broadband strategies handbook.pdf - Khazar University

allow businesses to move more rapidly in the product development cyclefrom idea to final product. For example, a company could have teams in variouslocations around the world working on related portions of the sameproject, using broadband connectivity to provide seamless communicationand information sharing.Increasing broadband penetration may also enable more than just largefirms, governments, and academic research institutions to develop innovativeproducts. For example, Apple’s iPhone App Store has over 100,000 registeredapplication developers, most of which are small companies. 5 In2008, those small developers produced five of the top 10 applications sold inthe App Store (Dokoupil 2009).Cloud Computing: Reducing Costs for BusinessesFor enterprises of all sizes, the costs of information technology (IT) infrastructure,including hardware, software, and technical support, can besignificantly reduced with the adoption of cloud computing technologies.Cloud computing generally allows for instant access to and storage ofapplications and data via broadband connectivity. Currently, almost everytraditional business application has an equivalent application in the cloud,which means that cloud services can effectively replace the more conventional,and typically more expensive, method of accessing and storingapplications and data through software installed locally on one’s own computeror in-house server (Carr 2008, 72). Additionally, cloud computingreduces or eliminates the need for on-site IT staff since these data processesare handled remotely. According to Zhang, Cheng, and Boutaba(2010), cloud computing has other potential benefits for businesses as well:• Reduced need for up-front investment, since cloud computing is typicallybased on a pay-as-you-go pricing model• Lower operating costs, since the service provider does not need to provisioncapacities according to the peak load• Easy access through a variety of broadband-enabled devices• Lower business risks and maintenance expenses, since business risks(such as hardware failures) and maintenance costs are shifted to infrastructureproviders, which often have better expertise and are betterequipped to manage these risks.Harvard Business Review Analytic Services (2011) conducted a globalsurvey of nearly 1,500 businesses and other organizations on their currentand planned use of cloud computing as well as the perceived benefits andBuilding Broadband 13