To Investigate How Cloud Based Services influence the Project Management Practices: A Case Study of Online Gaming Experience

Chapter 1: Introduction

• Background

Technology is essentially said to be dynamic and it would keep changing depending on the advancements. Most of the cloud computing technologies are believed to play the most fundamental role across a range of the business operations which are not limited to banking, project management and marketing at the same time. Subashini and Kavitha (2011) noted that cloud computing largely takes advantage of the cyberspace and covers an extensive forum characterized by sharing resources and information across a range of the locations. In most cases, project managers are thought to make the significant use of the cloud computing services, integrated with project management software, in the process of coordinating as well as automating the project activities and the project functions. Subashini and Kavitha (2011 also indicated that project managers would easily access the services almost instant with the help of such devices like tablets, desktops, smartphones and laptops at the same time. In essence, cloud computing services are believed to be cost-effective to most of the startups. Loebbecke et al. (2012) indicated how cloud computing has found a significant space in project management.

Such space is essentially characterized by service of access to both the project environment and the application. One of the Software Distribution Model, referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS), allows the client to have a significant access to the essential software applications introduced at the provider server end. However, the experience of project managers show that problems do not largely do with implementation of cloud computing, and may equally not apply to the hard aspects that are not limited to adaptation of infrastructure or choice of technology. The problematic areas have to do with planning as well as implementation of the entire change process. The most advantageous area with cloud computing, according to Loebbecke et al. (2012), includes the bridge of communication that links the team members, as well as the capacity of considering the inclusion of the customer or client in running the project as well.

The primary projects that incorporated cloud services considered the transfer of the ERP system to include the branches that spread beyond Netherlands. The transfer intended to cover the financial services, outsourcing, human resources, consultation, accounting as well as optimization and modeling of the business activities. The critical concern behind cloud services is the fundamental creation of the special web platform for the purposes of enabling the flow of information, as well as communication across project participants. Some of the cloud service platforms that have been in use before include the Microsoft Online Service known for relying on the applications which are installed on the virtual servers. Perhaps, both cloud computing and the scope of project management is increasingly finding space in the gaming world. Lee et al. (2012) took note of the fact that most of the people, businesses and organizations are increasingly moving their data to the clouds and would rather choose to access the same data remotely instead of having it within the premises. This means there would be less storage resources and computations as well on the side of users.

According to Lee et al. (2012), the approach of embracing the supporting clouds is believed to have been adopted in a range of the applications, especially the web applications like video streaming, Dropbox and Google Docs among many others. It is worth noting that computer gaming has equally benefited from the cloud support. The cloud gaming, sometimes known as the Games-On-Demand, is regarded as the most pertinent technology known for offloading the tasks linked to the graphics rendering in the light of storage as well as computation needs. This form of technology is known for making the computer games to be playable especially on a thin client without necessarily taking note or considering the hardware requirements. Some of the cloud gaming services available in the market cannot be limited to OTOY, GaiKai and OnLive among others. Significant attractions to cloud gaming include the free mode that gives client an opportunity to essentially upgrade the computers in the course of playing with the help of the remote servers. Some of the notable clients to the remote servers are not limited to the TV, the lightweight PC and sometimes, a set-top box may be counted as one. The clients would never encounter any of the compatibility issues, or the installation overheads due to the fact that both the software and hardware are essentially provided for by the game operators found in the data centers.  Amid the architecture of cloud gaming, Diao et al. (2013) took note of the fact that game graphics would commonly be rendered in the appropriate cloud, which is something that implies a player would make a move but ends up not seeing the outcome until the necessary cloud server ends up processing the move, before rendering a new screen as well as deliver them the client’s screen.

Diao et al. (2013) further insisted on the evolution of the Massively Multiplayer Online Game, denoted as MMOG, which is known to have the capacity of supporting thousands of the players found across the world. Within the rising virtual game world, it is said that players have a choice to make while establishing the new identity, new social network, realize difference between life and dreams and the essence of cooperating with the rest of the players. Diao et al. (2013) estimated that in the year 2011, Americans are said to have spent around 26 million hours as well as 2.6 billion dollars for just playing the MMOGs. This shows evidence that the gaming industry is developing very first with the MMOG market volume anticipated to grow to around 13 billion dollars in the year 2012. At some point, players would rarely establish a difference between MMOG and the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, known as MMORPG. The big difference between MMOG and MMORPG is the virtual world environment. It is worth noting that the MMORPG would even run even when there are no players. In this case, the state of characters and the data of objects need to be recorded on the entire server in real time. Based on this platform, players can easily quit as well as proceed with the game at any given point.

The player’s behavior need to be monitored as well as backed up for the purposes of establishing order in the essential virtual world. The database system needed for data persistence in the MMORPGs is commonly called upon to guarantee data consistency which needs to be scalable and efficient. However, the prevailing RDBMS may not satisfy the requirements of increasing data volume as well as storage system especially when it comes to availability and scalability noticed in the risk and cost factor. Gital et al. (2014) further insisted on the fact that client-server model is good enough in ensuring the system security and interaction of the players. MMORPGs give room to the players for them to send a request to the necessary login server in the process of determining validity.

Across the studies highlighted in the background review, it can be established that a range of the studies have focused on the history of cloud computing, and how it is fine-tuning the business scope, financial services and project management at the same time. Further details cover the integration of cloud computing in the practices of project management with a showcase of how managers can run most of the functions remotely. However, there are still research gaps that can easily be traced from one research scope to another. First, it could be established that most of the studies do not provide a link between project management practices and the online gaming experiences. The only provision that could be established is the involvement of cloud services in project management and the project functions. The second research gap is the lack of the integrated use of project management and cloud computing in online gaming. Perhaps, the most critical focus narrows down to the cloud data management and project management functions that can be linked to bridging the online gaming experience. These missing details has prompted a research on how cloud based services impact the project management practices attached cloud gaming.

