Gary Wills

The development that leads to the Cloud Computing Business Framework

Abstract The Cloud Computing Business Framework (CCBF) is proposed to help organisations achieve good Cloud design, deployment, migration and services. There are four key areas to be addressed: (i) Classification; (ii) Organisational Sustainability Modelling (OSM); (iii) Service Portability and (iv) Linkage. Each areas focus is described, and we explain how each fits into the CCBF and work altogether. The process that leads the CCBF is supported by literature, case studies, where examples in each CCBF key area are used to illustrate its effectiveness and contributions to organisations adopting it. CCBF has been used in several organisations offering added values and positive impacts.

A Conceptual Framework for Serious Games

A considerable number of serious games have been developed over the last ten years, with varying degrees of success. Due to a lack of clear standards and guidelines for game developers, it is difficult to justify claims that a specific game meets the learner’s requirements and/or expectations. This paper defines a conceptual model for serious games that will contribute to their design and the measurement of achievement in meeting their learning outcomes.

A pilot randomised controlled trial of an internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy self-management programme (MS Invigor8) for multiple sclerosis fatigue

The majority of people affected by Multiple Sclerosis (paMS) experience severe and disabling fatigue. A recent randomised controlled trial (RCT) showed that cognitive behaviour therapy with a clinical psychologist was an effective treatment for MS fatigue. An Internet-based version of this intervention, MS Invigor8, was developed for the current study using agile design and input from paMS. MS Invigor8 includes eight tailored, interactive sessions. The aim was to test the feasibility and potential efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the programme in a pilot RCT. 40 patients were randomised to MS Invigor8 (n=23) or standard care (n=17). The MS Invigor8 group accessed sessions over 8-10 weeks and received up to three 30-60min telephone support sessions. Participants completed online standardised questionnaires assessing fatigue, mood, quality of life and service use at baseline and 10 weeks follow-up. Large between group treatment effects were found for the primary outcomes of fatigue severity (d=1.19) and impact (d=1.02). The MS Invigor8 group also reported significantly greater improvements in anxiety, depression and quality-adjusted life years. These data suggest that Internet-based CBT may be a clinically and cost-effective treatment for MS fatigue. A larger RCT with longer term follow-up is warranted.

A model to compare cloud and non-cloud storage of Big Data

When comparing Cloud and non-Cloud Storage it can be difficult to ensure that the comparison is fair. In this paper we examine the process of setting up such a comparison and the metric used. Performance comparisons on Cloud and non-Cloud systems, deployed for biomedical scientists, have been conducted to identify improvements of efficiency and performance. Prior to the experiments, network latency, file size and job failures were identified as factors which degrade performance and experiments were conducted to understand their impacts. Organizational Sustainability Modeling (OSM) is used before, during and after the experiments to ensure fair comparisons are achieved. OSM defines the actual and expected execution time, risk control rates and is used to understand key outputs related to both Cloud and non-Cloud experiments. Forty experiments on both Cloud and non-Cloud systems were undertaken with two case studies. The first case study was focused on transferring and backing up 10,000 files of 1 GB each and the second case study was focused on transferring and backing up 1000 files 10 GB each. Results showed that first, the actual and expected execution time on the Cloud was lower than on the non-Cloud system. Second, there was more than 99% consistency between the actual and expected execution time on the Cloud while no comparable consistency was found on the non-Cloud system. Third, the improvement in efficiency was higher on the Cloud than the non-Cloud. OSM is the metric used to analyze the collected data and provided synthesis and insights to the data analysis and visualization of the two case studies. Organizational sustainability modeling (OSM) compares Cloud and non-Cloud storage.We identify factors affect performance and design ways to make fair comparisons.We explain how to use OSM including its definitions, input and output.We present two case studies of Big Data storage with 40 runs to support.Results are analyzed and presented with data analysis and visualization.

A Categorisation of Cloud Computing Business Models

This paper reviews current cloud computing business models and presents proposals on how organisations can achieve sustainability by adopting appropriate models. We classify cloud computing business models into eight types: (1) Service Provider and Service Orientation; (2) Support and Services Contracts; (3) In- House Private Clouds; (4) All-In-One Enterprise Cloud; (5) One-Stop Resources and Services; (6) Government funding; (7) Venture Capitals; and (8) Entertainment and Social Networking. Using the Jericho Forum’s ‘Cloud Cube Model’ (CCM), the paper presents a summary of the eight business models. We discuss how the CCM fits into each business model, and then based on this discuss each business model’s strengths and weaknesses. We hope adopting an appropriate cloud computing business model will help organisations investing in this technology to stand firm in the economic downturn.

Historical Roots of Agile Methods: Where Did “Agile Thinking” Come From?

