Comparison Of Zoho And Google Apps For Office Automation - Essay On Regional Gardens.

Zoho and Google Apps Overview

Question:

Discuss about the Service Provider Security Cloud Computing.

Office automation is supported by a huge variation of tools and Regional Gardens can pick any tool that they require. A huge number of tools are available in the market, however Zoho and Google Apps are among the most commonly used tools. The following discusses the most significant features of the two suites:

The suite contains a wide variety of applications. A Zoho writer is able to read and even convert any document to any format that is supported by the Microsoft Word database such as .docx, .doc, .rtf, .htm, .html, .txt and .odt.  Zoho sheets also supports another feature where the user can add charts, tables and images into their sheets along with collaborating in real time with other users. It also has the application for creating slideshows and various themes and animations that can be applied and just like the other applications, it can be used to read and even edit PowerPoint documents with extensions such as .ppt, .pptx and .pps. However, the email service does not come pre integrated, it can be integrated either free of cost or by buying subscriptions depending on the storage limit that the user wishes to have.

Anyone can create their own business apps using the Zoho creator that will aid them in their business. The Zoho creator has a very simple interface and even supports the drag-and-drop function. The Zoho creator can be used to create a huge variety of apps including one where payment app can be integrated using PayPal. The relation with the customers can also be tracked with the help of a CRM app that can be implemented through email, chat, telephone and even social media all in one platform. The Zoho suite is more suitable for users who are accustomed to the Microsoft Office suit as is it has some similar functions to that of Microsoft Office management.

The suite is particularly tailored to suit the business needs of the users. Therefore, a range of applications is included in the suite such as presentation, spreadsheets and documentations. A special application called the Google Drive, which is cloud-based storage platform, can be used to store all of the images, documents and any other form of media. Every application that is created in the Google Drive is tracked by the G-suite. There is another app known as the Google Forms. It is used for creating and conducting surveys over the Internet. The information gathered from the customers will aid in making better business decisions. Two types of G-suite is available for the business purposes. One of them provides a storage space of 39 GB data at five dollars per month while the other one provides unlimited services at just ten dollars per month.

Zoho Suite Features

All suitable work can be performed by the huge variety of features of the G-Suite. Just like Zoho, the G-suite can also be used to convert the documents such as Excel and Word. The applications in Google apps are in synchronization with Google photos, Google drive and the Gmail. Therefore, these documents can be accessed from any place using any device such as the iPhone, the Android or even the Windows phones. The G-suite has the element of mobile that aids it to bring the complete suite on a smartphone (Trapani, 2007).

Regional Gardens can choose to use G-suite for automating their office, even if it lacks some very advanced features of Excel and Word. The capabilities that can be used by Regional Gardens are:

• An easy to use interface.
• Documents can be imported from the web or the4 email servers.
• The docs can be easily embedded in various websites and blogs.
• The UI supports the same ribbon bar.
• Files from PowerPoint and Word can be reproduced or even converted.
• The printing fine in quality.

The cloud can be used to provide the consumer with basic computation resources. These resources can be power for processing, components for networking, components for storage and even middleware at a monthly or yearly subscription basis. The customers have no control over the underlying cloud infrastructure; however, they do have total control over the applications, its operating system and its networking components. The cloud service is considered insecure, as all of the customers will be affected in the event of a security breach at the service provider. Data regulatory and privacy issues can also raise concerns as third-party companies handle the data and the infrastructure. One advantage is the cloud service provider will be responsible for making the technology accessible and reliable for the users at Regional Gardens. The users will in turn manage the operating system. This service assists enterprises by providing them with computational power that they require for their business.

Regional Gardens will be able to receive the following services from IaaS services:

• They will not have to purchase any hardware that is required for the business operations. The service will be provided through cloud by the vendors upon payment
• The resources on the cloud can be scaled from low to high depending on the requirements for storage and processing power.
• The expenses for maintain the hardware will be saved.
• The data is replicated and stored in the cloud and hence any single point failure will no longer be an issue.
• More time can be allocated for handling the complex business process and strategies and less time is required for resource handling management.

The cloud environment helps the customers to take control of everything except the underlying cloud hardware, operating system and the network. The PaaS cloud also supports the use of some built-in applications that can be used by the consumers to test the applications that they have developed as well as the use of the resources and storage. PaaS is found to be useful by those organizations, which create and manage the applications as they can test these applications and create porotypes very easily.

The following benefits can be provided by PaaS cloud to Regional Gardens:

• Various enterprises can develop applications for business development as if in a on premise environment.
• The enterprise would be free from the responsibility of creating backups of data and security tasks for the applications.
• Collaboration can be enhanced as the representatives can work from any pace in the world.

The compatibility it has with the other cloud services is a major issue that affects the migration from the existing service. IaaS is highly compatible with the Windows operating system and the SQL Server 2008. However, the PaaS is incompatible with these servers. PaaS is more secure than IaaS as PaaS does not rely on virtual machines and the consumer has full control over the deployed application and partial control over the environment. Multiple users for a single VM also raises IT security and data privacy issues. Every issues must be addressed before Regional Gardens decides to migrate to these infrastructures.

Flexibility and reliability that is similar to hosting SharePoint at the data center on the premise of the organization by the customer, is provided by the IaaS. The user sets up the platform and the installation procedure whereas the service provider does the maintenance of the network and the hardware. The implementation of this model aids in application development and deployment while accessing is same as that from hosting on premise. A company called Rackspace provides these types of services.

SaaS has enabled the cloud users to use any application directly without the need for any additional hardware or software. The service provider installs and manages the hardware and software and th application can be directly used by the user. As an example of SaaS, SharePoint in Microsoft Office 365 provides a multi-tenant environment. A multi-tenant environment provides the advantage of reduced cost and hence Regional Gardens can opt for this as it will provide cost effectives and there will be no additional cost for maintain any additional hardware or software. However, one major drawback being low adaptability and the software also does not allow any forms of customization.

The user is provided with the complete platform in PaaS where the person can install any application and even create applications based on their requirements. SharePoint could be installed on the Virtual Machine that is provided where the service provider manages the platform. The user has the core responsibility of deploying the application. OpenStack and Microsoft Azure are examples of such service providers.

IaaS is best suited for Regional Gardens as SharePoint can be migrated to it as it is the best that Microsoft Azure virtual machine can provide and Microsoft manages all the deployments that are required by SharePoint. In addition, Windows assists in adjusting the workload that is present on SharePoint (Microsoft Azure, n.d.).

• Security: Multiple tenants using the same VM raises security risks. However, it can be mitigated if the service provider provides security supervision.
• Internal Attacks: This risk is generated from the employees of the service providers who have full access on the cloud infrastructure.
• Encryption Breach: This risk is created when the Transport layer Service is dependent on the encryption provided by the cloud API.

References

Frontier Business, (2017).Fundamentals of Cloud Computing - What is SaaS, PaaS, laaS and How They Affect Your Business. Retrieved on 30 March 2018. From https://www.supplvchain247.com/article/fundamentals of cloud computing what is saas paas iaas

Micosoft Azure. SharePoint on Azure. Retrieved on 30 March 2018 from https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/solutions/sharepoint/

Trapani, G., (2007). Zoho Suite vs Google Docs. Retrieved on 30 March 2018. From https://lifehacker.com/315256/zoho-suite-vs-google-doc