• Rationale

Online gaming has equally embraced the MMOG and MMORPG, which are both pertinent gaming platforms. The key component or the key issue is whether online gaming embraces the project management functions or not. Most of the studies remain comprehensive regarding the inter-link between cloud services and functions of project management. Perhaps, most of the studies would only focus on how the cloud services have the capacity of addressing the dynamics in project. Most of the project managers are increasingly encouraged to manage most of the functions remotely. However, this inter-link has rarely been attached to the online gaming experience. Most of the research efforts should, therefore, be directed to linking the MMOG and the MMORPG to the project functions that can be influenced by cloud computing. More attention needs to be given to how the client and the server communicate, and how the cloud service provider would take advantage of the project management practices in addressing key dynamics. Most of the project management practices are determined by resources, processes and people. Some of the practices include communication, producing detailed work plan and tapping feedback among others. Project management would oversee game development, create the concept for the gaming process, remain responsible in terms of marketing the gaming product and provide tests to quality assurance.

 

 

 

 

• Research aim and objectives

The main research aim is to investigate how cloud computing impact project management practices in the gaming world. The supporting objectives include

• To examine project management practices in the gaming world
• To explore how cloud-based services influence project management practices
• To determine the connection between cloud computing and online gaming experience
• To analyze how cloud-based project management practices can impact online gaming experience
  • Scope and Limitations

The scope of this research seeks to provide the relationship cloud-based services and the project management functions in the context of the gaming world. With the help of case studies picked from different areas, the research finds it necessary in examining the practices in project management that would be linked to the online gaming world. Some of the platforms linked to the practices under consideration include the processes, resources and people. The coverage also extends towards how cloud computing have changed the version and dynamics attached to project management. The reasonable grounds on which such changes would be realized include the process of software development and the relationship the client and the server have. More case studies would be directed to the link between the cloud computing services as well as the online gaming experience. In addition, the project management practices need to be analyzed in the face of cloud computing as far as the gaming experience is put into consideration. Based on this scope, the research would be limited to case studies that focus on the gaming world. Case studies are essentially specific and narrow down to fine details that are deemed relevant in reaching out to generalization.

 

 

 

• Structure of the Dissertation

The research has five key chapters. The first chapter provides the introduction to the research, which carries with it the background details, the rationale, research aim and objectives, as well as the scope and limitations of the study. The second chapter presents the literature review, which covers findings from significant materials that are linked to the research topic. Significant areas of interest covered in literature review include the history of the gaming world, profound cloud-based services and the necessary project management practices. The third chapter is the methodology, which provides a platform for defining a collection of the methods. Profound methods and tools to be highlighted in this chapter include the qualitative research method, the case study approach and the content analysis, which establish the key elements that would bring the conclusions. Chapter four provides the Results based on the case studies that would be sampled through a robust criterion. Chapter five would provide the analysis and discussion. Conclusion comes last in the research.

 

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction

The literature review provides a platform for reviewing the scope of the research topic and the subject area. The review is provides a prior understanding of the process even before defining the necessary tools and methods. The review presents a scholarly paper, which presents the relevant knowledge that is not limited to the substantive findings, the theoretical contribution and the methodological structures linked to the research topic. However, it should be noted that literature reviews are inclined towards the secondary sources, which do not necessarily depend on either new or experimental work done before. Based on this understanding, a number of areas are reviewed as shown below.

Cloud-Based Services and Project management

The entire idea attached to cloud computing is said to have originated in the United States around 1950s and 1960s. According to Słoniec (2015) asserted that John McCarthy, in the year 1960, indicated that calculations can simply be organized into a public service. The entire concept of cloud computing has also been utilized by Ramnath Chellappa in describing a new paradigm that limited on the computer services through economic justification. Essentially, cloud computing is deemed as the new approach across the IT industry and counts as part of the latest trend in the scope of project management. The trend is essentially characterized by virtualization and construction of the universal standards aligned to software development and the high speed-internet. Google Drive as well as Dropbox is part of the sampled cloud computing services that are commonly used by most of the people in the community. Słoniec (2015) further insists on the resource virtualization with the fundamental goal of maximizing the utility of the equipment. Based on this assertion, Nicoletti (2012) argues that this is the fundamental reason as to why cloud computing may not be avoided in project management. The incorporation of cloud-based services is based on the service of access to the concerned project environment as well as the application.

Nicoletti (2012) also indicated that the essence of cloud computing in project management comes at the time when most of the data centers are said to be consolidated. Apparently, the leadership at the organization needs to make a decision on the nature of the IT services that need to be provided. Some of the IT services to be chosen include the hyper model and the cloud services. Some of the cloud services that may be considered in project management revolve around Software as a Service, or SaaS. The latter has the capacity of providing the client with the providers’ applications said to run on the cloud infrastructure. Wang et al. (2016) showed that SaaS would have the applications more accessible by a range of the client devices with the help of the thin client interface that is not limited to the web browser including the web-based email.  However, in the course of running project functions, the client may not be allowed to manage or regulate the significant cloud infrastructure characterized by application capabilities, operating systems, network, storage and the configuration settings. Branco et al. (2017) noted that Platform as a Service (PaaS) is another cloud service that can be provided to the project managers.

Based on this service, the consumer is served with the capacity of deploying the acquired or the consumer created applications onto the significant cloud infrastructure, with the help of programming languages. However, the client does not have the power of controlling and managing the cloud infrastructure that incorporates storage, network, operating systems and servers. The final service is the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) which provides the client with the capability of processing the provisions of the fundamental computing resources, where the client stands a chance of running the arbitrary software. The client, however, is never involved in managing the cloud infrastructure. The same client would still control the deployed applications, operating systems and controls the limited privileges of the networking components. Bildosola et al. (2015) further revisited the applicability of cloud-based services alongside other services that are not limited to mobile computing, social networking, big data as well as data analytics amid the functions of project management. The technologies are said to be deeply interrelated in the light of adopting the decision support tools and migration of the IT system to the cloud-based infrastructure.

Project management practices in the online gaming world

In most cases, serious games would provide strong value proposition linked to the significant project management education. Miller et al. (2019) provided an inter-link across serious games, simulations and games. Most of the simulations would apparently support learning and put more attention on inherent gaming. The games embrace multiple interactions including virtual construction, crashing games and simulation exercise e-learning. This is said to work in tandem with PM techniques, tools and skills among other project activities. According to the arguments raised by Miller et al. (2019), the integration of PM practices and gaming world can be established on the platform provided by PM education and project scheduling game. The author insists that the real-life project scheduling equally applies to the complexities of the gaming models as it is the case with the critical path network. The proposal of scheduling games for multi-project and single-project environments is deemed significant and can equally simulate project control as well as project planning. The most fascinating phenomenon is that a variety of the online games narrow down to the control phase and project planning as it is the case with project scheduling game. The project environments equally apply to the commonly known incredible manager game. Drescher et al. (2018) argued that playing games is in itself one of the most significant artifact said to have appeared in the computer age.

