Introduction

In this era of rapid technological innovations integrated with easy access to faster internet
facilities has paved way for many organizations to store data on cloud in order to access
information 24/7. As a result, there has been a proliferation of cloud service providers in the
recent times which comes as a path-breaking and a feasible solution which makes storage of
data easier, secure and feasible for organizations take on cloud services.
Yet, many IT start-ups have been reluctant to adopt cloud-based systems and prefer to store
their data in their local servers. But now due to the COVID-19 pandemic even the mode of
operating office has become a big question mark and organizations started adopting hybrid
model where majority of the employees are made to work in home and maintain minimum
number of employees are staffed in the premises. The pandemic situation was out of the blue
and organizations started facing wide range of challenges ranging from lack of coordination
to completion of projects pending.
This project focusses on one such challenge faced by IT start-ups where the employees find
difficulty in accessing the company data due to the traditional method of storage and provide
solutions for overcoming the challenge by adopting cloud-based storage of data.
IT costs:
Start-ups that are foraying into the IT space always face the burden of purchasing expensive
systems and system related equipment for the business. The initial cost of investment is high
in case of IT start-ups. This drives up the operational cost of the company thus making it
difficult to achieve economies of scale. Since the IT start -ups are heavily clustered in recent
years, competitive pricing has always been a major challenge. With the absence of cloud
system, the company has to invest heavily in software and equipment’s and also need to setup
local servers and hire technicians and expert staffs to maintain IT systems which drives up
the employee remuneration cost of the company. This indeed results in loss of the company
in the competitive market.
Lack of flexibility in work practices:
Due to COVID 19 pandemic there was major shift in the companies working culture. Since
most of the employees are in different locations there is a difficulty in accessing information
immediately. Remote access to information was not available, which increased operational
inefficiencies in the organisation. Access to connect through a virtual office was made
difficult.
Data storage:
The data is stored in the company. In case of a hardware problem, natural disaster or power
shortage and if the data is located in a local server, the data of the company can be affected
and cannot be accessed. Due to the absence of cloud system, the company cannot access the
data or even the employees cannot access the data remotely which results to delay in critical
IT projects and significant losses to the company.
Lack of technical support:
Most of the IT start-ups lack technical support and as a result leads to a situation where the
company has to hire a third party for the support which drives up the cost additionally to the
company. Most of the start-ups solely depend upon their local system whereas there are
opportunities to set up a hybrid system consisting of local data management as well as
deploying cloud systems.

The Scope of Cloud Infrastructure of IT Firms

Cloud computing for consulting firms, helps in increasing control over data and
increase overall performance of the firm.
The four points below provide an insight on how it can help firms do better and work
faster.

 Instant visibility – Provides an instant view of people, skills and projects,

allowing consulting firms to allocate the right people on the right projects that
will deliver value for money.
 Employee mobility –Businesses must have the right technology in place to make
sure they support their staff wherever they are by allowing them to access
project data anywhere.
 One integrated cloud system - Everything is updated in real time and consulting
firms can control projects parameters as they go and anticipate their return on
investment.
 Talent Acquisition – Cloud computing can help in talent acquisition and ese of
finding right candidates.

The Benefits of Cloud Computing for Consulting Firms

 Easy to implement: A cloud solution can be installed in a matter of days while

an on-premises system takes months to get up and running.
 Scalability: Whether a business is winning many new projects or downsizing, a
cloud infrastructure is able to cope with the changes with greater flexibility and
agility.
 Cost savings: Cloud computing cuts out the high costs of hardware and servers,
there is no need for a team of IT people to run the system. Businesses simply
pay as they go and receive regular updates and maintenance.
 Security: Data security is a major aspect provided by cloud computing.
Gartner has stated that at least 30% of service-centric companies will move the
majority of their enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications to the Cloud by
2018.

