Imperial College London plans new research into cloud
Imperial College London plans new research into cloud
A new body of research is to be carried out by Imperial College London and partners into the impact cloud computing has on businesses across the globe.
The researchers – who will be made up of experts from five other academic institutions and tech firms located across Europe, along with those from Imperial – aim to realise the full potential of the cloud.
Called ‘HARNESS,’ which stands for Hardware- and Network-Enhanced Software Systems for Cloud Computing, the research consortium will run for three years.
They will integrate newly developed technologies into the cloud concept in order to drastically increase the efficiency and capacity of the service.
With a large number of companies across the globe making more and more use of cloud computing – and giants such as Facebook, Amazon and Google offering cloud services – the concept is now more important to the corporate world than ever. More than half of firms based in the US now make use of the cloud in order to process and store their data.
The requirements from clients for more advanced services are evolving quickly and companies that offer cloud computing are now keen to capitalise on this vast untapped business potential.
Leading the research project is Professor Alexander Wolf, from the Department of Computing at Imperial. He said that organisations were keener than ever to capitalise on the untapped potential of the cloud, as they realise its vital importance to businesses: “The potential of cloud computing has not yet been fully realised and our project aims to make it more flexible and powerful for customers,” he said.
“Ultimately this could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of companies and open the door to a whole
range of new business developments, spurring on the global economy in the process,” Mr Wolf went on to say.
The research team will ensure that the technologies integrated into the cloud system will allow for even more “complex computations, communication and storage capabilities.”
Businesses looking to move services into the cloud, should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.