The project massive, for instance, has essentially been initiated to look into how the MMOG subscribers organize, communicate and play at the same time. Baccarini et al. (2012) also insisted on the fact that games pave way for the self-discovered knowledge determined through the varied learning experience. The modernized media for the games are known for making it easier in implementing games said to be characterized by a multimedia interface. This means that there needs to be a significant balance between the game elements and the kind of technology to be used. Games are known to be presented in a variety of the forms. The kind of the form that a game would pick largely depends on vertigo, simulation and the significant role of competition. Most of the online or computer games are essentially based on agon classification, which covers significant themes of amusement, or deigned in a way that would allow games to inform, train and educate the players as well. This implies that computer games or the online games are essentially based on scenarios that can be developed from a project. Games are structured on the basis of the project life cycle, which takes a significant coverage of design, planning and construction phases. According to the findings established by Baccarini et al. (2012), games need to capture the necessary attention of the players as well as drive the same players towards the learning the gaming environment.

While establishing the games content, most of the developers have to pay attention to the system dynamics, which fosters creation or development of the models, which provide a true representation of the world systems. Best example can be picked from Simsoft, which is largely regarded as the bespoke computer game. Simsoft captures two significant parts linked to the system dynamics known for taking note of the causal relationship attached to the significant project, which is being modeled or developed, and the Java dashboard known for allowing players to make an entry of the management decisions. In the Simsoft modeling, a player would step through the necessary phases linked to the project sequence. In the opening phase of the game, the player is engaged in planning, designing and approvals as well. The game would essentially mimic the significant identification process established in the project management. The player would first be engaged in picking on a task from the actual project that would be applied to an online game.

Subsequently, the case scenario, in a Simsoft computer game, would end up mimicking the assessment process by taking note of different outcomes. The outcomes would include chances of the task being conducted, outcomes of the task, and the nature of feedback that would be tapped from the rest of the players. According to Aslan (2016), online gaming world, just like any other games would call for necessary rules, methods and postulates believed to be incorporated in the significant game lifecycle. The latter has always been presented as a significant framework that supports the processes, the phases, the quality assurance activities, work products and the quality assurance activities among others. Aslan (2016) further insisted on the fact that game development is a whole unifying process that equally calls for the learning elements which are not limited to the evaluation system, instructional materials and the relevant activities. Therefore, game development can be justified as the significant process of developing the digital game. Notably, game development process requires a whole team of developers to work on the project to its fruition.

History has it that the first digital game development came in in the 1970s where personal computers and the game consoles would be used for The International Arcade Museum 1995. This was a big opportunity to the gaming industry as game publishers would easily revise as well as update games. While working on relatively large projects, Aslan (2016) asserted that online gaming world would call for such significant components like project management. This component is deemed critical during the development phase due to the fact the project manager would be engaged in planning, managing, execution and allocation of the necessary resources. When there is an effective manager, it becomes obvious that the development process would turn productive especially where teamwork is involved. The author confirmed the fact that the most critical issues that game companies face in the current era can be linked to project management. However, additional issues, which may not be delinked from game development process, include the entire scope of team management. In most cases, the software development teams are largely dispersed and this is likely to introduce the communication challenge and equally dismantle the team culture.

Despite the challenges, project management is believed to have worked for some of the software architecture such as the one for MMOGs, which takes into a combination of the architectures that are not limited to the peer-to-peer architecture, a multi-server architecture and the client-server architecture. Some of the multiplayer online games said to have taken this path include the Unreal Tournament, the Counter Strike, Quake, the Medal of Honor and Doom which are known for having been created on the famously known client-server architecture. Project managers engaged in running the client-server architecture would be involved in maintaining as well as disseminating game states, while accounting for the management of the player authentication. Some of the clients a project manager would encounter in the online gaming world include the Thin-Client Model, which takes into account the game logic as well as the data management that needs to be conducted on the server. Some of the gaming companies said to offer the thin-client solutions channeled to online gaming include GaiKai and OnLive (Stieninger et al. 2018). Another client that the project manager will interact with includes the peer to peer systems, which are commonly known to be decentralized systems that carry with it the computations that are either executed at the node or over the network.

 

How cloud-based services influence project management practices

Most of the studies have already focused on the interplay between project management and cloud computing. Further observations have made over the project management practices that have been adopted in the online gaming world. Some of the cloud-based services that have been discussed before include the IaaS, PaaS and the SaaS. The worrying side is how these services seem to influence the profound project management practices. In most cases, the collaborative software would essentially unite the virtual workforce in an attempt of making the fundamental experience work in a more natural and productive way. Ginger Levin and John Wyzalek (2014) asserted that co-location is one of the fundamental driving principles attached to productivity and team unity. In the modern era, the most profound integrated applications are inclined towards social computing as it is the case with the social networks, RSS Feeds, blogs and the wikis.

Ginger Levin and John Wyzalek (2014) also highlighted that cloud-based service impact the project management practices by providing the necessary tools and resources including the shared task list, automated notification, document repositories, shared project flowcharts and the necessary project workspaces. The tools provide a platform for virtual teamwork, which paves way for cloud computing. Therefore, cloud collaboration provides a fundamentally enabling and convenient network access by bridgi9ng the configurable computing resources that are not limited to the services, applications, networks, storage and servers. The cloud model or the cloud-based services impacts project management practices by facilitating the essential characteristics. First, Ramazani and Jergeas (2015) argue that the first characteristic cloud-based services or cloud collaboration offers to project management practices revolves around dynamic computing infrastructure. The foundation for the latter is grounded on scalability, standards as well as secure physical infrastructure.