Management Information System on Cloud

Accounting
The management information system has been playing a major role in accounts. As for
accounting, MIS is the source for information on the company’s financial health and current
financial situation.
The following were the use of Management Information system in Accounts
 The MIS helps to track the company’s financial growth, thereby analyzing and
reporting the business income
 Analyzing data includes data sources like personal knowledge, employees,
documents, management business models, and executives. This will help the
company in identifying and solving the problems to make decisions.
 The data gathered from different outcomes will be presented in graphs, charts, and
tables. This will help the company to maintain communication between employees
and also between the employer and the employee.
 It allows the data for smooth flow along with the various level of the organization
with minimal effort. This will allow for more effective communication.
 MIS identifies the strength of the organization which will allow the management to
take the opportunity to exploit it more
 And also, it will take away the risk and uncertainty involved with the managerial
decision making
Component of MIS in accounts:
MIS has no standard format as it depends on what the management wants to see at that
point. The following were the common reports in Management Information System
Cost Report:
In the Cost Report, MIS will classify the Cost as 
 Direct Cost
 Indirect Cost
 Variable Cost
 Fixed Cost
Variance Reports:
In Variance Reports, MIS will show us the difference between Ideation and the actual result.
Profitability Factors and Value drivers Report:
In the Profitability Factors and Value drivers Report, MIS will tell the management what
happened with the key factors in their business-like sales quantity, sales price, cost per unit,
and profit per unit, etc.
Cloud Accounting:
Cloud accounting refers to using the accounting software and data hosted on other server
and that’s made available over an internet connection from anyplace on any device.
In terms of cloud, accountants should take it as a big opportunity to step up. Accountants
can leverage the cloud to empower insights in the new segment of business to understand
how they will change the performance of the business.
Cloud has been significantly changing the administrative process and human dependency
which gives accountants the potential of utilizing their skills and expertise to innovate the
improves service level.
The following survey has been conducted by Microsoft on deploying cloud computing and
they discovered that cost-efficiency and improved productivity as the primary benefits of
deploying cloud computing in the company

Real-Time Analysis:
Real-time updates over cloud computing to all the parties involved means that the
accountants don’t have to get mixed up in the redundant files. Cloud computing makes it
easier to work on financial data as 
 It provides a common platform to store and access all critical data in real-time which
reduces the time of accountants as they can devote more time to core tasks.
 
Scalable File Storage:
Accounting files are heavier ones and as the business grows, it demands more storage
space. So, on the cloud, firms can choose to expand the storage space on demands at a
much lower cost as there is no need to buy expensive computer equipment and the
maintenance cost. It also automatically backs up the data and stores them at isolated data
centres to keep them safe.

Seamless Document Management:

As we know that accounting has been heavily reliant on documents. So, rising dependency
on Internet-based transactions helps the electronic format of these documents to replace
the printed version. Cloud will ensure that the accounting department can collect the e-
format documents with ease and have them whenever it is needed.

Finance:
Management Systems in Finance has been adopted by both Governments as well as the
corporation. It provides an information system with the capacity to maintain large data
bases. This will help the company to store organize and access the financial information
easily. It is primarily used for accounting operations and the generation of financial reports.
It is also used to support budget planning and decision-making processes. Let us see that
one by one
General Ledger:
 MIS will automatically update all the transactions in General Ledger which is the core
component of all financial information systems.
 The financial transaction is simultaneously posted on various accounts that
compromise the Chart of Accounts
So, these things will help the company to maintain an accurate and permanent record of all
historical transactions which will reduce the error.
Cash Management:
The most important use of MIS in Finance is Cash Flow Management. Cash Flow
Management refers to monitoring, forecasting, and controlling of Cash for financing needs.
 Using MIS in Finance helps the companies to track the cash flow through accounts
receivables and accounts payables accurately
 Accurate records will help in COGS monitoring which can help in pinpoint the areas
that eat the cash flow
Budget Planning:
 MIS in finance helps the company to evaluate the “What if” scenarios.
 By modifying the Financial ratio, management can foresee the various effects based
on the different scenarios on financial statements.
 MIS serves as a decision-making tool that will help in choosing appropriate financial
goals.
Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS):
 Cloud will provide the IAAS which will reduce the deploying testing costs and running
applications on in-house resources.
  It will also offer super high-level computing and processing capabilities like running
the credit risk simulations.
 Cloud allows the firms to make financial decisions faster, and also streamlining the
operations which can have a positive influence on profitability.

