Cloud Computing and SOA Convergence in Your Enterprise: A Step ...

Information-as-a-Service 47
For instance, the ability for the sales department to do a D&B lookup
while on the phone with a particular customer provides critical customer information
that will assist in closing a sale and prioritizing sales costs. The
ability to do an instant credit check while completing a sale, without having
to leverage a separate system and keep the customer waiting, benefits the
salesperson, the customer, and thus the business.
We take a closer look at how to create a business case for cloud computing
and SOA using cloud computing in Chapter 4. The use case described
here is a starting point for understanding the value of cloud computing versus
on-premise computing. Of course, the ROI that it will bring to your enterprise
is depends completely on what you do and how you do it. The fit for
cloud computing is not always there, but you always do your analysis with an
open mind.
Why the Most Popular Web APIs, or
Information-as-a-Service Offerings, Are Free
“You get what you pay for”—but that does not seem to be the case with the
new cloud computing movement, specifically with Web APIs. Some of the best
services out there do not require a credit card number, and that trend will continue
until greater numbers of the available Web APIs have normalized. That is
going to be awhile.
For example, the GeoNames Web API, from geonames.org, is a geographical
database that can be downloaded for free under a creative commons attribution
license. The database contains over 8 million geographical names and
provides a broad range of information on each, from its population and form
of government to its topology to its road and railway systems and more. It contains
6.3 million unique features, 2.2 million populated places, and 1.8 million
alternate names of places.
However, if you do not want to download this data, and most of us have
no need to, the data is accessible free of charge through a number of Web Services.
Geonames.org already serves up to over 11 million Web Service requests
per day, and all for no subscription fees. There are already over 40 mashups
that leverage this API, as well as those who leverage it for any number of enterprises
or Web applications out there.
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