Based on this characteristic, the infrastructure remains usable in the light of the internal IT department and external cloud provider. The second characteristic revolves around IT service approach. This means that project managers would want the cloud platform to run significant project applications and services meant for more specific purposes. The third characteristic is the self-service usage, which calls for user proficiency. Notably, the users should be in a capacity to upload, deploy, manage, schedule, build as well as report the project that is on demand. The cloud offerings are easy-to-use and provide a platform for the intuitive user interface. Other significant services include the self-managed platform and consumption-based billing. According to Alshamaila et al. (2013) took note of cloud computing in project management as one way of enhancing employees’ productivity, running the complexities, improve time tracking processes and boosting operational effectiveness. Based on the findings established by Alshamaila et al. (2013), the cloud-based services are believed to have enhanced the importance of project management. Adoption of cloud computing in performing and managing the project activities would aid the improvement of the PM practices. Most of the cloud platforms enable access to significant project services and functions said to accelerate the process of project execution, as well as management. Therefore, the involvement of cloud computing in project management provides a fundamental support to accessibility of the most specific environmental applications and services.

Again, cloud computing is largely tailored towards addressing a range of the PM problems such as infrastructure investment, resource sustainability issues, changing client needs, changing client’s location, customer satisfaction, human resource attrition, market trends as well as high licensing costs (Despotović-Zrakić et al. 2013). Cloud-based services are thought to boost collaboration among the team members and enhancing accessibility to the real-time project management software. Therefore, most of the intra-clouds migration invests more in IT governance, regulatory compliance and customization of opportunities.

Stieninger et al. (2018) equally believed that cloud computing covers such factors like complexity, relative advantage, compatibility, image and complexity. Chong et al. (2014) equally insisted on the advantageous characteristics of cloud computing. Some of the characteristics linked to cloud-based services include the capacity for resource pooling, broad network access, on-demand self-service, measured service and rapid elasticity. When consumers are in need of the applications, network storage and server time, they can easily access such services automatically without necessarily interacting with the service provider. Significantly, computing resources enabled through cloud-based services for the project managers are not limited to network bandwidth, storage, virtual machines and processes, which can easily be pooled by relevant service provider in the light of the multi-tenant model.

The resources are essentially provided based on the demands placed by the consumers. This means that cloud-based services are elastic thereby allowing most of the providers to scale the optimization of the cloud systems, produce automatic reports, monitor and control the progress. This makes most of the project managers to enjoy the transparency of the service, provide predictive measures and addresses the resourceful computing needs especially in the real-time usage. Amron et al. (2019), in addition, attracts cost benefits amid project management practices. In most cases, researchers would strongly focus on a range of the benefits aligned to cost reduction as far as project management is put into consideration. The idea of cost reduction comes in place where cloud computing is known for reducing the hardware costs for the organizations running significant projects. Unlike the traditional software, most of the cloud applications would need less memory and relatively small hard disks due to lack of the installation software. This implies that cloud computing has the capacity of cutting off the trend of high investments noted in the IT infrastructure (Stieninger et al. 2018).

From the perspective of the clients in the area of project management, cloud computing provides a platform that would increase productivity as well as efficiency of the involved organization. This means that project managers stand a chance of performing greater tasks without encountering challenges in the process. In addition, cloud computing is known for reducing the administrative costs by offloading the administrators in charge of the system infrastructure, the backup policy and user authorization. Apart of from enjoying the cost benefits, project managers can still benefit from cloud computing by controlling the security risks in the project.

The connection between cloud-computing services and online gaming experience

Cloud computing has seen profound applications in the online gaming experience. According to the findings established by Sebastian et al. (2017), the emergence of cloud gaming denotes the online gaming service which is essentially powered by what is referred as the cloud technology. Some of the technology companies such as Google and Microsoft are said to be leveraging their significant investments in most of the cloud-based solutions across the gaming industry. Some of the projects being covered include the project xCloud and the Google Stadia platforms. The growth of the streaming services have equally been adopted across the online gaming industry following the introduction of the streaming cloud gaming. The latter denotes the essence of live streaming of the significant online video games on either the smartphones or computers without necessarily installing or downloading the game itself. Sebastian et al. (2017) also highlighted the oncoming of the deep learning technology and the utilization of the Artificial Intelligence in enhancing the seamless gaming experience.

It is worth noting that deep learning technologies can be utilized in improving the cloud streaming thereby developing the optimum quality of the excellent experience that an online gamer would wish to have. For instance, the AI-powered Deep Neural Network, denoted as DNN, can be utilized in enhancing the data analysis of the prior game instances. On the other hand, the use of Artificial Intelligence in cloud gaming would essentially enhance the online gaming security, which is something that would end up making the entire cloud environment safer for the storage of the most sensitive data. The notable example that would be supplied to this case is Microsoft Azure Gaming, which is known for protecting the online games from a possible host of the DDoS attacks or security risks. On the other, Ewelle et al. (2013) focused on the inter-link between video games and cloud-computing practices. The authors focused on the growth of cloud gaming, which encompasses the client-server set-up, the cloud gaming paradigms, the game state synchronization and video streaming. Under video streaming, the cloud gaming systems take note of the configurations and a server but ends up maintaining the representations of the entire game model.

In essence, the client is required to gather the necessary inputs from the users before sending them to the significant servers. The user would eventually receive the video from the significant server before displaying it on the screen. According to Ewelle et al. (2013), it is evident that upon launching the contacts from the clients, the server would eventually establish a robust connection before starting the game. Two connections are important in this context and one of them is always send to the controller at the user’s end then to the server. The other one is received as a video from the significant server. Apart from video gaming, cloud computing has found a significant place in the gaming world in terms of the game state synchronization. In this case, both the client as well as the server would have the significant representation of the entire game model. Notably, the client side would constantly synchronize the local game model while the server end would only have the remote game model. This can only be attained through reception of the update message regarding the state change of the game model. Under most circumstances, the game would begin with the initialization stage in which the essential entities and objects attached to the game model would be launched or initialized.

In addition to the emergence of cloud gaming, and the connection between the client and the server, Cai et al. (2013) insisted on the generation of mobile cloud gaming. According to Cai et al. (2013), most of the gamers are increasingly spending most of their time on the mobile devices as compared to the desktop computers. Currently, most of the mobile games are transforming from the stand-alone platforms to the internet-based multi-player platforms. It is worth noting that the player-to-player real-time interactions would essentially be enabled through the high speed internet connection. Again, the 3D graphics, rendering technologies and the necessary gaming scenarios are becoming more realistic. Some of the embedded sensors such as cameras, the Global Positioning System and accelerometers have received more attention due to their impact in making the gaming experience more flexible. Based on the observations made by Krenz et al. (2011), it should be noted that mobile cloud gaming, also known as the Gaming-On-Demand model, is largely applied to most of the mobile devices bearing the wireless communication capacity. In this context, Cai et al. (2013) insists on the fact that the cloud server would end up initiating the virtual machines that would simulate the necessary runtime environment attached to the mobile devices. In support of the mobile gaming, especially on the thin clients, virtual machines carry with them two significant components which include the game streaming servers and the game engine servers.