Transaction Process System

Human Resource Management system:

In this section, we can discuss the solutions that the company can achieve by
deploying cloud-based HR system.
Less to no paperwork:
Yes, by deploying a cloud HR software storing employee records would be paper-
free as well as it can be instantly accessed through apps like Dropbox and Google
drive. The software even helps in onboarding new employees efficiently by reducing
the paperwork and costs associated with it. A cloud-based HR software would
provide solutions where an HR employee could easily find and print from the cloud
within seconds. Deploying cloud-based HR software would prove it to be time and
cost-efficient.
Real-time and precise assessments:
HR has numerous functions. But one of the most critical ones is that of assessing
employee performance. Usually, HR in a company without HRIS or any cloud
software takes more time to gather data related to the employee which takes more
time. But when a company deploys cloud HR software, employee performance can
be tracked in real-time. With the advancement in machine learning and data analysis
and HR with a help of cloud software has access to built-In dashboards that tracks
the performance of employees in real-time and also indicates employees who need
the training to work efficiently in a matter of hours.
Increase in Employee engagement:
Mobile technology and Big data are clear cut advantages to the cloud HR systems to
engage employees. For example, let’s take the Ceridian Dayforce HCM tool. Now it's
just a matter of minutes for HR to send a survey to the employees to collect
feedback. This helps the HR to get the data immediately and analyze it. New cloud
HR systems can also manage employee payroll. Through the effective engagement
of employees’ companies can achieve a high level of satisfaction, business agility,
and profitability. These cloud HR systems such as Oracle HCM cloud or let's say
Trinet also helps to humanize the workplace through engagement and also helps to
reduce the attrition rate which helps to retain employees long term.
Full-time access to Pay and Benefits Information:
This benefits employee of the company a lot because a cloud HR software will allow
an employee to access information related to their pay and benefits anytime. Now
the employee will have the information easily and he could see how much of his pay
go to taxes, how much he gets, and a host of other information. Usually, the HR
systems installed in a company takes more space and do not have the bandwidth to
access the data immediately. But in the case of Cloud HR software, the employees
can access it 24/7. It also makes employees' life easy as they could change the
settings related to their pay and benefit. The employees can change their health
insurance or for instance, set up direct deposit directly without any help from the
professional which also reduces the workload of the HR professional.

Easy upgradation, enhanced security, and great predictive analytics:

By deploying cloud HR software, startups can have a level playing field equal to big
corporates. For instance, the up-gradation of the traditional HR system deployed in
the company incurs more cost to the company. So, HR systems were only deployed
by large corporates. But now through the Cloud HR system, up-gradation has
become a lot easier and at a very less cost. Now the startups need not invest in the
up-gradation of technology continually. Also, security has been taken seriously by
the cloud HR software companies and they have all the mechanisms deployed to
safeguard sensitive data. Security maintenance burden is on the software provider
and not on the company which reduces the cost related to maintenance and reduces
the workload of the company.
In a company, HR is often worried about the sudden dip in employee performance
due to dissatisfaction in the company. But what if the employee does not feel
comfortable and takes a drastic decision to leave the company? With AI in HR
systems now the HR can track the employee’s performance and can notice if there is
a sudden dip in the employee’s performance and can directly deal with him and
solve the issues which mitigate the risk of losing the employee. This helps in
reducing the attrition rate and helps in improving the long-term retention of valuable
employees.
HR has always been seen as a support function working back-office with delayed
and slow information processing and a wider communication gap. But now the
companies are on the run to differentiate themselves in terms of better workplace
culture and improved employee engagement. Now with the deployment of a Cloud-
based HR system, the HR function has to be in the forefront to give better results.
Now with cloud HR systems, the HR function takes a strategic position that involves
improving recruitment, retention, and performance strategies.

