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)

Vision

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 paradigm

INTERNET

Portatili

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

Secure cloud storage: solutions exist

The solution isencryption

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