Layers of SAP NetWeaver BW

The SAP Business Warehouse has specific layers that are responsible for reliable data exchange and information processing along with well-built analytical capabilities. 

Based on the capabilities and applications in the software, the different layers in SAP BW are:

A) Extraction layer
B) Staging layer
C) Transformation layer
D) Loading layer
E) Reporting and analysis layer

A) Extraction layer:
The extraction layer is the collection of data from source systems. It aims to guarantee the integrity of data while eliminating reporting troubles on the source systems. Data can be extracted from an assortment of different sources.

SAP NetWeaver BW offers predefined, customizable extractors for application data from the entire SAP Suite. You could also design extractors for customized SAP applications. Most extractors for SAP application transaction data are delta-enabled, which translates to mean that transactions can be written to a delta queue at the time of submission. They are then extracted from this delta queue into SAP BW.

Direct extraction from databases based on table or view definitions using DB Connect and UD Connect extraction interfaces. DB Connect (Database Connection) permits the extraction from and direct access to data lying in tables or views of database management systems. This feature is available only for some specific databases. UD Connect (Universal Data Connect) permits the extraction from and direct access to both relational and multidimensional data.
Web services allow you to push data to the SAP BW system with external control.

Flat file interface permits extraction from flat files in ASCII and CSV format.
Staging BAPIs (Staging Business Application Programming Interfaces) are open interfaces from which third-party tools can extract data from aging systems. The data transfer can be triggered by a request from the SAP BW system or by a third-party tool.
Data is acquired from SAP BW using a pull mode, through objects called InfoPackages. Options for the data acquisition can be set in the InfoPackage.

B) Staging layer:
Extracted data is received and temporarily stored in the staging layer of SAP NetWeaver BW. The data staging layer stores source data from different operational sources. When data is inside of the staging layer all needed transformations can then occur without interfering with the operations in the source systems. Data is also preprocessed for cleansing before calculation and/or aggregation based on business requirements. This layer is mostly represented by the persistent staging area (PSA), where data is stored in SAP BW as soon as it's extracted. The technical structure of a PSA is contingent on the structure of the DataSource.

C) Transformation layer:
The transformation layer of SAP BW facilitates the consolidation, cleaning, and integration of data into the warehouse. Data gets adapted from the source data format into the desired destination data format. Data transformation can include data mapping and formulas.

D) Loading layer:
The actual process of pushing data through the transformation layer into the data targets. A data transformation process (DTP) transforms the data based on the parameters defined between the DataSource and the data target.

E) Reporting and Analysis layer:
Within the reporting and analysis layer, reports and dashboards are created to display data in a format where research can be done. The components that signify the reporting and analysis layer are grouped together in the SAP business explorer (BEx) toolset and more recently the Business Objects toolset.

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Uncomplicated Sap Support Packs installation

We use different software for business administration and all of those programs need updates periodically. Sap products are quite popular because they provide complete business solutions to the users. Updates for these software's can be installed on your system. For automation of business processes different kind of modules designed by sap are available in form of packages and these packs can be installed onto the system with assistance of host server. 

Sap Support Packs are designed for automation of applications which use different programs. We have to download these sap support packs when malfunctioning of applications was observed. Products provided by sap always work according to current status of the guidelines, but it may change quite quickly, for better results we need updates of these programs. After updating of software's we will notice a big change in overall performance of the applications, results produced are more accurate. Most advance versions of the applications should be used so as to avoid risk of incompatibility.

Entire business administration depends on these applications and without them we can't manage different processes. It is important to get the updated versions of these applications. Your management team should imply these changes quickly otherwise there will be technical issues faced by different applications. We are living in a competitive business market and everyone is searching for products which can be used to produce results more accurately without taking much time. Performance of these programs will be affected by different factors which will make it complicated for end users. For sap support packs automation you can visit Sap Singapore. You can install these updates with the help of websites which are offering these short packages in cheap rates.

If you want fast and accurate results then download sap support packs on systems and get what is desirable. If you are not familiar with these applications then take assistance of professionals who will guide you through the complete installation of applications. Sap community is dealing with the clients since a long time and they are providing quality product for business solutions. You can take advantages of these attractive offers which can be used in favor of growth of organization. Every program which is design to benefit you will be available in cheap rates and you can easily download that from server. Run each program with the help of online assistance and bring a change in overall performance of resources you have for administration.

Sap support packs solve every problem in very short time, and you can apply these updates on each of the applications in timely manner. Packs are provided in form of small bundles of data which can be installed on systems easily.

