Seamless Integration of On-Demand and On-Premise Applications Using Clouds

As a plug and play model, cloud computing complements an organization’s technology and systems resources. Since the applications are offered as a service on demand, it provides cost-effective alternative to the end-users and cost minimization to the providers since multiple instances of the same applications are run on the same hardware and software resources. While the Internet extends communication infrastructure to the end-users, cloud computing offers a quick and affordable way to avail IT infrastructure as an Internet service. The service providers have to be equipped with adequate storage and computing infrastructure such as servers, storage and network systems simultaneously to multiple users. Since the cloud computing facilities provide the end-users with computing and storage resources using Internet, it is mandatory for the industry to develop open standards in the areas of data representation and communication. One of the challenges to be addressed by the cloud providers is the implementation of seamless integration of on-demand and on-premise applications that allows the users to share platforms, applications and data at different levels. In this paper, we explore various methods used by the industry to achieve this integration.