Notably, the game engine servers play a focal role in terms of loading the account information attached to the client as well as the game data tapped from the game content server. This prompts the game logic as well as the user data in rendering the raw game video. Cai et al. (2013) also pointed out that the game video would essentially be encoded with the help of the game streaming server. Krenz et al. (2011) equally noted mobile cloud gaming bears an extension of the mobile browser gaming, which would essentially run on the available online social networking sites that are characterized by the massive users. The browser games are characterized by the web browser that stands as the client, the multiplayer support, real-time experience and bear different timescales. Therefore, the next generation behind mobile cloud gaming takes note of the dynamic cloud integration, in which the game engine constitutes two significant components that constitute the video streamer and the rest. These components have the capacity is facilitating transmission to the available mobile devices before prompting the execution (Jarschel et al. 2013). When the game is running, the sever would be engaged in launching the same game on cloud before the system would start receiving significant statistics regarding the status of the mobile devices. The statistics would narrow down to the battery usage, the network quality, the CPU usage and other parameters deemed proportionate to the gaming components. When the gaming session is running, it should be noted that the entire networking environment keeps on changing. In solving some of the variations, dynamic cloud integration would be engaged in what is referred to as flexible offloading especially from the mobile client (Jarschel et al. 2013).

The offloading happens with components directed to the cloud for the purposes of reducing what is referred to as local computing load. Another version of mobile cloud computing is the augmented-reality gaming in which the games would be installed on the mobile devices thereby allowing users to play them everywhere or anywhere they go. The augmented reality is largely aligned to the real-world environment that bears a range of the components said to have been augmented by the necessary computer generated sensory inputs (Jarschel et al. 2013). Some of the inputs are not limited to the GPS data, sound, graphics and video. Furthermore, mobile cloud gaming paves way for what is largely known as the Multiplayer Online Gaming, which has attracted a significant range of interests when compared to the single player games found on the mobile devices, as well as the desktop platforms.

How cloud-based project management practices can impact online gaming experience

Development of online games has also been aligned to the relevant project management practices, and issues linked to project development. According to the research conducted by Bose and Sarddar (2015), it could be established that the cloud gaming architecture has received more attention amid the evident project management practices. The cloud gaming architecture is believed to integrate a range of the cutting edge technologies, which are meant to address the optimum performance levels. Based on the observations made by Bose and Sarddar (2015), some of the profound technologies include the notable video streaming which delivers low response times or episodes, to the 3D rendering methods said to support the extraordinary operations. In the course of enhancing the online gaming experience, more attention is given to the design issues as well as considerations that are essentially regarded critical by most of the cloud game operators.

Some of the typical gaming architecture constitutes an extensive system, or sometimes a collection of the systems, said to work together in the collection of inputs from the user end, before conveying the same signals to the most convenient servers. The signals would eventually be processed into significant game actions, before condensing as well as delivering the encoded information or details to the appropriate game play. This would essentially be transmitted to the game scenes either on a desktop computer or the mobile device use. Bose and Sarddar (2015) takes note of the fact that operations need to take place in a given period of time, within the necessary allocated resources, interactive sessions and other key elements in the gaming world. Amid all the operations, project management practices cannot be avoided especially in the processes that call for the video compression operations and the vital screen rendering. Cai et al. (2016) is also convinced that project management practices have gained attention in the optimization of the cloud gaming platforms.

Most of the optimization studies aligned to the cloud gaming platforms take note of the communications and cloud server infrastructure. Project management practices have significantly been applied in the cloud server infrastructure. First, this is noticeable in the resource allocation amid the multimedia applications. According to the observations made by Cai et al. (2016), game developers have to put into consideration the utilization patterns that would attract the smart allocation of the resources, which are deemed significant in terms of bolstering the efficiency of the private and public clouds as well. Notably, the virtual machines need shared GPUs, which call for the researchers and project managers in exploring the efficient use of the cloud gaming platforms. The most critical part of the resource allocation revolves around cloud scheduling and VM placements as far as facilitation of the better quality attached to the cloud gaming services is put into consideration. Diao et al. (2013) took note of the appropriate scheduling for the cloud instances in which the cloud gaming servers need to be made wireless in the light of the networking awareness.

Simulations aligned to the scheduler indicate the capacity of increasing the performance while reducing the costs assigned the cloud gaming platforms. Notable examples include the novel QoE aware, which is a VM placement strategy that would aid the efficiency and effectiveness of the resource provisioning especially in the Multiplayer Online Games denoted as MMOG. According to Shea et al. (2013), PM practice of resource allocation has reappeared in the intelligent partitioning meant to enhance latency. In this context, the Quality of Experience (QoE) is regarded as the yardstick for the online gaming experiences. Amid the partial-offline execution method, the intelligent resource allocation platform has been used in reflecting on the feasibility of the resource allocation considering the varying environmental conditions. Some of these conditions are not limited to the network and the physical properties attached to the devices that host the games or the game applications. Shea et al. (2013) also noted most of the cloud server infrastructures facilitate the multi-focal points within the gaming world. Multiple gamers would also regard the essence of analyzing the performance of the GPU or the CPU servers for most of the game cloud deployments.

When there maximum utility of the GPUs, the resource isolation of the necessary cloud gaming servers and proper scheduling, it is possible for the gamers to equally enjoy a better gaming experience. In the event that developers would want to reduce on the operational costs, most of the researchers have turned towards the reusable modules inclined towards the cloud gaming servers. Wen and Hsiao (2014) further noted that project management practices play a focal role in the distributed architectures following the geographical spread of the cloud gaming clients. This implies that more attention is needed in the design of the cloud gaming system while taking note of the optimization and resource allocation. The PM practices are highly needed in the distribution of games considering the geographical spread of the clients. The essence of designing and running the distributed architecture should be inclined or address the technical hurdles and the commercial interests at the same time. In most circumstances, most of the game manufacturers may find it as a challenge in facilitating the servers with the host games at different data centers considering the coverage of the ISPs.

