its management, brings scalability and saves costs as it is pay-per-use (you only pay when you use the service). It is different from outsourcing one’s IT as, here, the owner still has direct control over the data stored and processes running on the cloud. Cloud Computing services are provided by reliable IT giants like Amazon, Google, IBM, and Apple.

For multiple reasons, which include reducing costs, bringing scalability and automation to business operations, and providing seamless customer experience, major players in the hospitality industry have already integrated their applications onto cloud platforms. Therefore cloud computing in hospitality business can have several applications, including the following:

Customer Management:

Customer Management services can be availed through a subscription to cloud services. These services are scalable, flexible, and easy to integrate into one’s business. Customer Management tools over the cloud also generate analytics related to customers’ data that can be easily accessed over the Internet. Because of a low, upfront cost, these become a good choice for small businesses that are unlikely to develop their own Customer Management environment. These also help in reducing the direct interaction of guests with employees. For example, if a customer wants to access the helpdesk module, they can access it using any device by connecting to the internet.

Reservation Management:

Cloud Services are widely used to provide reservation services to end consumers over the Internet. These include online ticketing services, reservation of tables in restaurants, and advance booking of accommodation. The tools available on the cloud automate the management of appointment scheduling and allocation of services while forecasting approximate waiting time, confirming bookings, and providing information to consumers. With the rise of accommodation booking service providers like MakeMyTrip, Agoda, booking.com etc., online booking is now a universally accessible technology in hotels.

Event Management:

The goal of any event management team is to plan and execute a flawless event. It involves dealing with people, including teams, clients, guests, and vendors and controlling things needed to make the event successful. Cloud services are useful in managing events as they assist in allocating responsibilities and improving coordination within and between teams while addressing business developmental goals. Using cloud computing, it becomes feasible to provide a unique interface to each stakeholder, mentioning their schedule, duties and responsibilities.

Point of Sale Service:

Point of Sale is the place and time where a retail transaction takes place. Long queues and uncertain waiting times have historically been a problem when many customers choose to avail of a service at the same time. Shifting point-of-service transactions online and automating the billing process benefits cashiers and consumers alike. It reduces the burden of cashiers handling many customers and accurately approximates the waiting time. An excellent example of hospitality companies adopting POS service is the fast-food restaurant chain McDonald’s. It offers its customers rewards in the form of points that can be redeemed to get delicious dishes when they pay using a QR code.

Benefits of using Cloud Computing in Hospitality Industry

According to a Consumer Research Study done by Oracle, 73% of customers prefer hotels that offer technological solutions and minimize contact with the staff and other guests. Using Cloud Computing services in the Hospitality industry is beneficial to both the user and the end customer, as it advances the services provided while being cost-effective at the same time. Today, several big players in the hospitality industry, including Marriott International, are adopting the asset-light Business model, and shifting to the cloud is a quintessential example of that.

Reduced Software Costs:

Since cloud computing services are subscription based, where users pay per use while avoiding any maintenance costs, it helps customers save money when they choose cloud-native application development services. Many cloud service providers have ready-to-use, on-demand generic software available that can be availed through the Software as a Service (SaaS) Model. This type of software can also be customized to match the client’s specific needs through Platform as a Service (PaaS) Model. All this saves the developmental costs involved in building own virtual infrastructure. Finally, since multiple processes can be automated over the cloud, the cost involved in manual efforts is saved.

Zero IT-Overheads with Zero Hardware Depreciation:

As with all physical machines, the IT infrastructure of any organization depreciates over time, binding Companies to spend capital on frequent upgrades and replacement of parts. Traditional IT infrastructure also requires spending on daily overheads. On the other hand, there are no depreciation costs associated with cloud computing. Moreover, it eliminates the overheads involved in day-to-day IT operations and thus helps reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO).

Unhindered Operations and Security:

Various cloud services providers like Microsoft, IBM, and Google vouch for keeping the database of their clients safe from any external access while providing large amounts of storage service to multiple clients. Cloud services are adaptable as the core functions of the client can be maintained on the premises of the client at their discretion. When using cloud services, system failure during an unstable power supply is prevented, leading to unhindered operations conducted in a safe environment. The possibility of getting stuck with one vendor due to high switching costs can be avoided using Cloud native app development methodology.

Instant Availability Anytime, Anywhere:

With the proliferation of affordable smart devices and access to high-speed internet, the services running over the cloud are provided at the fingertips of the end customer regardless of their location. The same is the case with the direct client. Uninterrupted quick access to the database and software over the cloud brings ease of working. Since the services are subscription based, the amount of storage subscribed can be increased as the business grows.

