Opportunity of cloud computing for logistics Michele Colajanni Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia http://weblab.ing.unimo.it/people/colajanni/ http://cris.unimore.it
Opportunity of cloud computingfor logistics
Michele Colajanni
Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia
http://weblab.ing.unimo.it/people/colajanni/
http://cris.unimore.it
Logistics is movement and communication
•Movement of goods
•Communication of information
Mobility is driving the most important changes (nearly one mobile
device per capita in the planet, global mobile data traffic will increase 26-
fold)
Internet-of-Things will drive the next revolution(supply chains will enhance their speed and flexibility through new Internet-
based technologies including RFID tagging, NFC protocols, mobile
applications, and advanced analytics)
Cloud ���� Services
• Very few companies control, own or operate their entire supply chain
internally from end-to-end � An independent (cloud) platform may
represent a facilitator for Service Level Management
• Requirements
• Logistics as a Service: service engineering for cloud logistics
• Logistics as a product: cloud marketplace for logistics services
• Collaborative platform on a geographical scale
• Dynamic supply chain
Security related to cloud
•Companies have an absolute need to protect their products
and customers. Lost data can lead to lost intellectual property,
lost products, lost customers and lost business. So security
and availability are prime concerns
�Availability is guaranteed because redundancy and disaster
recovery are embedded in the cloud system
Many customers are still afraid of cloud security, but …
The present situation (1)
• We want to access to our data and services anytime, anywhere,
anydevice
•We want our data with us and for this reason we use:
• laptops
• smartphones
• tablets
• USB pens
• 60% of company data are (also) on PC, laptop, tablet,
smartphone, with increasing percentage of mobile devices with
respect to PCs
The present situation (2)
• 10% of mobile devices are lost within 12 months
• 60% of pen-drives contain company data
• 66% of pen-drives is lost forever
• 43% of mobile subscribers experience phone damage, loss, or theft
• At LAX airport, 400+ lost smartphones are found each month
• A whopping 87% of those who lost phones had to manually re-enter their
data, and 31% lost data stored nowhere else
• Each unrecovered PDA or business smartphone costs the employer at least
$2,500
In order to access to our data and services
anytime, anywhere, anydevice
the laptop/smartphone/USBdrive model
does not work
Is the cloud model the right alternative?
Cloud benefits for logistics
• Cloud-based platforms are inherently collaborative and accessible,
creating major benefits for companies that deal routinely with thousands of
suppliers
• Cloud-based collaboration allows multiple parties to jointly develop supplier
contracts, dramatically enhancing contract management
• Cloud computing offers a collaborative framework with centralized storage and
contact points, fewer visibility barriers, and the opportunity to enact simplified,
standardized processes.
• Dynamic supply chain: cloud-based platforms are inherently elastic,
making it possible to scale up with minimal waste of time and capital
• ability to switch applications entirely without a lot of added cost or complexity
• ability to enter new markets or launch new services quickly
Possible services related to cloud
Cloud computing applications for functions such as:
• network strategy
• inventory management
• warehousing
• transportation
Next cloud computing applications for processes such as:
• global trade compliance
• replenishment planning
• order processing
• transportation load building
• fleet management
• transportation route planning
Security in the cloud: It is both the #1 opportunity and the #1 concern
•Most (87%) believe cloud will not impact or will
actually improve their security posture
•Yet, they rate security as their #1 concern. Top threats:1. Mass malware outbreak at your cloud provider
2. Hacker-based data theft from your cloud provider
3. Sharing sensitive data insecurely via the cloud
4. Rogue use of cloud leading to a data breach
5. Data spillage in a multi-hosted environment
[Symantec report, 2011]
Q&A
“Would you put your
data in a cloud?”
“Would you put your
money in a bank?”
• Never
• What?
• Do I have an alternative?
Learned lesson: answers depend on the epoch
A Cloud provider MUST have astrong committment on security
• Analysis of employees (past records and way of conduct, including strong
logging)
• Security team: 100+ experts
• Integrated security
• Physical (24/7, electronic and biometric accesses, CCTV, multiple generators)
• Continuous monitoring of threats and vulnerabilities
• Security embedded in the lifecycle software development
• Auditing and assessment
• Incident Response Teams
• Certifications: Safe Harbor, PCI, SAS70, FISMA, …
Is security in your data center adequate to your expectation?
Mature industry
• Complexity must be masked
• Separation between product and security is a demonstration that
the computer industry is still immature
• Can you imagine a scenario similar to what happens in IT in any
other industry?
Car dealer: «Hey, before arriving at home, remember to buy brakes
for your new car»
• Security is embedded in any mature industry:
•We expect breaks in the cars, a house with the door, a door with its lock, a safe
electric tool, a gun that does not explode, potable water from the faucet
•and we sue companies that do not satisfy our expectations
What users expect
Modern users are platform-free:• They do not know what operating system Google (or Facebook or
Skype) use
• They do not know the venues of Internet data centers
• They do not know where their data are and what providers do with their
data
And they don’t care
All provided services must come with dependability,
usability, scalable performance, and security
Security by design
Security will not disappear, but it will be managed by the
providers and not by the users and companies anymore
In the future ‟every (interesting) IT application will be
characterized by trust and reputation”
Amazon, Apple, and Google will do it for your services and your
data as Mercedes and Ferrari guarantee for your cars
Security challenges
• Applications of cloud providers cannot be examined by the
customers
• Loss of physical control
• Trusting vendor’s security model, but everything is a
matter of trust:
• Do you trust in all producers of the software installed on your
PC?
• Customer inability to respond to auditing
• Obtaining support for forensics and investigations
• Indirect administrator accountability
• Users will “trust” cloud providers to manage their
data and services like they learned to trust banks
with their money
More psyco
logica
l issues
Conclusions
‟The rise of the cloud is more than just another platform shift that gets
geeks excited. It will undoubtedly transform the IT industry, but it will
also profoundly change the way people work and companies
operate” [The Economist, 2011]
Supply chain’s migration to cloud: not “if”, but “when”
“While it will take time for supply chains to transition to cloud computing,
we believe the operational benefits and potential savings from
clouds are too great to ignore”
� If your organization has not yet started its journey to the cloud, now
it’s the time to start