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An Introduction to SAP Components and Modules

SAP Technology is known to be an advanced software technology which enables R/3 to handle all kinds of business management duties throughout all sections of the organization. SAP Technology is easily goes with all kinds of business computers, which means that the company's hardware can be expanded in different ways as requirements increase. SAP Technology also handles the changes in the organization's structure. For instance, changes may which need data processing to be decentralized or centralized. SAP System has also been designed for organizations that are made up of numerous corporations.

R/3 System can manage several independent legally corporations. Even if the corporations themselves have subsidiaries, they all can handle within a single system. International companies choose R/3 due to its benefits like multi-lingual options, accounting practices and national taxation laws that support multiple time zone operations. SAP Technology ensures that organizations are always ready for business on the Internet. Coming to different kinds of SAP modules, here is some useful information. The Basis System which is also known as the Kernel, is responsible for defining checking entries, the screens and makes sure that data goes to the right place. The interfaces are known as the connection which is the R/3 System that is available in many versions designed for each kind of system and software. It is the interfaces that enable the System R/3 to appear the same, and it doesn't matter which system is being used.

Other kinds of modules are; the Sales and Distribution module also called SD, handles work that is related to sales, billing and shipping. Production Planning module, PP assists staffs, managers and the operators to plan the process production. The Material Management module also called MM handles the flow of materials in, through and out of the organization. Plant Maintenance module, PM handles building repair and maintenances equipments used in production process. It gives information on machinery usage. Financial Accounting module, FI gives general accounting facilities such as loss and profit statements and balance sheets. Quality Management module, QM supports all the processes related to the quality assurance of the products.

The Controlling module, CO is made not only to control costs but even to control the company's objectives. CO also provides information to help managers in future planning and also in making decisions. The Personnel Administration module, PA has the master data where the information of all staffs is stored. The HRD department of a company accesses this data which is often updated. Enterprise Controlling module, EC is an information system for executives; it is designed to combine a company's internal information along with the external data. Personnel Planning and Development module, PD covers all human resources planning area, like the cost planning which enables the effect of different payment strategies that has to be predicted as the basis for decision making.

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What Is SAP?

Well, the answer to this question is pretty straight-forward. It is amongst the exceptional Business Solution Software. SAP is the abbreviated form of Systems, Applications, Products; the term is basically originated from German terminology - Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte. To your information, originally SAP had its word- form as Systems Analysis and Program development. As a matter of fact, SAP is a product of a prominent German software company, SAP AG. SAP software is usually executed on R/3 system.

SAP is evidently one of the most renowned ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software available in the market. If you believe that this is just another exaggeration about the software, then statistical data of SAP indicating its popularity would clear your doubt. It is a proven fact that SAP cover the greatest market portion, and the largest number of clientele with over 38,000 users, and the number is still increasing.

SAP is divided into multiple modules that are designed to deal with various tasks related to different business management requirements and other associated factors. Some of its widely used modules include SAP Basis, SAP SD (designed to execute sales and distribution related transactions), and SAP CRM (Used for Custom Relation Management), SAP ABAP (is a language designed for advanced business application programming). Perhaps, the most coveted and used modules of SAP include FI/CO (dealing with finance and controlling), HR (Human Resource), PP (Production Planning), PS (Project System), BIW (Business Information Warehousing) and MM (Material Management).

There are several other kinds of modules available in the market, which has attracted numerous business organizations through the time. Some of these components are classified as functional units, whereas some are classified as innovative aspect'. On the other hand, there are few Dual modules such as PP + MM, FICO +SD, HR + CRM, SD + CRM and HR + SD, etc. These dual modules are apparently two different functional modules merged into one united module, in order to increase and magnify its pertinence. Most business organizations usually opt for dual modules to get their business transactions executed. Furthermore, there are few modules grouped under the category "Techno-Functional". This arrangement includes modules like BIW (Business Information Warehouse), ABAP + HR and ABAP + SD. These modules are again highly adopted by organizations for business functionalities.

The eminence of SAP as dominating ERP system has evolved regular business functionalities into easier and efficient tasks. SAP has also paved way to numerous job opportunities, and as a result people have started considering it as a booming profession. Companies throughout world are looking for SAP experts to handle the system with utmost professionalism. This has made it as one of the 'hottest' career options when compared to other jobs in general and IT industry.

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Sap Hana, in - Memory,Sap Bw on Hana

SAP HANA is an in-memory data platform that is deployable as an on premise appliance, or in the cloud.It is a revolutionary platform that's best suited for performing real-time analytic, and developing and deploying real-time applications.

At the core of this real-time data platform is the SAP HANA database which is fundamentally different than any other database engine in the market today.

It is a reinvention of the database which is designed to take advantages of the changes in technology in the last 30 years.

Depending on your business, SAP HANA is either a plug-in replacement for your existing Oracle, Microsoft or IBM database - or a technology platform on which to build or buy revolutionary new business applications.