Disadvantages of Cloud Computing in Hospitality Industry

Cloud computing is not immune to risks and downsides. It comes with an impact on the environment and risks associated with its adoption.

Enormous Energy Consumption:

Setting up cloud infrastructure requires large Data Centers connected over Data Transmission Networks. To keep these Data centres operable 24*7 at suitable temperatures, a large amount of energy is needed. According to International Energy Agency, data centres and data transmission networks accounted for nearly 1% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. This is likely to increase manyfold as more and more industries adopt cloud computing.

Risk of Failure:

Shifting the entire IT operations of an enterprise to the cloud brings a complete dependence on it, and failure of cloud services would mean a complete failure of the business involved. In the hospitality industry, where customer experience is paramount, this would lead to failure of services at each customer touch point, a nightmare for the industry.

Unfair Advantage to Bigger Players:

According to Google/SOASTA research of 2017, the probability of bounce (visitor leaving the website without exploring other pages) increases by 32% when page loading time changes from 1 second to 3 seconds. Cloud Computing services are subscription based, where the quality of service and the storage allotted depends on the premium paid by the subscriber. Here, a big player running several branches across different locations would be able to pay a higher premium, while a smaller player would have to settle with the subscription plan that they can afford.

While the above are some of the disadvantages associated with the application of cloud computing in hospitality players can think of with regards to cloud computing, clearly, the pros outweigh the cons.

Effective Strategy of integrating Cloud Computing in Hospitality Industry

Migrating enterprise workload to the cloud is called Cloud Migration. Shifting the software applications to the cloud can be done by the ‘Lift and Shift Software’ approach, where the original applications used on the physical infrastructure is shifted to a public or private cloud, saving costs. Unfortunately, this approach is not agile, requires massive maintenance, and needs to be refactored according to the changing business requirements. This leads us to the concept of Cloud Native application development, which is a modern approach to developing applications that are resilient, scalable, and flexible. It is used by giants like Netflix, Airbnb, Uber, and Spotify. In a cloud-native application architecture, the original applications are broken down into several services called Microservices, which are packaged into lightweight components called ‘Containers’ that help in running the Microservices in any environment. These microservices generally interact with each other through Application Program Interfaces (APIs). This results in applications running seamlessly in congruence with one another, and individual applications can be updated regularly without shutting down the framework. An example of a cloud-native development scenario would be an E-commerce website, where the customer’s Cart interacts with the packaging and shipping department, notifying them about the customer’s order details through a robotic process automation.

Customer satisfaction and delight are the most important parameters to assess the hospitality industry today. Customer experience can be improved by minimizing physical interactions and eliminating inconvenience. In a technologically advanced world, customer expectations surpass what traditional hospitality can provide, and cloud computing is the solution to effectively satisfying customer needs in a cost-effective, flexible, and scalable manner. A lot of human effort can be saved with analytics and automation of processes over the cloud, where updates to individual applications do not hinder the system, bringing a competitive advantage. Developmental models like cloud-native software development are vendor-neutral and help in avoiding vendor lock-in, thus minimizing risks. The future is filled with a smart but impatient generation, and technology is the answer to harmonize and establish oneness with it.

This article was originally published here.

Major Benefits of Managed Security Operations Center

Amrita Satpathy — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 13:13:33 +0000

Since the inception of the internet, cyber-attacks have led to a loss of billions of dollars across the globe, along with damage to the victims’ reputations, resources, and infrastructure. For instance, in September 2000, NASA had to shut down its computers that supported the international space station for 21 days due to a breach of security caused by a 15-year-old computer hacker. This cost NASA $41000, along with reputational damage after being unable to prevent a juvenile’s intrusion. This is just one example of countless cyber-attacks that happen globally.
The big questions here are: How do we prevent cyber-attacks or mitigate their impacts through early detection and remediation? We can imagine an alternate scenario where preventive measures and early detection could have saved NASA money and time. And this is where SOCs, including Managed Security Operations Centers, come into the picture.

What is a Security Operations Center (SOC)?

Security Operation Centre or SOC is a centralized facility that continuously monitors and improves an organisation’s security. Often referred to as the backbone of cyber security, the SOC’s operations are not restricted to 9 AM to 5 PM but 24*7*365 hours a year since the risk of getting attacked is always omnipresent. The job of a SOC is to prevent security incidents from happening and to detect, inform, and remediate quickly whenever such events happen. The responsibilities of SOCs include assessing available resources, conducting continuous monitoring, threat response basis the threat intelligence received from multiple sources and recovery and remediation in case of a security breach.