For one to bridge the same user experience in different geographical locations, planning, scheduling and coordinating techniques need not to be left behind at any point in time. Chi et al. (2015) noticed that cloud-based project management practices play a focal role in the design and implementation of the cloud gaming platforms. Notable practices highlighted by the author include completion of the prototype systems, the QoE metrics, the QoS metrics and the measurement studies. Based on the first practice of completing the prototype, most of the game developers focus on the essence of system integration as well as the heterogeneous form of the gaming platforms. This means that the developers need to clear the possible tradeoff between the optimization room and the development complexity. Game developers would opt for platforms that less complex and more transparent as it is the case with the unmodified games (Shea et al. 2013).

A good range of the platforms still show preference to the optimized performance, which normally occur at the expense of adding more components. In the case of the Windows remote desktop protocol, gamers would prefer having an extension of the RemoteFX for the purposes of leveraging on the Hyper-V Virtual Machines and the GPUs. The two platforms are convenient for paving way for a number of the remote applications, which cannot be limited to the cloud games. The fundamental experience still indicates that the RemoteFX gives room for the Windows servers in improving the network dynamics (Bose and Sarddar 2015). However, the system would still suffer from what is known as the inferior responsiveness and the high frame loss rate. Most of the PM practices have found a place in the Quality of Service Evaluations, denoted as the QoS measurements, known for quantifying the effectiveness and the performance of the concerned cloud gaming platforms. Again, the real-time nature of the cloud gaming platforms gives room for troubleshooting before the game developers would dynamically optimize the platforms. The QoS measurement, as linked to the cloud-based PM practices, can be linked to the network metrics and energy consumption. On the basis of energy consumption, the PM practices would focus on the energy performance based on the saving coding parameters. Again, the Quality of Experience Evaluations, or the QoE, looks at the graphics quality, the frame rate and even the actual functions.

 

Chapter 3: Methodology

The findings and justification of the conclusions that would be made from the research process relies on the robust structure of the research methodology. The latter denotes the path pursued by the researchers in conducting the entire research. Perhaps, it is path that reflects on how the problem was formulated as well as the objectives presented in the study. Based on the preamble, the section would essentially focus on establishing the necessary research approach between deductive and inductive reasoning, the research method, the research design, and the data collection method, the process of data collection, sampling and data analysis that would drive the findings to the conclusive end.

3.1 Research Approach

The most fundamental research approaches the research is subjected to include the deductive and inductive reasoning. The deductive approach starts with a theory before developing the hypotheses then collect as well as analyze the data that would justify or disregard the hypothesis. Unlike the deductive approach, the inductive approach starts from the theories and observations, before floating a proposal in the end of the research process due to the observation made. Notable observations are made on patterns, regularities and resemblances in terms of the experience. Based on the characteristics assigned to each of the approach, the research is inclined towards observing and analyzing the theories that exists across the project management practices, cloud-based services and the entire scope of the online gaming experience. This means that the research process is more comfortable with the inductive type of the research. The inductive approach provides a number of advantages to the research process. First, the approach is essentially open-ended and process oriented at the same time. The approach equally paves way for the constant comparison and a narrative description.

3.2 Research Method

The research method is fundamentally a technique, process and a strategy that is essentially utilized in collecting facts or data and uncovers the new information for the purposes of developing a better understanding of the research topic. The research topic, in this context, is subjected to three research methods, which include the qualitative research, the quantitative research and the mixed research. The qualitative research method is largely thought to focus on the analysis of the subjective meaning of the events, practices and issues through collection of the non-standardized data. The quantitative research method makes use of the numerical data in supporting conclusive facts that cannot be generalized. On the other hand, the mixed methods take advantage of the combined use of the qualitative and quantitative research methods. Based on these research methods, the research process simply takes note of the online gaming experience in the light of the PM practices and the cloud-based services. This means that the research process would ignore the impact of the numerical data, which is something that expunges mixed methods and the quantitative research from the alternatives. This means that the research process in the context would adopt the qualitative research method which provides a number of advantages to the research. First, the qualitative method provides a platform under which the researchers are allowed to be speculative regarding the area under investigation. The approach is also more flexible as researchers would quickly draw insights based on the research objectives drawn earlier.

3.3 Research design

Research design denotes the overall strategy that is chosen for the purposes of integrating a range of the research components for the purposes of ensuring that the research process addresses the problem. Most of the researches are constantly subjected to the cause-and-effect, explanatory and case study design. The research under consideration can effectively be linked to the case study design. The research design points at the in-depth study of the research problem while making a comprehensive comparative inquiry. The case study design is advantageous in the sense that it facilitates the high level steps that can easily be engaged while performing the research process. The case study process requires the research to define the problem, building a theory, establish the protocol for data collection, conduct either a single or the multiple case studies and lastly, drawing the case conclusions. However, it should be noted that case studies may sometimes turn out to be long as it in the case of reviewing the publications. The increased adoption of the systematic review has led to the increased acceptance of the researchers that are based on the case studies both in the academia and the industry. Despite taking a long period of time, most of the case studies would have a focus on the most specific area and the most specific case.

 

3.4 Data Collection Method

Data collection is one of the most critical but essential part of the research process. The research is subjected to two fundamental methods for data collection. The two include the primary data research and the secondary data research. Notably, the primary data research relies on the first-hand sources of information, which are also regarded as original sources. Notable sources of first-hand information include the interviews, observations and even questionnaires among others. On the other hand, the secondary data research includes tapping data from the primary sources or the already-researched materials. In this context, it is very hard to interview gamers or the game developers due to the fact that some of them may not have the appropriate knowledge linking the online gaming experience to the PM practices, and cloud computing. Therefore, the research finds the secondary data research a convenient platform for data mining. This means that systematic review would play a focal role in terms of filtering significant parts of the case studies deemed relevant to the research topic under study. Some of the materials that would be regarded significant include reports on significant incidents and case scenarios found especially in United Kingdom and the United States, as well as any other country of interest.

3.6 Data Collection Process and Sampling

The research had already established that it would be making use of the secondary data research. While the critical process focuses on the case studies, it is important to note that the elements of the systematic review cannot be ignored. The process includes a database search, the keywords to be used, document search, screening the documents, application of inclusion exclusion criterion, sampled materials that would categorized as either main or supportive and qualitative synthesis.