What is the difference between SAP HANA and SAP?

What most people call "SAP" is SAP's Enterprise Resource Planning Software (SAP ERP), which runs businesses Finance and other back-office processes. SAP ERP can use the HANA platform as its engine (instead of Oracle/IBM/Microsoft databases).

SAP HANA is an application platform, but with significant capabilities not matched elsewhere in the market. It can be used as the database for SAP ERP, or for many other uses.

What are the advantages of SAP HANA?

The main advantage of SAP HANA is that because it is very fast, you can build much simpler software that relies on one copy of information. Traditional software relies on layers of information which are copied at different levels of detail to present information the correct format.

With HANA, your information is stored once, and then the report or response that you requires is calculated on demand.

This mean that a country-level P&L report is produced from the individual sales and costs in real-time, or that a forecast is produced based on the latest available information.

This, in turn, leads to a massive simplification in software design and cost.

SAP BW on HANA:

SAP has made it very clear that SAP HANA is the platform for innovation for all of its products, and so we see a lot of customers looking to define an in-memory strategy. One of the reasons why SAP BW is such a popular component is that it represents a first step for many companies, into implementing the HANA platform.

BW is a good choice because it is less mission-critical than transactional systems like ERP and it allows companies with established people and processes to understand the technology, how to implement it and how to support it.

SAP BPC on HANA:

Running BPC on a SAP BW on HANA platform removes the constraints and comprises associated with traditional SAP BPC solutions. Reporting on greater volumes of data is possible, leading to the ability to budget and forecast at a more granular level. With the latest version of BPC, calculations are pushed down into the database layer, enabling more complex planning model calculations to be performed in real-time which unleashes a whole host of opportunities.

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Business Intelligence Strategy

Why a Business Intelligence strategy

Developing your Business Intelligence Strategy involves first considering your organizations vision and mission. Melding the corporate strategy with your business intelligence strategy will make a winning combination.

Business Intelligence Elevator Speech

To get key players on-board with your BI initiative you need an 'elevator speech'. This allows you to quickly give stakeholders your idea. Your elevator speech should be: "Business Intelligence allows data to be transformed into knowledge that fuels business growth. Business Intelligence allows better, more informed and faster decisions."

Key players

There are a number of key players to include in your Business Intelligence strategy and initiatives.

- Leadership Key

- Decision Makers

- Business Analysts

- Information Technology

- Other stakeholders

Essential Elements of Business Intelligence

- Good information

- Secure information

- Accessible information

- Analytically structured information

Goal of Business Intelligence: enable better, more informed and faster decisions

How do we enable better, more informed and faster decisions

Different business intelligence tools address these factors in different ways. Reporting delivers regular, timely information, with the ability to author reports or queries to get specific details. OLAP analysis, with its multiple dimensions, allows you to compare and contrast information against time and other factors to uncover trends. Scorecarding presents your key performance metrics and whether you've cross pre-determined thresholds. Executive (Data) dashboards put information in context, and in an easy-to-understand format.

Precursors to implementing BI

The underlying pool(s) of data need to be trusted. For companies to realize successful business intelligence user's must trust the data. Many companies have pockets of data that are considered trustworthy. This trust can be spread to other data by instilling data quality methodologies and also by implementing granular data security. This can be accomplished by mapping key information/data. Then creating data integrity rules/processes on this key data. Through this mapping of key data you will identify security rules which can be programmed at the source of the data, rather than the individual applications and reporting systems that ride on top of the data. Define it one time, one place.

If you are interested in learning more about business intelligence analystics check out here.

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Implementing Business Intelligence Solutions

Organizations are increasingly becoming dependent on accurate and timely information to remain competitive in their core businesses. Real-time data marts and business intelligence solutions are focusing on getting the right information to the right person at the right time. The choice of a real-time business intelligence solution requires an analysis of your requirements so that you get the one most suited for your business.

Relevant Factors:

Implementation of a real-time business solution is more than just the tools or technologies associated with the solution. You have to consider:

o The system must provide the required outputs while being able to refresh the data marts real-time.

o A cost -benefit analysis of being able to extract real-time information

Business Intelligence Solution Capabilities:

1. Defining Real-Time: The definition of real-time will depend largely on the information needs of your organization. Some organizations, like banks, require responses within a few milliseconds. In others operating under a different set of conditions, responses in minutes may be acceptable. Of course, you have to factor in the time to update the data. Considering this additional time, solutions are mostly known as near real-time and meet the requirements of most businesses. All users of the solution should be made aware of the system capabilities. Businesses must differentiate between information that is required in real-time from that which is acceptable in a later timeframe.