Interested to know in-depth about SOC? Click here

What is a Managed Security Operations Center (SOC)?

Managed Security Operations Center or SOC-as-a-Service is the outsourcing of SOC to a third party distinct from the client’s functioning. As opposed to Internal SOCs, in Managed SOCs the Security Operations Center and related tools are managed and owned by external cybersecurity experts. These experts continuously monitor the organization’s entire IT infrastructure, including its devices, applications, and data flow across channels for vulnerabilities, threats, and breaches of security. Usually, the client base of an MSOC is an amalgamation of organizations belonging to both SME & Large Enterprise categories, where in many cases, the client cannot afford an internal SOC, and in other cases having an MSOC is more feasible. MSOCs are subscription-based, and services provided vary based on the chosen plans. These can either be fully managed by the third party or co-managed along with the organization.

Benefits of Managed Security Operations Centers:

It is convenient for organizations to outsource security operations rather than setting up an entire infrastructure, which is one of the reasons why many organizations these days are opting for Managed Security Operations Centers. MSOC is the only available option for small businesses that cannot afford their own security solutions and is an easy switch for organizations with an outdated SOC. Let us look at the benefits in detail:

Domain-Specific Expertise:

MSOC providers can hire and retain subject matter experts by serving a large client base. These experts provide quicker solutions through prior experiences and knowledge. MSOC providers also have access to better updates and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, which help in minimizing errors through alert filtering and behavioural analytics, thus, overtaking manual efforts. MSOC specialists have some specific roles: Malware Analyst, Threat Hunter, Forensic Specialist, Incident Responder, etc. These specific roles look at the minutest details in a Security Operations Center.

Affordability:

Internal SOCs are known to be CAPEX intensive. It is often stated that only Fortune-500 companies can afford a well-equipped internal SOC. Outsourcing SOC through subscriptions becomes affordable for various reasons, including sharing of resources, infrastructure, experts and technologies amongst multiple clients. Fixed costs remaining the same, lead to affordability for each client. Technically equipped, Managed Security Operations Centers can minimize manual labour through automation, saving tons of capital.

Optimization of Internal Resources:

The presence of a well-established infrastructure, employee base, and technical tools make MSOCs an attractive choice to Companies. By opting for MSOCs, Companies can allocate their infrastructure, employees, and machinery for Core Competence areas, which otherwise would be dedicated to Security Operations. As a result, employees are prevented from being overburdened by additional work and stiff working hours.

Quicker response and remediation:

Through technological advantage and the availability of highly capable experts, MSOCs quickly detect security breaches and possible threats. The availability of alternate paradigms of dealing with threats prevents shutting systems down for long durations. Additionally, a quicker response means shutting down the source of a breach before it reaches other parts of the system, saving efforts and capital that would have been dedicated to remediating a larger part of the system.

Scalability:

According to markets and markets report on the data-centric security market, the global Data-Centric Security Market size was worth approximately $4.2 billion in 2022 and is expected to generate revenue of around $12.3 billion by the end of 2027. Thus, the sheer size of the market brings in a massive scope of scalability, where a Managed Security Operations Center provider can allocate the same resources for different clients and make its processes scalable. Emerging technological solutions like AI can greatly reduce human efforts and save time leading to quicker solutions with a lesser likelihood of a false positive.

Internal Security Operations Center V/S Managed Security Operations Center:

To understand the difference in experiences between an Internal and Managed SOC, let’s take the example of two hypothetical companies, A and B, where A has opted for an internal SOC, while B has opted for a managed SOC.

Company A is under pressure because of its massive investment in setting up infrastructure for its internal SOC. It must regularly perform technological upgrades to match the rising external challenges. Hiring and retaining skilled talent is difficult in the highly competitive landscape, and the costs involved increase with the expected level of security. The existing employees find it difficult to complete their primary tasks timely because of their involvement in SOC processes. Eventually, the costs associated with running and managing internal SOC go beyond the perceived risks. Hence, company A decided to convert its internal SOC into a delivery centre and looked for a suitable subscription service from a reputed MSOC provider for security operations.
On the other hand, the initial costs incurred by B are much lower compared to A as it has only paid for the subscription of a service for a short duration to evaluate the effectiveness of the services of the Managed Service Operations Center provider. The Managed SOC provider already has a pool of dedicated experts and is Technologically well-equipped. The AI-enabled systems detect patterns amongst alerts, filtering false positives and saving time. B does not have to worry about hiring, retaining talent, or the quality of the workforce, as the Managed SOC provider assures B of that. The working of B’s current employees remains unaffected, and it receives reports about vulnerabilities and threats from time to time. Once satisfied, Organization B extends the subscription and switches to a plan customized for it instead of a generic plan.

