End-to-end cloud computing

Analysts estimate that the global platform-as-a-service business alone will increase from the current value of about $13 billion to $15 billion in 2017. During this period, public cloud services will grow at an average annual rate of 23.5 percent, as reported by Internet platform searchcloudcomputing. According to estimates by the Experton Group, more than €4.5 billion will be spent on the cloud in the course of this year in Germany. Though debates about data security and cybercrime have left their marks, they have been unable to stop the triumphant rise of the cloud.

After all, cloud computing promises the further development and acceleration of the accustomed business through faster product placement on the market or even the establishment of entirely new business fields as well as cost savings. What is more,

the cloud has stayed true to this promise. "With cloud services, enterprises gain flexibility, speed, quality, and efficiency," says Prof. Dieter Kempf, Chairman of IT industry association BITKOM, summarizing the results of the "Cloud Monitor" initiated together with KPMG Consulting.
These advantages, however, can only be achieved by means of cloud solutions that cover enterprise requirements on an end-to-end basis – including security concepts.

Unlike cloud solutions for consumers, enterprise cloud solutions have a strong focus on security, performance, high availability, and seamless integration. Only at this level are enterprises able to scale their IT resources even at short notice, in order to reliably adapt them to the actual needs, as the cloud makes the required resources available in the form of infrastructure, platforms, or software-as-a-service. Only a cloud that meets these criteria allows dynamic deployment and versatile use of conventional enterprise applications, such as SAP software or‎ SAP HANA analysis technology. Enterprises thereby gain flexibility and can put additional resources to use at short notice without any major delays.
In their day-to-day work, users can therefore develop new future markets much more quickly, since they are able to establish and launch the required IT at shorter notice. This agile IT makes business processes more efficient and dynamic and accelerates development processes. The distance to the customer is reduced, partly because the countless snippets of information which are generated from a plethora of data formats and communication platforms can be analyzed much more effectively. It no longer matters whether the data are provided in structured or unstructured form, as big data enables the quick analysis and evaluation of everything within mere seconds. To make this possible, however, the framework conditions are critical: Effective big data is impossible without the cloud!