1. Database search: The research process looked for the online databases that carry volumes of materials deemed necessary for the research. Four significant databases were engaged and these include Semantic Scholar, CORE, ScienceOpen and Google Scholar.
2. Keywords: The research sampled significant keywords that were used during the search process. Most of the keywords could be picked from the research objectives. Significant keywords are as shown below.

Rank of the Search	The keyword used
1st Set	project management practices and the gaming world
2nd Set	cloud-based services and project management practices
3rd Set	cloud computing and online gaming experience
4th Set	cloud-based project management practices and online gaming experience
5th Set	Cloud Computing Lifecycle
6th Set	the Cloud Computing Decision Tool

 

1. Document Search: The research introduced the keywords into the provided databases for the purposes of retrieving the necessary materials from the online libraries. Most of them would give results ranging in thousands. However, the search narrowed down to the materials provided in PDF formats.
2. Screening the documents: The first screening process is immediately done for the purposes of removing duplicates before pushing the rest of the documents to the next stage. The number is recorded. Again, the research process checks on the dominant materials that appear in the four databases, or at least three of them.
3. Application of inclusion exclusion criterion: This criterion is counted as the sampling process because it cleans up a chunk of materials. The criterion introduces a number of conditions that would reduce the materials to the needed number. The material needs to have been documented in English, published between the years 2011 and 2020, be a journal article or a full case study, authored by at least one researcher, be relevant to the keyword, have at least 1 case study and found in at least 3 out of the four case studies.

 

Conditions	Inclusion	Exclusion
Language	Should be expressed in English	The material is not expressed in English
Published	The material needs to have been published in 2011-2020	The material is published before the year 2011
Authority	Must be authored by at least one researcher	No researcher included in the authority
Relevance	The material should be related to the keywords used	No relationship
Case Studies	The material should have at least 1 case study	No case studies
Appearance	The material should appear in at least 3 databases	Appears in less than 3 databases
Type of Material	The material should be a report or a journal article	The material is not a report or a journal article

 

The inclusion exclusion criterion takes into account a detailed screening process, which takes the following format.

Figure 1: The detailed Screening Process

6. Qualitative synthesis: This is the last stage of the data collection process. The research process will pick the main case studies from materials believed to be relevant. The weak case studies would be deemed supportive.

3.7 Data Analysis

Data analysis is essentially a process used in the inspection, transformation, cleansing as well as modeling data with an objective of establishing the most important information need in generating the conclusion. In this context, the research is engaged in case studies that touch on case scenario or the most specific findings found across a range of the material documents. Among various tools, the content analysis stands out as the most relevant tool that would be utilized in studying the documents, as well as communicating the artifacts. Some of the artifacts include texts that may appear in different formats, audio and video as well as pictures in some of the paramount cases. The process first involves establishing the level of analysis and making a decision on the concepts or the facts that need to be coded. This stage need to be interactive or pre-defined. Secondly, the analysis would be concerned with establishing the rules that would be engaged in the coding process. The last step includes drawing conclusions as well as generalizations based on the findings. This last stage prompts the re-examination of the facts before interpreting the results while highlighting the trends and the patterns.

 

 

 

Chapter 4: Results

The research sampled a total of 6 case studies from secondary sources that touch on the project management practices, cloud-based services and online gaming experience. One case study focused on the relationship between project management and the online gaming world, one case study narrowed down to the impact of the cloud-based services on project management practices, one more focused on the inter-link between cloud computing and online gaming experience, and 3 case studies focused on how the cloud-based PM practices influence online gaming experience. The case studies were tapped from materials published from the year 2011 to 2020 through the sampling PRISMA framework.

Findings from sampling process

In establishing the findings from the sampling process, the research made use of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA) framework. This is a cascading framework that gives a picture of how the researched materials were reduced to the right number. Below are the searches that convinced the inclusion of only 11 documents said to have met the detailed criterion.

Figure 2: PRISMA framework for the Research Process

Case Study #1: Cloud-Based Data Management for MMORPGs

The Massively Multiplayer Online Game is one of the online games known to support thousands of the players across the world. Based on this, the research attracted the following sources.

Authors	Type of source	Topic of the source	Case study	The publishing date	Reviews/ Reads
Diao, Schallehn, Wang and Mohammad	Main	“Cloud data management for online games: potentials and open issues.”	“The Case for Cloud-Based Data Management for MMORPGs”	2013	497
Kikot, Costa, Magalhães and Fernandes	Support	“Simulation games as tools for integrative dynamic learning”	“The case of the management course at the University of Algarve”	2013	–

 

MMORPGs, based on the case study, apply the RDBMS for the purposes of attaining data persistence. Unlike the RDBMS, the case study noted that the use of the cloud-based systems seemingly facilitate the most inherent merits that revolve around significant characteristics aligned to availability and scalability. The case study also informed on the integration of the project management in the cloud-based MMORPGs. The key area highlights the scope of data management and the essence of running the gaming architecture. This area is aligned to the essence of managing data in the online games based on the requirements assigned to the most specific class. Notably, the subsets of the data for the online gaming world call for the development of the virtual teams and strong requirements that would make the system adopt a more flexible data model, and the appropriate level of scalability. The emergence of the virtual teams implies that the online gaming world should be treated as a project that demand proper planning, coordination and resource allocation that would necessarily bridge the gaming experience. Most of the PM practices are finding their way in the gaming world each day as cloud service providers’ focus on the quality of service and the quality of experience at the same time.

Case Study #2: IVI Cloud Computing Lifecycle

Moving to the cloud computing environment is said to have taken a robust coverage of the business spectrum, which covers a range of the businesses from smaller organizations to the large multinationals. The case study under consideration has a significant coverage on the influence some of the cloud-based services have on the PM practices. This case study attracted the following sources.