2. Sourcing Data: Various options are available, depending on your requirement of accessing information:

o Real-time integration tools come with a real-time data replication engine that is separate from the batch integration engine. The data replication engine does its work by leveraging the database logs. The cost of such a system is correspondingly higher. A simpler and more cost effective solution is to have database native replicators.

o Database triggers are an alternative to real-time systems.They cost less and are low on maintenance. They work by posting changes captured in the source system into a separate staging area, from where the real-time integration engine reads it continuously.

o Display: Graphic visuals are the preferred as they provide an overall view of the business or the desired function. Analytic dashboards are now essential and d supplement numeric and statistical information.

o Information Delivery: In addition to providing the right information at the right time, it is equally of consequence that this information is delivered at the right place where it is conveniently accessible. Gadgets and technologies in the market make this eminently feasible and dashboard reports or exception alerts can easily be routed to PDAs or other web-enabled devices.

o The system must deliver information to meet both operational intelligence and analytical intelligence needs. Top management not only needs dashboards and alerts. Middle management is fact the more prolific user of operational and analytical information. This aspect must be ensured during the design phase.

Attention to the aspects outlined above will ensure that your solution meets your business needs. Having planned and designed the system deliberately, entrust its implementation to an experienced and qualified solutions provider so that the benefits translate directly to your bottom-line.

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What is Cloud Computing? 10 Defining Points

This seems like an odd question to ask since you probably already have some concept of "the cloud.

" However, given some of the conversations I have been having recently, I think there's a good deal of cloudy thinking about cloud computing Singapore.

So here is the gist of what the cloud is (imho) summed up for you in a set of bullet points:

1. "Cloud Computing" is currently a marketing term. And that's why I'm writing this; to divorce the use of Cloud Computing, the marketing term, from the use of Cloud Computing as an architectural idea. Marketing terms don't have to conform to precise definition. They get used, then abused, then severely exploited and finally, as their bandwagon grinds to a halt, they get pitched onto the sorry stack of broken buzz words. That's what happened to "eBusiness", "Web Services", "On Demand" and so on. Until the recession began in earnest Cloud Computing was a reasonably sane marketing term. That's now changing because, in the minds of the IT audience, the cost of cloud computing is lower. That makes cloud the hype-word du jour.
2. Cloud Computing is NOT SaaS (Software As A Service). I'm making this point because some commentators have been equating these two ideas as if they were identical. SaaS is healthy terminology. SaaS is out-hosted software that you can access directly. Although you might not think of it as such, your electronic banking capability is SaaS - you just don't pay for it directly. As such electronic banking is no different to Zoho or Google Apps. However, electronic banking is definitely not Cloud Computing, no matter how much you stretch the definition.
3. Cloud Computing Is Not About Emulating Google It looks suspiciously like the initial enthusiasm for cloud computing as a technology strategy was prompted by Google envy. Google was doing something unprecedented in building huge data centers to support its business. It was clearly a fact that Google's operation was highly efficient and some CIOs mused about whether they could emulate Google. Actually there was no chance, because Google's business was defined by just two uncommon transactions: searching the web and placing adverts. Google designed a huge massively parallel operation using computer servers and switches they built themselves within an architecture that was optimized for precisely that workload. You can't emulate that unless, like some social networking sites, you have a small variety but very large numbers of transactions. As you might expect, some social networking sites have emulated Google.
4. Cloud Computing Is About Technology Stacks Cloud computing is about technology stacks in the same way that the ISP business is about technology stacks. In general ISP deliver a consistent service to the myriads of web sites they host by employing a standard technology stack, most commonly, the LAMP (Linux Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack. This means that management effort is minimal because everyone is running the same application (a web site) with the same technology (LAMP) and, where customers do have problems, they will normally be the same issues cropping up time and again.
5. Cloud Computing Is About Economies of Scale The only thing that everyone seems to agree upon about Cloud Computing is that it is constructed for scale and that it is hosted on a set of resources that are distinct from the typical IT network. In other words within "the cloud" there is an architectural attempt to build for scale. Most cloud offerings are going to be based upon scalability. The truth is that if you plan to have a very large data center and you organize its use so that most of the workloads are very similar, or better, identical, then you will achieve significant economies of scale. You will then be able to offer the service at prices that undercut the customer's costs of running the application in-house. The more customers you achieve the better the cost advantage.
6. Cloud Computing Is Not Outsourcing The typical corporate data center is not a cloud and will never become one. Its workloads are mixed the platforms they run on are mixed - the whole technology stack is mixed. That means you cannot transform the whole data center into a cloud operation. However, you can outsource it.
7. Are There Any Clouds Computing Standards? Not really, or perhaps better to say "not yet." In general cloud computing infrastructure is built on servers that employ virtualization technology to deliver efficient resource utilization and typically, abide by open standards and, for the sake of economy, use open source software extensively. There is an organization formed by a group of universities, called the Open Cloud Consortium (OCC), which is promoting open frameworks that will let clouds operated by different organizations work together seamlessly.
8. Is there Such A Thing As An Internal Cloud? Again, not really, or perhaps better said "not yet." There is sense in organizations creating "domains" within their own networks that are built on cloud-type architectures, especially if they have applications that may need to scale over time. If cloud standards existed then such domains could be thought of as Internal Clouds. They would become staging areas for possibly moving internal applications into the cloud, or if the organization has its own software that it intends to offer as a service, then such a domain could become the platform for providing that service.
9. Is Cloud Computing Anything To Do With Web 2.0? No nothing at all. But you can make the connection if you want to. Many web sites that are said to be Web 2.0, primarily because they are social networking sites, have had to scale up dramatically when their user population shot into the millions. Because of that they have had to adopt highly scalable architectures (or die). Because they have such architectures they may be in a good position to offer some services to users in the manner of cloud computing.
10. Do Clouds Offer Guaranteed Service Levels? The answer to this is "yes" or at least it should be, and in the future it surely will be. We have to exclude free services, like Yahoo Mail and many of Google's services, which can be described as Cloud Computing from most perspectives, because a free service is never going to offer guarantees (even if it makes an excellent living from adverts.) But Cloud Computing will ultimately be defined, from the user's perspective, by service levels and the nature of the service itself. If Cloud Computing Services are well defined in that way, then it becomes possible to compare such services with the cost of providing a similar capability from your own data center - as long as the Cloud Computing provider is transparent in providing details of the technology that it deploys.