How to find the right Managed SOC Provider for your Company?

Given the importance of Managed SOC for businesses, irrespective of their size, it is important for enterprises to identify and evaluate the right SOC service provider so that they can efficiently and effectively improve their organization’s security posture. Some of the key criteria that need to be considered while choosing a Managed SOC Services Provider are as follows:

Does the service provider have all the relevant industry certifications, such as ISO 27001 and /or GDPR Compliance?
Are the staff employed by the SOC service provider certified for the significant cybersecurity technologies they are monitoring or managing at the client organization?
Does the team lead by the service provider have experience working on Industry standard tools such as Splunk/Microsoft Sentinel?
Hughes Systique fits the bill as it is ISO 27001 certified, has GDPR compliance, and employs certified engineers who have experience working on commercial tools like Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel etc. As a GDPR-compliant organization, HSC ensures the safety and integrity of customer data.

Just as we have countless examples of Cyber intrusion, we have innumerable examples where successful preventive measures and early detection by MSOCs have saved Millions of dollars of Governments, Companies, and individuals across the globe. A 200% increase in the identification of threats was witnessed when an International professional services network, Deloitte-Brazil, opted for Managed SOC. Similarly, LTI, a Global technology consulting and digital solutions company, was able to save 4000 employee hours per year by outsourcing threat detection and research. Microsoft is involved in Security Operations Centres, has delivered more than 300 security innovations in 2022, and currently partners more than 15000 integrated across its security ecosystem.

A seamless integration of a relevant MSOC with continuous operations and technological upgradation prevents blunders from happening. Technological integration and shared resources save time, human effort, and capital, while with superior technological expertise MSOCs quickly shut down endpoints mitigating risks in the event of a security breach. The benefits of outsourcing a SOC far outweigh the cons associated with it. In many security incidents, the victims don’t even know that a security breach has occurred; in some cases, they never come to know. So, if you are asked how many attempted security breaches you faced in the last year and your answer is zero, you might want to consider subscribing for an MSOC and re-answer a year later.

Pros and Cons of Different Cloud Environments – Public, Private, Hybrid and Multi Cloud

Amrita Satpathy — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 13:37:13 +0000

Cloud adoption is no longer an option now. Irrespective of the size or domain of operation, businesses all over the world are migrating to the cloud. While the new-age enterprises are already cloud-native, the older, established businesses are also embarking on their cloud migration journey. As is the case with technology perennially, even cloud computing is evolving at a break-neck speed. It is a booming industry which is always ready to exceed expectations by challenging the status quo and delivering new and improved solutions for business-critical problems. In fact, Fortune Business Insights predicts that the 2021-2028 period will make the global market for cloud storage worth more than $390 billion.
It is obvious that as the needs of enterprises evolve over time, they will prefer to have the ability to choose the cloud environment that is apt for their business needs. Enterprises, as of today, have more options in the cloud ecosystem. They are ready to make more investments in hybrid and multi cloud environments as it can provide them with greater flexibility and competitive advantage.
Let us then try and understand the origins of cloud computing, the different types of cloud available in the market, and the modifications and evolutions that have happened over a time period to suit the growing business needs of enterprises.

Evolution of Cloud Computing:

What began as a novel and innovative concept has, over the years, become a disruptive endeavour. Modern cloud computing infrastructure is believed to have been developed in the 1990s when VPNs or virtual private networks were being used by businesses. Then came the pioneer Salesforce which offered its Software-as-a-Service over the Internet, an endeavour made possible by cloud computing. This was followed by Amazon Web Services being created in 2006 and the subsequent release of their offering Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) in the market, which enabled customers to use virtual machines on rent as infrastructure for their data and applications. Powered by cloud computing, innovative streaming media giant Netflix, launched its streaming services online in 2007. A lot has happened since then, with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and OpenStack all coming up with their cloud divisions in 2010 to make cloud services available for the masses, and since then, there has been an exodus of enterprises to the cloud via transitions and migrations.