The appearance of Agile methods has been the most noticeable change to software process thinking in the last fifteen years [16], but in fact many of the “Agile ideas” have been around since 70’s or even before. Many studies and reviews have been conducted about Agile methods which ascribe their emergence as a reaction against traditional methods. In this paper, we argue that although Agile methods are new as a whole, they have strong roots in the history of software engineering. In addition to the iterative and incremental approaches that have been in use since 1957 [21], people who criticised the traditional methods suggested alternative approaches which were actually Agile ideas such as the response to change, customer involvement, and working software over documentation. The authors of this paper believe that education about the history of Agile thinking will help to develop better understanding as well as promoting the use of Agile methods. We therefore present and discuss the reasons behind the development and introduction of Agile methods, as a reaction to traditional methods, as a result of peoples experience, and in particular focusing on reusing ideas from history

A Review of Cloud Business Models and Sustainability

This paper reviews current cloud computing business models and presents proposals on how organisations can achieve sustainability by adopting appropriate models. Using the Jericho Forum’s Cloud Cube Model (CCM), we classify cloud computing business models into eight types: (1) Service Provider and Service Orientation; (2) Support and Services Contracts; (3) In-House Private Clouds; (4) All-In-One Enterprise Cloud; (5) One-Stop Resources and Services; (6) Government Funding; (7) Venture Capitals; and (8) Entertainment and Social Networking. We newly propose the Hexagon Model that includes six key elements for sustainability based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War and literature review, and the sixth factor is rated based on case studies and peer reviews. Areas occupied in the Hexagon can represent strengths and weaknesses of a cloud business, and several cases are presented with rationale explained. Apart from the qualitative approach, the quantitative approach we use is the Capital Asset Pricing Model and Modern Portfolio Theory, both of which aim computing organisational sustainability and predict how well an organisation can perform. The OMII-UK data is used to demonstrate sustainability and study the impact on cloud businesses, and is presented by statistical computation, 3D visualisation and the Hexagon Model. We believe that adopting an appropriate cloud computing business model will help organisations investing in this technology to stand firm at all times.

Making training more cognitively effective: making videos interactive

The cost of health and safety failures to UK industry is currently estimated at up to £6.5 billion per annum with the construction sector suffering unacceptably high levels of work related incidents. Better health and safety education across all skill levels in the industry is seen as an integral part of any solution. Traditional lecture-based courses often fail to re-create the dynamic realities of managing health and safety (H&S) on-site and therefore do not sufficiently create deeper cognitive learning (which results in remembering and using what was learned). The use of videos is a move forward, but passively observing a video is not cognitively engaging and challenging, and therefore learning is not as effective as it can be. This article describes the development of an interactive video in which learners take an active role. While observing the video, they are required to engage, participate, respond, and be actively involved. The potential for this approach to be used in conjunction with more traditional approaches to H&S were explored using a group of second year undergraduate civil engineering students. The formative results suggested that the learning experience could be enhanced using interactive videos. Nevertheless, most of the learners believed that a blended approach would be most effective.

Case Studies and Organisational Sustainability Modelling Presented by Cloud Computing Business Framework

In this paper, Cloud Computing Business Framework CCBF is proposed to help organisations achieve good Cloud design, deployment, migration, and services. Although organisations adopt Cloud Computing for Web Services, technical and business challenges emerge, including the measurement of Cloud business performance. Organisational Sustainability Modelling OSM is a way to measure Cloud business performance quantitatively and accurately. It combines statistical computation and 3D Visualisation to present the Return on Investment arising from the adoption of Cloud Computing by organisations. 3D visualisation simplifies the review process and is a method for Return of Investment ROI valuation. Two detailed case studies with SAP and Vodafone are presented, where OSM has analysed the business performance and explained how CCBF offers insights, which are helpful for WS and Grid businesses. Comparisons and discussions between CCBF and other approaches related to WS are presented, where lessons learned are useful for Web Services, Cloud and Grid communities.

Organisational sustainability modelling-An emerging service and analytics model for evaluating Cloud Computing adoption with two case studies

We develop a model, Organisational sustainability modelling (OSM), to evaluate Cloud Computing to analyse the status of risk and return.OSM is an Emerging Services and Analytics for Cloud Computing. We explain the supporting theory, how to use OSM and how to process lots of data.We compare OSM with Capital Asset Pricing Model for data processing and analysis.We present two OSM case studies and explain inputs, data collection, data analysis and results.We explain how OSM can be useful and efficient for organisations using Cloud Computing and justify our research contributions. Cloud Computing is an emerging technology which promises to bring with it great benefits to all types of computing activities including business support. However, the full commitment to Cloud Computing necessary to gain the full benefit is a major project for any organisation, since it necessitates adoption of new business processes and attitudes to computing services in addition to the immediately obvious systems changes. Hence the evaluation of a Cloud Computing project needs to consider the balance of benefits and risks to the organisation in the full context of the environment in which it operates; it is not sufficient or appropriate to examine technical considerations alone.In this paper, we consider the application of CAPM, a well established approach used for the analysis of risks and benefits of commercial projects to Cloud adoption projects and propose a revised and improved technique, OSM. To support the validity of OSM, two full case studies are presented. In the first, we describe an application of the approach to the iSolutions Group at University of Southampton, which focuses on evaluations of Cloud Computing service improvement. We then illustrate the use of OSM for measuring learning satisfaction of two cohort groups at the University of Greenwich. The results confirm the advantages of using OSM. We conclude that OSM can analyse the risk and return status of Cloud Computing services and help organisations that adopt Cloud Computing to evaluate and review their Cloud Computing projects and services. OSM is an emerging service and analytics model supported by several case studies.