Cloud Computing: The Ins and Outs

Cloud computing has gained significant popularity over the past few years because of its self service capacity, flexibility, affordability, scalability and its pay as you go service model. You may have also heard cloud computing referred to as the cloud, cloud hosting, cloud server hosting and etc. These terms have been thrown around so much and most do not even know exactly what it means. So what is cloud computing Singapore?

Cloud computing is unlike traditional hosting alternatives that use a single dedicated server, as cloud computing uses virtualization technology to pool or share resources from an underlying network of physical servers. In other words, a group of physical servers acts like one big server to bring you the resources that you need on demand. Cloud computing delivers shared computing resources, data or software through the Internet; which is the most common way of accessing the cloud. However, intranets and dedicated networks are also used too. Resources provided by the cloud include: networks, servers, storage, platforms, applications and other services. And these resources are shared between people and organizations, and accessed by applications or users.

The Five Main Characteristic of Cloud Computing

In cloud computing, there are five fundamental characteristics that differentiate it from traditional hosting alternatives, including rapid elasticity, broad network access, on-demand self-service, resource pooling, and measured service.

· On-Demand Self-Service

With cloud computing's on demand self service, you are able to access email, applications, network or server services without human interaction. Simply set up an account with the seller, create billing and security credentials, and select the cloud computing resources that you will need. Generally this is all done by utilizing a user friendly and easily accessible web-based self-service portal.

· Broad Network Access

Cloud computing services are available over a network, either over a dedicated network, the Internet or the Intranet. These services can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, anytime on any device or workstation, with the right credentials of course.

· Resource Pooling

Cloud computing provides multiple customers the same physical resources, however, with a a separate environment for each client. And the resources from these physical servers can be pooled from various servers, in various data centers, in various locations. And if a server in your network goes offline, then your virtual server will pool resources from another server in your physical network. Even if an entire data center in your network is down, then your resources are pooled from various data centers in various locations. This structure allows for decreased risk in the instance of failure.

· Rapid Elasticity

Perhaps one of the essential benefits of cloud computing is the flexibility that it provides to users, as cloud resources can be rapidly and elastically supplied to quickly scale out and in to meet demand. In other words, you get the resources that you need when you need them.

· Measured Service

Cloud computing leverages metering capabilities to measure your usage of resources, allowing you to only pay for what you are using. In other words, just like a utility bill you will only be charged for what you use, nothing more nothing less.

The 3 Main Cloud Computing Service Models

In cloud computing, there are three main service models. They are Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS).

· Software as a Service (SaaS) is the most extensively used cloud computing service model. SaaS allows developers and organizations to utilize business specific applications developed by third parties. In a SaaS model the vendor hosts both the application and the data, and the end user is free to use the services from anywhere. SaaS is not your average on premise software, as it is deployed over a network, generally the web, accessible via browser or program interface. Services can be anything from email to inventory control to database processing. Some examples include: Salesforce.com, Zoho, and Netsuite. The service level coverage provided includes: application uptime and performance.

· Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a type of cloud computing that provides users with software development tools that are hosted on a cloud provider's infrastructure. In a PaaS environment, developers can leverage the resources of a cloud provider to create and host applications on their platforms over the Internet. The greatest benefit derived from PaaS is that users can run existing or develop new applications without being concerned about the maintenance of server hardware, operating systems, load balancing or computing capacity. In other words, you can unload the responsibility of owning, managing, and operating systems software and hardware to your service provider. The types of services provided can be anything from RunTime scenario, cloud storage, integration and etc. Some examples of PaaS are Google App Engine, Windows Azure and Force.com. The service level coverage provided includes: environment availability, environment performance and no application coverage.

· Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a form of cloud computing that provides users with networks, storage, virtualized servers and systems software that give you all the functionalities of an entire data center. In other words, you are able to use computers that your service provider owns, manages and operates. Resources should encompass servers, storage, vendor managed network and virtualization layers so that your network architect is able to run your application and data. All the while, you will have control over operating systems and deployed applications. Types of services provided: cloud storage and virtual server. Some examples: Amazon Web Services, RackSpace Cloud and Go Grid. The service level coverage provided includes: virtual server availability, time to provision and no platform or application coverage.

The Three Major Cloud Solutions

There are many types of cloud strategies to employ. There are three main types of cloud solutions, including: public, private and hybrid cloud solutions.

· Public Cloud

When people think of the term cloud, more often than not they are referring to the public cloud. A public cloud solution is shared by thousands of customers worldwide and is available to anyone on the Internet. This is the easiest and most cost effective cloud strategy to employ. However, because you share the cloud with the public, you do not want to keep sensitive information here.

· Private Cloud

When your organization has sensitive data, privacy fears are a leading issue. This is where a private cloud will come into use. A private cloud is either a proprietary network or a data center that provides hosted services to just a single customer. In a private cloud setup, you must either lease or supply the hardware that will be used. Not to mention you can either manage some or all of your IT resources in-house or managed externally. For businesses that are in highly regulated industries where security is paramount, a private cloud solution is the only alternative. The benefits of a private cloud solution include: no restrictions of network bandwidth, security vulnerabilities, and legal concerns that utilizing a public cloud might encompass. It can also have improved security, accountability, and resiliency than a public cloud because use can be contained and managed. Some disadvantages are that a large capital investment is required, time to market can average 6-36 months to establish and the learning curve is great.

· Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud is a combination of a public and a private cloud and is considered to be the best of both worlds. A hybrid cloud solution allows you to keep all of your secure data in a private cloud setting, while getting high usability of mobile and web based access to corporate applications. In most cases, a hybrid cloud solution that combines the advantages of both private and public clouds works rather well for a bulk of businesses. Some advantages of a hybrid cloud solution include: no vendor lock in, minimizes the risk of data loss and/or downtime, save the extra cost of purchasing exclusive server hardware and get fairly reliable connectivity, even in case of outages. One major disadvantage is that a hybrid cloud solution is very expensive.

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Cloud Computing - Is It Safe?

There are essentially two kinds of computing environments:

On-premises computing is the traditional form of computing in which you or your company own and manage your own systems. All the applications you use, as well as your data files, are in your own computers on your own premises either on individual PCs or on an in-house local area network.

In cloud computing Singapore, by contrast, your applications and files are held remotely on the Internet (in cyberspace) in a network of servers which is operated by a third party. You access applications and work on your files from your PC simply by logging on to the network.

Cloud services are provided by cloud-hosting providers, companies such as Google, Amazon, Oracle Cloud, Rackspace, Microsoft Azure, and so on.

There is nothing fundamentally new about the concept of cloud services. If you are using Gmail, Hotmail or yahoo for your emails, you are using cloud services and probably have been for years.

What is relatively new is the types of services that are being offered in a cloud-environment. These now go far beyond email to cover all the IT services that an on-premises computing environment would deliver, such as accounting, marketing, human resources and so on.

Advantages of cloud computing

Cloud computing has several advantages over on-premises computing:

1) You can run an application or access your files from anywhere in the world using any computer.

2) Cloud computing is cheaper.

3) You need less technical knowledge.

4) Cloud computing delivers a better performance.

5) Cloud computing is eminently scalable. Increasing the number of applications you use or the amount of data you store does not require a heavy investment; you only need to advise the cloud-hosting adviser.

Given these advantages it no surprise that over the last few years there has been a widespread rapid adoption of cloud computing. Analysts estimate that the growth rate of all spending on cloud IT will soon be at least four times faster than the growth rate of all spending on on-premises computing.

Indeed, analysts are expecting the annual growth rate of spending on cloud computing to average 23.5% compound from now until 2017. In addition, by that year spending on cloud services will probably account for one-sixth of all spending on IT products, such as applications, system infrastructure software, and basic storage.