Classification of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing involves a broad spectrum of architecture models, classifications and types. Let us understand the four main categories of the cloud:

Public Cloud
Private Cloud
Hybrid Cloud
Multi Cloud

Public Cloud:

Public cloud is a type of computing service provided by vendors like Google, Amazon, Microsoft etc., which enables users to make use of the compute, storage, applications and deploy-and-develop environments to individual users or organizations on-demand over the public internet or through a dedicated connection for free or on a subscription / pay-per-use fee. The services include databases, firewalls, management tools, and different types of Platform-as-a-Service and Software-as-a-Service offerings. It is an alternative deployment approach to traditional on-prem IT architectures. Once upon a time, Netflix used to have its own IT infrastructure, but as demand fluctuated at different times of the day, in order to cater to its subscribers’ demands, it has moved a large part of its data centre operations to the public cloud. They particularly faced an issue during the evening and especially at weekends when demand would spike. So they signed up for Amazon’s cloud services and would pay only for the peak timings when there would be high demand, and in this case, they would use the Amazon regional data centres nearest to the user.

Benefits & Challenges of using Public Clouds:

Benefits of the public cloud include lower CAPEX investments as they do not have to set up and maintain on-premises infrastructure, high scalability to meet fluctuating demands, the flexibility of paying as per use and access to analytics for better business insights.
However, as public cloud resources run on a multi-tenant shared infrastructure that is available to users worldwide over the internet, they may be subjected to network bandwidth and connectivity issues. Along with it comes the issue of vendor lock-in, which can make migration between two cloud providers very difficult.

This is where private clouds come into play.

Private Cloud

A private cloud is pretty much like a public cloud, offering the same set of services in computing, storage and networking and scalability. However, the difference is that it is based on a single-tenant architecture that runs on privately owned infrastructure. A private cloud can be hosted at the organization’s own data centre by building layers of virtualization and cloud service over it, at a third-party facility or via a private cloud provider who offers private cloud hosting services.

Benefits and Challenges of Using Private Clouds:
Some of the benefits of opting for private clouds over public clouds are a higher level of security as organizations have the same amount of control as they would have on their own on-premises infrastructure, greater reliability due to dedicated channels for that organization only, greater long term savings even though it does warrant initial investment as the organization already has the hardware and network in place, almost similar costs every month irrespective of the workloads and greater adherence to data privacy. For instance, it is mandatory, as per GDPR, that EU residents’ data should remain inside the EU only.
However, the challenges with private clouds are that they need a high initial investment, on-demand scalability could become an issue due to the lengthy procurement process and capacity management needs to be done, which compounds the work of internal cloud operations staff.

Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud is a combination of public and private cloud services. It is maintained by external and internal cloud service providers and with orchestration between the two. It combines the best of both worlds, i.e. the scalability to accommodate demand spikes which is offered by public clouds, and the secure maintenance of sensitive and critical data and applications in a private cloud. A hybrid cloud offers multiple advantages, such as flexible deployment options, the ability to move between different cloud environments and greater control on the spends.

A Case Study on Hybrid Cloud – Walmart

An example of a company using a Hybrid Cloud is Walmart, also known as the Triplet Model.

“We always blaze our own trail at Walmart, and that includes building one of the largest hybrid clouds in existence. This “Triplet Model,” as we call it, is innovative and powerful, both by design and deployment. By pairing public clouds (Google and Microsoft) with our Walmart Private Clouds via a regional cloud model across the U.S. (West, Central and East), we’re enabling 10,000 edge cloud nodes at our facilities and bringing computational power and data closer to our customers and associates. ”

– Suresh Kumar, Executive Vice President, Global Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer, Walmart Inc

According to the Wall Street Journal, this move by Walmart, wherein it has built powerful custom software that enables it to run its back-end operations across any cloud system, has helped it save thousands of dollars in revenue. By placing the workloads in the right place, they have ensured that the application performance is high and there is low latency across the locations. Additionally, the model offers greater scalability and flexibility to react to increased demands during peak hours, along with reducing the cloud cost by 10-18%. With increasing interoperability between public clouds, hybrid clouds will soon become the norm.

