Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
After reviewing the nature of the construction industry and the cloud computing
model, the authors suggest four major benefits of cloud computing for construc-
tion collaboration and management. These are the improvements in cost, mobility,
flexibility, and maintenance and updating.
12.4.1 Reduction of initial cost and lifecycle cost of IT system
The cost benefit of the cloud computingmodel is oftenmentionedbecause its utility-
based pricing model is a major difference from the conventional way of IT delivery.
Various studies (Dainty et al., 2001; Egan, 1998) show that most AEC companies are
SMEs with small headcounts and little budget. The lack of budget of these companies
is a crucial barrier of ITadoption in the AEC industry. Therefore, at least inprinciple,
cloud computing seems to address this vital issue for the construction industry.
Traditionally, people make payment at the time when they purchase software and
hardware systems. The initial payment is thendepreciatedover a period, usuallywith
the designatedusagedurationof the systems. On the contrary, cloud computing users
pay the service providers based on a monthly basis or on the amount of IT resources
and time that are used. The actual amount of payment over the systemusage lifecycle
may be the same as in the traditional way, but the amount of initial cost is reduced. If
the present value (PV) is taken into consideration, that is, the value of a payment in
the future is discounted to reflect the time value of money, the present value of
lifecycle cost of ITsystems is less in the cloudcomputingmodel than in the traditional
IT delivery model. In addition, since cloud computing users pay monthly or pay for
their usage, the users can always switch to cheaper (and better performing) options
whenever available. The users can also terminate the contract earlier with the cloud
service providers if the project finishes in a shorter time than expected, therefore
saving the payment for the hardware and software.
12.4.2 Thin client support for system mobility
With cloud computing, systems and programs operate on the clouds. End users do
not need powerful computers to run computationally demanding applications such
as building performance analysis and optimization programs. Only a web-enabled
device, for example desktop computers, netbooks, or even mobile smart phones,
would be sufficient to execute those applications and obtain data and results from
them. Server virtualization enabled by the cloud model also allows end users to
manage and control high performing computers using a thin client device.
Therefore, as the Internet becomes ubiquitously available and cheaper and smaller
web-enabled devices emerge, cloud-based IT systems and applications will be more
portable virtually. Project members can access these systems and applications and
collaborate with each othermore conveniently.
12.4.3 System flexibility and elasticity
Cloud-based resources can be flexibly deployed and terminated, and elastically
scaled up and down. As a result, IT cost changes to a variable cost rather than a fixed
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