Given the rapid growth in cloud computing, the big question, of course, is whether cloud computing is safe. Is it more or less safe than on-premises computing?

The short answer is that cloud computing is not less safe than on-premises computing. However, the threats are somewhat different in nature, though they are converging.

Threats

Generally speaking, there are six major threats to computer security. These are:

Malware - is malicious software such as viruses, trojans, worms, spyware and zombies. Malware is installed on either a PC in your home-office or a cloud-computing server. Where malware gives control of a network of computers to a malicious group (eg, to send spam) it is called a botnet.

Web app attack - is an attack in which web-based applications are targeted. It is one of the most common forms of attack on the Internet.

Brute force attack - works by trying all possible combinations of letters or numbers in order to discover a cipher or secret key. For example, you could crack a password by repeatedly trying to guess it. Modern computing power and speed makes brute force a viable form of attack.

Recon - is reconnaissance activity that is used to choose victims that are both vulnerable and valuable.

Vulnerability scan - is an exploit using a special program to access weaknesses in computers, systems, networks or applications in order to generate information for planning an attack.

App attack - is an attack against an application or service that is not running on the web, ie the program will be on a computer somewhere.

Honeypots

A honeypot is a decoy website, network, system or application that has been intentionally designed to be vulnerable to attack. Its purpose is to gather information about attackers and how they work.

Honeypots allow researchers to:

• collect data on new and emerging malware and determine trends in threats
• identify the sources of attacks including details of their IP addresses
• determine how attacks takes place and how best to counteract them
• determine attack signatures (pieces of code that are unique to particular pieces of malware) so that anti-virus software can recognise them
• develop defences against particular threats

Honeypots have proved to be invaluable in erecting defences against hackers.

The Spring 2014 Cloud Security Report

Alert Logic provides security services for both on-premises and cloud computer systems. The company began issuing cloud security reports in 2012. Its Spring 2014 Cloud Security Report covers the year ending 30th September 2013.

This report is based on a combination of real-world security incidents experienced by Alert Logic's customers and data gathered from a series of honeypots the company set up around the world.

The report throws some interesting light of the security of on-premises and cloud computing relating to the company's customers. Here are some of the highlights:

[1] Computing is shifting more and more from on-premises to cloud-based computing and the kinds of attacks that target on-premises systems are now targeting cloud environments. This is probably due to the increasing value of potential victims in the cloud.

[2] Although attacks on cloud environments are increasing in frequency, the cloud is not inherently less secure than traditional on-premises computing.

[3] The frequency of attacks in both on-premises and cloud computing has increased for most types of threats, though for a few types of threats it has fallen. Here are the main points of comparison between both computing environments:

The most prevalent types of attacks against on-premises customers were malware attacks (including botnets) at 56% during the six months ending 30th September. At only 11%, these attacks were much less frequent among cloud customers. However the number of cloud customers experiencing these attacks is rising quickly, more than doubling in one year.

Attacks using brute force increased from 30% to 44% of cloud customers but remained stable in on-premises environments at a high 49%. Vulnerability scans jumped dramatically in both environments. Brute force attacks and vulnerability scans are now occurring at almost the same rates in on-premises and cloud environments.

Web app attacks are more likely among cloud customers. However these attacks are down year-on-year in both cloud and on-premises computing, as are recons. App attacks increased slightly in both categories of customers.

The most prevalent types of attacks vary between on-premises and cloud environments. In on-premises computing the top three were malware (56% of customers), brute force (49%) and vulnerability scans (40%), while in the cloud the most common incidents were brute force, vulnerability scans and web app attacks, each of which affected 44% of customers.

[4] The incidents involving Alert Logic's cloud-based honeypots varied in different parts of the world. Those hosted in Europe attracted twice as many attacks as honeypots in Asia and four times more than honeypots in the USA. This may be due to malware 'factories' operating in Eastern Europe and Russia testing their efforts locally before deploying them throughout the world.

[5] Chillingly, 14% of the malware collected by honeypots was not detectable by 51% of the world's top antivirus vendors. Even more frightening: this was not because these were brand-new malware; much of the malware that was missed was repackaged variations of older malware and thus should have been detected.

The report concluded with a statement that security in the cloud is a shared responsibility. This is something that individual entrepreneurs as well as small and medium sized enterprises tend to forget.

In cloud computing, the service provider is responsible for the basics, for protecting the computing environment. But the customer is 100% responsible for what happens within that environment and, to ensure security, he or she needs to have some technical knowledge.

Conclusion

Advertisements by cloud service providers seem to imply that cloud computing is safer than an on-premises computing. This is simply not true. Both environments seem to be equally safe or unsafe viz-a-viz hackers and their malicious programs.

