New toolkit to assist decision making in Cloud Computing

Project report

Project report

07 June 2011

Aberystwyth University Department of Information Studies and The Archives and Records Association (ARA) have produced a CLOUD COMPUTING TOOLKIT: Guidance for Outsourcing Information Storage to the Cloud.

The Toolkit is available from the front page of the ARA website at www.archives.org.uk  and is free.

The ARA funded the research project to investigate the management, operational and technical issues surrounding the storage of information in the cloud.
The aim of the project was to develop a toolkit that could assist information professionals in assessing the risks and benefits of outsourcing information storage and processing to the cloud.

Both the Cloud Computing Toolkit and accompanying Project Report can be downloaded from
http://www.archives.org.uk/ara-in-action/best-practice-guidelines.html


Questions in the toolkit include:

  • Is the organisation satisfied that the cloud provider has appropriate technical and organisational processes in place to protect information against unauthorised processing and accidental loss?
  • Can the organisation ensure that personal information is not kept for longer than necessary?
  • Can the organisation ensure that information is authentic and reliable?    
  • Can information be easily identified and retrieved for information access requests

The full panel presentations are available on YouTube and if you have any further questions about this aspect of the research please feel free to contact Kirsten Ferguson-Boucher in the department on knb@aber.ac.uk .
http://www.youtube.com/user/UWiSchool#grid/user/734F5749DCB1DBB5

The resources identified as part of the research are available at
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AUMD4SCCg7uaZGRxczNybndfMTZjODM4bXhmNw&hl=en
where everyone can contribute further relevant resources to the Google document. Online resources have been bookmarked in Delicious and are available at http://www.delicious.com/nicoleschu/soacloud

 

http://www.archives.org.uk/ara-in-action/best-practice-guidelines.html