Decision Support System

A research, which was conducted at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, on the theory of
organizational decision making. This work basically recognized that while human instinct
and gut feel was often resulting in good decisions, there was a lot of instances where these
decisions were wrong. Researchers developed a concept of using information and systems to
analyse data and produce concise executive decisions.
Decision support system is also abbreviated as DSS, and it is basically a computer program
application, which analyses various business figures like sales projected revenue figures
consequences of different decision alternatives and experience in a context. It can present
information graphically and includes an expert system. The main aim is to increase business
sales and have better decision making.

Main Objectives of DSS

 Technology and information systems have evolved a lot and due to which this
approach has expanded to include the use of sophisticated software's and different
models.
 Allowing users to evaluate the various scenarios in decision making process.
 Giving the users a platform to assess which alternative is the best for the organization,
which will give the best returns.
 It can be employed in various knowledge domains organizations, and it can be used as
a real time data reporting platform.

Three Basic Components of DSS

 Model Management System -basically stores models that managers can use in
decision making processes.
 User Interface- It contains various techniques and tools which can make the process
of accessing the system easily and conveniently.
 Knowledge Base- Includes information from various sources like transaction process
system newspapers, magazines and online databases, they can be divided into internal
sources and external sources. Internal sources are basically inside the organization and
external sources are from outside the organization.

Expert System in MIS

Even after the pandemic ends and under the effects of globalization, it is imperative for
employees of the organization to stay connected from every part of the world.
Implementation of cloud computing and Management Information system (MIS) to manage
the operations and employees is crucial. The employees at the operational level need to
adhere to company standards continuously to ensure efficiency and quality service to the
clients. But in the work from home scenario, lack of immediate experts advice for an issue
might prove ineffectiveness. The essence of management lies in key decision making on a
well informed and timely front.
Hence including an Expert System in the Management Information System of the
organization is an important step.

Expert system

An expert system is the highest form of automation that allows document communication
and manipulation. It goes beyond and lets experts of a particular field teach computers
about their field so that fewer expert decision-makers can support the decision-making
process. The system can help in human information handling tasks such as decision-making,
problem-solving, diagnosis, and learning. The employees even under lack of supervision or
immediate expert advice can solve the issue at hand with the help of an expert system and
deliver quality service in a timely fashion.

Expert System Components

The key components of the Expert System are as follows,

 User Interface
The graphical computerized system between end-user and the computer for
easy communication. It is also called a Graphical User Interface (GUI).

 Interference Engine
This component is the brain of the expert system as it regains and determines
the data process. It performs these tasks to deduce new facts that are used to draw
further conclusions.

 Knowledge Base
The component holds and stores the expert’s knowledge of problem-solving.
It contains the rules, facts, and descriptions, etc. The knowledge base is frequently
updated with the newest expert system products.

 Data Acquisition Subsystem

Knowledge acquisition is a continuous improvement process. The information
acquisition software is used to build, incorporate, or modify the base of knowledge.
Potential knowledge sources include human experts, research reports, textbooks,
databases, and user experience.

Advantages of an expert system to end-users

 The quality of work is improved by providing consistent advice and by reducing the
error rate.
  The system is reliable as it does not overlook relevant information and potential
solutions.
 Reduces cost as it reduces hiring experts and requires fewer employees.
 The system also acts as a platform for training, providing experience, and
explanation facility.
 The productivity is increased as the decision is being taken by the computer faster
than human based on past data.
 The system is compatible with many manager’s decisions because of their use of
judgment.

