Inkspot provides a portable cloud platform that can be deployed on both public (Amazon and Azure) and private clouds. The platform offers a set of high-level services to reduce the cost of producing scalable, secure cloud applications. These include data storage in files and databases, service execution, workflow enactment, fine-grained security and audit (Figure 1). Inkspot offers two interfaces:

1. a Software as a Service, browser-based interface through which users can deploy code, create and run workflows, and upload data.
2. an API which allows all the features of the platform to be exploited by applications including web apps, mobile apps and back-office services.

While cloud computing has the potential to provide cheap, scalable computing power, many organizations are deterred from realizing these benefits because of concerns over security, lock-in and complexity. Inkspot addresses all three concerns, allowing organizations to:

• Create cloud applications much more quickly and easily by leveraging the high level functionality provided by the Inkspot Cloud Platform. It is Inkspot, not the application, that takes care of scalability, security, and interfacing to the underlying cloud infrastructure.
• Meet security requirements. Many organizations wish to exploit the benefits of clouds, but are unwilling to process sensitive data on public clouds. A commonly considered solution is to use the combination of an internal cloud for sensitive data and applications, along with a public cloud providing scalable, low-cost computing for less critical applications. The portability of the Inkspot Cloud platform over public and private clouds makes this easy to achieve. It provides a consistent cloud platform to applications, irrespective of the underlying cloud infrastructure on which they are deployed (Amazon, Azure or private cloud). This allows organizations to choose the most appropriate place to deploy their applications.
• Avoid lock-in. Currently, there are no widely-adopted cloud standards, and so applications have to be custom written for each cloud. This creates the real danger of lock-in. Inkspot overcomes this risk by providing a consistent cloud platform to applications, irrespective of the underlying cloud infrastructure on which it is deployed (Amazon, Azure or private clouds). This makes it straightforward to move applications between different public and private clouds (Figure 2) as and when charges or requirements change.

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