Attacks in the cloud are increasing as potential targets are becoming more 'theft-worthy'. Thus, the security in the cloud needs to be just as robust as security in on-premises environments. However, you cannot rely solely on antivirus software vendors to detect all attacks.

Your best bet is therefore to enter an annual maintenance contract with an online computer maintenance firm that can periodically access your computer(s) from a remote location and ensure that it is protected as well as possible. This should not cost more than €120 to €150 a year depending on the number of computers you have.

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ERP And Supply Chain Management - Generate Rapid Improvement In Business

Supply chain management is an old concept but Enterprise Resource Planning has aided in reducing the inaccuracies. ERP has increased the performance of the supply chain. ERP and Supply Chain Management is a way of planning all the resources in the business enterprise effectively. The organizations establish operating systems and operating performance which help them in managing the business operations and meet the objectives of the business. ERP and SCM includes the trading partners of the organization also which are the customers and the suppliers. It is for the companies who are looking to generate rapid improvement in their operations. The assessment of ERP and SCM depends on the size of the operations and takes about three to four days. The organization's intent, implementation and effectiveness of the existing operations are assessed based on an ERP model.

SCM or Supply Chain Management is essential to have an edge over the competition in the market. It improves the way the organization finds raw components it requires to make a product to deliver to the customers. The components of Supply Chain Management are Plan, Source, Make, Deliver and Return. Many of the SCM applications rely on the information which is with the ERP or the Enterprise Resource Planning software. ERP integrates the data in a single application and therefore benefits SCM applications. The SCM applications have a single source for the data which makes it easy. It is beneficial to implement ERP first to get the information in order. Nowadays the ERP vendors offer SCM modules too.

Investing on ERP systems provides a platform that enables effective response to the changing Supply Chain Management. An integrated ERP system can aid in improving the performance of the Supply Chain Management by achieving a global visibility. It is essential to optimize the investment on inventory and offer great customer service in today's market. It is important to know about the inventory throughout the Supply Chain and this data is available with an ERP system. The manufactures can develop the best plan for production and make only what is required by having the knowledge of the inventory location and availability. This information also helps to provide the customers with inventory and product availability information. Real time data helps to make quick and correct decisions with the help of ERP.

ERP and SCM work together by developing a better customer interaction. It is important to know about the views of the customer and to obtain such information one needs to interact with the customer. This data can be achieved from different sources such as sales, marketing and supply chain systems. ERP offers this integrated view and helps the manufacturers to understand the customer needs better. They can provide better products and services which help the company to increase its profits. ERP and Supply Chain Management help in lean manufacturing, supplier integration and global sourcing. It helps to achieve a higher performance as the measurement and performance are linked together. ERP systems include analytics which enable to standardize metrics thereby bringing about speed and better quality.

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The Key To Efficient Global Supply Chain Management

During this time of global economic instability, companies that once conducted business domestically have found numerous opportunities when extending their operations to foreign land. Some of these opportunities may be financial by tapping into foreign economies that have not been affected by the overall struggling financial climate, or countries that offer services and/or products at a significant savings. However, this globalization also brings its risks, especially when it comes to a company's supply chain. The number of variables in the way business is conducted overseas may be incredibly difficult to efficiently plan ahead for.

Communication is key between the supply chain management team at home and the team based overseas. Differences in time zones need to be considered and conference calls scheduled outside of normal business hours on an ongoing basis. This scheduling assures all parties that notable occurrences within the company as well as external events that may affect the overall operation of the company are brought to light and appropriately addressed.

Though most external and/or local events may be predicted - say political uproar and inclement weather - others are not so easily foreseen. Remember the volcanic ash over Iceland that halted European travel last year? Then there are more localized events, such as flooding, health epidemics, land slides...events that affect a country's infrastructure may, and in most cases will, affect companies with operations in said country.

An experienced supply chain management team is essential in spearheading all global efforts, both at home and abroad. The lack of communication and knowledge may halt operations, costing millions of dollars and hours upon hours of precious time. A supply chain contingency plan must be implemented and tested before the transfer of information and merchandise ever takes place.

Unplanned circumstances are unavoidable in all aspects of business. Why not be well prepared for (almost) anything? Train your team, implement the proper protocol and constantly and consistently monitor the processes in place to continuously improve upon them.

Basic steps that are required in supply chain risk management are:

1) Notification - Global events have to be distributed on a timely basis depending on your locations near a crisis

2) Management - A process and centralized application should be used to manage all steps taken during a crisis

3) Reporting - Each responsible member on supply chain risk management team have to have clear reporting requirements and tasks

4) Learning - After the supply chain crisis is over, what lessons were learned? Upgrade your processes from these lessons.

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