Multi Cloud

When an organization uses cloud computing services from at least two different cloud providers (could be two or more public clouds or two or more private clouds or a combination of both) to run their applications, it is said to be using multi cloud infrastructure. Multi-Cloud computing solutions are portable across multiple cloud providers’ cloud infrastructures. They are typically built on open-source, cloud-native technologies like Kubernetes, and as this technology is supported by all public cloud providers, enterprises using multi clouds have the flexibility & portability to migrate, build and optimize applications across multiple clouds and computing environments. Multi cloud environments are also compatible with DevOps practices and other cloud-native application technologies such as containers and microservices architecture that enable portability. Many enterprises are looking forward to implementing multi cloud strategies as it enables them to run applications wherever needed without adding to the complexity.

Hybrid and Multi Cloud – How do they differ?

At the outset, Hybrid and Multi Cloud may look very similar and are sometimes used interchangeably, but they refer to two distinct concepts. Yes, they both make use of multiple cloud environments from multiple vendors, but what fundamentally separates them is the type of cloud infrastructure. By implementing a multi cloud strategy, enterprises can work on different workloads by making use of cloud computing services from two or more public cloud vendors. In the case of hybrid clouds, however, enterprises work on common workloads that are deployed across multiple computing environments.
While multi cloud deployments interconnect services from separate cloud environments for different purposes, they do not necessarily need to connect the clouds. Hybrid cloud deployments on the other hand, need to have an orchestration between the various cloud environments ( i.e. an on-premises or a private cloud and a public cloud) as they address the same workload.

Benefits & Challenges of Multi Cloud:

Enterprises implementing Multi cloud architecture can reap multiple benefits, such as improving the flexibility and agility of the IT in the organization. Due to an increase in the number of players offering Cloud computing as a service, enterprises now have a wide array of options in the cloud ecosystem. Therefore, investment in multi-cloud is set to overtake legacy IT and private cloud spending in the next few years.

Here are some of the key benefits that can be achieved with multi cloud computing:

Avoid vendor lock-in: No more worrying about being at the mercy of one cloud provider. With multi cloud approach, enterprises can choose the solution that best meets their business requirements and the same time, reduce data, interoperability and cost issues, which often arise due to dependency on one cloud provider.
Best of each cloud: The idea of having a multi cloud approach is to reap the benefits offered by cloud providers without having to worry about speed, performance, reliability, geographical location, and security and compliance requirements.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): By implementing multi-cloud strategy, enterprises can minimize their IT spending and take advantage of an optimum combination of pricing and performance across different cloud providers, thereby lowering the total cost of ownership.
Greater reliability and redundancy: By reducing the risk of a single point of failure, multi cloud deployment adoption significantly mitigates unplanned downtime or outages. This is because an outage in one cloud will not affect the workloads running on other clouds.
Enhanced Security & Regulatory Compliance: Multi cloud strategy also ensures security policies and regulatory compliance is consistent across all workloads irrespective of the vendor, service or environment.

Even with all the benefits listed above, there can be quite a few daunting challenges with multi cloud strategy implementation. One of the major roadblocks is a significant increase in management complexity. Business needs, design and development drivers, and architecture constraints due to existing systems need to be considered when implementing a multi cloud strategy and this adds to the increased management complexity. Maintaining consistent security is also a hindrance because the same workload is running on different clouds. In addition, integrating software environments and difficulty with achieving consistent performance and reliability across clouds also add to the challenges of implementing a multi cloud strategy. Lastly, implementing multi cloud involves an initial investment that could be costly for enterprises. However, these costs balance out in the long run offering a lower total cost of ownership (TCO)

Use cases of Multi Cloud:

Let us now look at some of the use cases of multi cloud and that would explain why it is getting popular as a strategy:

Disaster Recovery: Multi Cloud helps enterprises back up mission-critical applications so that in cases there is a disaster or single vendor outage, they can rely on other cloud providers.
Lower Latency: Organizations with a global footprint can serve their customers better by implementing a multi cloud strategy, as it gives them access to servers in different locations and provides them with better connections with low latency.
Extended Arm of IT: By implementing a multi cloud strategy, organizations can have better control of software and hardware asset utilization by providing employees with the appropriate cloud technologies that comply with security standards and policies.

Address Regional Requirements: With the added flexibility of switching between on-premises, public and private landscapes from different vendors, multi cloud strategy allows enterprises to adhere to region-specific compliance regulations.

As of today, many enterprises globally are transitioning from on-premises data centre to an option that incorporates cloud infrastructure. In these circumstances they must choose the service provider in accordance with their current and future business needs. Hughes Systique has been helping enterprises migrate their existing applications to the cloud and has experience in operating in public, private and multi cloud environments. Reach out to us if you are interested in utilizing the multitude of benefits that different cloud environments offer.