Cloud Solutions (Sesshan)

 Google Cloud Platform

 Microsoft Azure
 Oracle Cloud
 Amazon web service

Cloud Migration

Modernizing the mission-critical applications and moving the organization to cloud

infrastructure is costly, time-consuming, difficult, and requires domain experts. Many IT
companies have struggled or had unsuccessful trials before moving to the cloud. The
following 10 steps are to be followed for maximizing the chances of successful cloud
migration.

Step 1: Establish the migration-architecture role

The migration architect is responsible for planning and implementing all aspects of the
migration, which works at the architect level position. The core responsibility is to design a
data migration strategy, to define cloud-solution requirements, and determining migration
priorities and production switch over mechanisms. The migration architect that helps in
many decisions and technical plans during the migration procedure is necessary and
improves the success rate significantly.

Step 2: Choose the level of cloud integration

There are two levels of integration on the cloud,

 Shallow Cloud Integration

This level of integration is also known as lift and shift as the on-premises
applications are moved to the cloud and require no or limited changes to the servers
that run the application.

 Deep Cloud Integration

 The applications are modified during the migration process to take advantage
of key cloud capabilities. It might also require use of cloud-specific data stores such
as Amazon S3 or DynamoDB.

Step 3: Choose single or multi-cloud

One needs to decide whether create a single cloud provider and migrate the application
such that it operates only in that environment or run-on multiple cloud providers.
Having single cloud provider could negatively impact the ability to negotiate pricing and
SLAs with the cloud provider. There are other different methods for using multiple cloud
providers:

 One application in one cloud and another application in different cloud

Run one set of applications in one cloud provider and another set in a
different cloud. Since we are using multiple providers, we have the flexibility to
decide where to put application in the future.

 Split the application across multiple cloud providers

Run some part of application in one cloud provider and other parts of it in
another. This method facilitates to utilize key advantages each provider offers.

 Build the application to be cloud agnostic

The application is designed to run on any cloud provider. We can run the
application simultaneously on multiple providers or split the load across them. This
method gives flexibility in vendor negotiations since we can easily shift loads
between the cloud providers.

Step 4: Establish Cloud KPIs

Key Performance Indicators are metrics that are defined for the application to measure its
performance against the expectations. The best KPIs show how in-progress migration is
performing, while helps identifying visible or invisible problem and determining the success
of migration.

Step 5: Establish performance Baselines

Baselining is the process of measuring the current performance (pre-migration) of the

application in order to determine its future (post-migration) performance is desirable.
Baseline metrics are set for each KPI to measure.

Step 6: Prioritize migration components

Decide if the entire application is to be migrated at once or component by component or

service by service. The connection between services is to be determined for problem free
migration.

Step 7: Perform any necessary refactoring

Application is to be reworked before migrating them such that it works as effectively and
efficiently in the cloud. For example, refactor the application:

 Such that the application runs with multiple instances to allow dynamic scaling.
 So that the resources can be dynamically allocate or de-allocate when needed.

Step 8: Create a data-migration plan

Data migration is the difficult part of the cloud migration procedure. The location of the data
affects the performance of the application significantly. Options for data migration are as
follows,

 Using a bi-directional syncing mechanism between cloud database and on-premises

data storage.

 Use the on-premises database with one-way synchronization to cloud database and
allow end-users to connect only to the on-premises version. Disable the on-premises
database once migration is complete.

 Use cloud data migration services provided by Amazon web services or Microsoft
Azure.

Step 9: Switch over production

The issues in production system could impact end-users and the services provided by the
application. Two methods to switch the production system from on-premises to cloud
infrastructure,

 Do all at once
Switch traffic to cloud-only when the whole application is migrated to the
cloud and validated.

 Do little bit at a time

Move few customers over to the cloud, test the features of the application
and move few more and so on until all the issues are sorted.

Step 10: Review application resource allocation

After migrating everything to the cloud, there are other factors to consider such as resource
optimization. Make sure there is a plan to distribute the resources to the application. The
resource is available virtually from the vendor and on-demand. Such that the application can
be scaled to meet demand.

Conclusion