Pure Pharmaceuticals, a company engaging in research on drugs, is having operations in the USA, the United Kingdom, Asia-Pacific region, include Vietnam. The firm is considering adopting cloud computing services which enable the organization to obtain its computing resources and applications from any location via an Internet connection. To be more specific, staff members are then able to receive emails stored in the cloud and share research projects with staff members working in another office easily. In such adoption, Pure Pharmaceuticals has to search for a cloud service provider, a thirdparty vendor providing application delivery, hosting, monitoring, and other services through cloud computing. You are the firm’s consultant and you are requested to provide advice to the board of directors before such adoption.
Required:
a. Perform a risk assessment on the adoption of cloud computing to the firm’s operations,
including both the opportunities and the risks involved.
b. Discuss if there would be any possible change to the existing IT organizational structure
after the adoption of cloud computing.
c. How does adoption of cloud computing affect the control environment of the
organization? What are the roles of the board of directors in the adoption of cloud
computing?
d. Discuss the general IT controls that may be expected in cloud computing environment.
Pure Pharmaceuticals, a company engaging in research on drugs, is having operations in the USA, the United Kingdom, Asia-Pacific region, include Vietnam. The firm is considering adopting cloud computing services which enable the organization to obtain its computing resources and applications from any location via an Internet connection. To be more specific, staff members are then able to receive emails stored in the cloud and share research projects with staff members working in another office easily. In such adoption, Pure Pharmaceuticals has to search for a cloud service provider, a thirdparty vendor providing application delivery, hosting, monitoring, and other services through cloud computing. You are the firm’s consultant and you are requested to provide advice to the board of directors before such adoption.
Required:
a. Perform a risk assessment on the adoption of cloud computing to the firm’s operations,
including both the opportunities and the risks involved.
b. Discuss if there would be any possible change to the existing IT organizational structure
after the adoption of cloud computing.
c. How does adoption of cloud computing affect the control environment of the
organization? What are the roles of the board of directors in the adoption of cloud
computing?
d. Discuss the general IT controls that may be expected in cloud computing environment.