Authors	Type of the source	Topic of the source	Case Study	The publishing date	Reviews/ Reads
Conway and Curry	Main	“Managing Cloud Computing-A Life Cycle Approach”	“IVI cloud computing lifecycle”	2013	–
Mohlameane and Ruxwana	Support	“The Awareness of Cloud Computing: A Case Study of South African SMEs”	“South African SMEs”	2014	–
Mukherjee	support	“Information Governance for the Implementation of Cloud Computing”	Cloud Information and governance	2019	–

 

The case study presents the Lifecycle approach adopted at the Innovation Value Institute. IVI covers the IT Capability Maturity Framework (IT-CMF), which is implemented at the institute for the purposes of venturing in the cloud-based services. Based on the case study, the IT-CMF is simply an innovative as well as the systematic framework known for enabling the CEOs and CIOs in understanding and enhancing the maturity of the organization in terms of its focus on the cloud investments. Most of the IT or the cloud-based functions focus on improving the management practices across the project functions. This means that the IT-CMF is one of the efforts that made the IVI to consider moving most of the project management practices to the cloud computing environment. This must have been the motivating factor that made the institute to consider the introducing the IVI Cloud Lifecycle. IVI noticed that some of the activities that make the PM function to incorporate the cloud computing environment include the capacity to architect, engage, operate and refresh at the same time. With architect, the system invests in the investigation and planning which requires the organization to focus on the arrangement of the high-level resources.

When it comes to engage, the organization looks for the appropriate services, while the operate phase concentrates on the implementation of the services. Just like many other organizations, IVI still considered moving most of the PM functions to the cloud, which is essentially regarded as one of the most important transformations across the project management practices. Currently, IVI noted that projects can easily be configured into the cloud services across the private cloud. However, the IVI project managers would preferably go for the public SaaS, IaaS and PaaS. Some of the areas IVI has noticed the impact of cloud computing include the increased functionality of the business application as it is with the Salesforce, provision of a standard resource for most of the corporate users with the help of the storage or the cloud-based server infrastructure. Other functional areas that PM practices would harvest from the cloud-based services include a robust security management system, disaster recovery system and convenient on-premises systems. The emergence of the virtual teams means that project managers can easily keep an eye on the project regardless of the geographical gap. This means that the project management team can manage the resources, control risks and monitor the progress of the project without encountering the most challenging factors as noted by the IVI.

Case study #3: A Case Study of the gaming market and cloud-based offerings in the multinational corporations

As noted before, the third case study focuses on the relationship the online gaming world has with the cloud-computing services. This area attracted the following sources.

Authors	Type of the source	Topic of the source	Title of the case study	The publishing date	Reviews/Reads
Ojala and Tyrvainen	Main	“Developing cloud business models”	“A case study on cloud gaming”	2011	1530
Yao and Chang	Support	“Cloud Gaming Virtual Community”	“A Case Study in China”	2015	–
Zhang, Chen, Zhao, Ma, Xu, Huang, Yin and Wu	Support	“Improving cloud gaming experience through mobile edge computing”	“Wireless Communications”	2019	–

 

The case study focused on the gaming industry due to the features that games have both in terms of the media and the software. The gaming market would include the extremes that range from the high-end games. The case study looked at the examination of the business model and software offering attached to the Game Cluster, which is denoted as the G-Cluster. The latter refer to the software firm which utilizes the cloud architecture across the gaming market since the year 2000. Based on the activities at G-Cluster, the study focused more on the fundamental reasons that must have led to the workability of the business model, the software and the cloud services as far as the gaming world is put into consideration. The study considered 7 open-ended interviews which had five informants. The informants included the software engineer, vice president of the software engineering, managing director, chairman of board of directors and the vice president in charge.

Based on the architecture of the system, G-Cluster facilitated the interactive gaming platforms as well as the games on demand, which could equally be summed up under the gaming-as-a-service model. The system architecture essentially executes the computer games or the online games on the servers that operate on the game system platform. The platform is said to deliver the games to the targeted client devices in form of the compressed stream via the internet as provided by the broadband network operators. On the basis of 2005 Software Business Model, noted across the G-Cluster startup phase, major focus was placed on the product development as well as networking with the possible partners. Based on the partnership, it became possible to execute the source code in the server gaming platform while making the necessary changes to the user interface. When the game is developed for console, G-Cluster would have to target it at the Internet Protocol Television or the personal computers. The cloud-based services even became more profound when the company considered a shift to the platform player considering the development of software development kit, denoted as SDK.

Case Study #4: The OnLive Case Study and Other Companies

The cloud-based PM practices have found space in the online gaming experience. The cloud gaming services have given room to most of the startups like Ubitus, OnLive and G-Clusters to make the fundamental use of the PM practices. The following sources support this case study.

Authors	Type of the source	Topic of the source	Title of the case study	The Publishing Date	Reviews/ Reads
Cai, Shea, Huang, Chen, Liu, Leung and Hsu	Main	A survey on cloud gaming: Future of computer games	“The OnLive Case Study and Other Companies”	2016	5361
Diao, Schallehn, Wang and Mohammad	Support	“Cloud data management for online games: potentials and open issues”	“Data management of MMORPGs”	2013	496

 

The case study focuses on the cloud gaming papers, which looks at nine years after the G-Cluster demonstration of what would be referred to as the cloud gaming technology. The study described the gaming experience is the killer app that reflected on the blueprint of the entire novel gaming industry and the accompanied paradigm believed to have been proposed by the Advanced Micro Devices. The platform is believed to have been convenient in terms of rendering the scene videos of the games, before transmitting to the targeted gamers via the internet platform. The approach gives room to the online games to essentially offload the graphic rendering task to the nearest or the most convenient cloud. This practice allows the gamers to eliminate computational workload as far as local platforms are put into consideration. The case study focused on the utilization of the cloud resources, inter-dependent components and the host gaming components that are essentially considered across the cloud gaming architectures. These include cognitive resource allocation, remote rendering as well as local rendering. The significant launch of the famous OnLive in the year 2010 saw the rise of the business model that changed the face of cloud gaming.

The study also focused on the interviews the researchers had with the small as well as medium sized gaming companies in the industry, as far as the dynamics of the cloud computing services are put into consideration. Based on the observation made, it could be established most of the gaming organizations are increasingly adopting the cloud computing technologies and services at the same time. Some of the sampled organizations have managed to share successful stories. Most of the organizations appreciated the adoption of the cloud-based PM practices that changed the landscape of the online gaming industry. One of the practices that have tilted the landscape included the optimization process of cloud gaming platforms. This practice has been linked to the cloud server infrastructure as well as communications. First, the cloud server infrastructure cannot be delinked from resource allocation as well as the distributed architectures. The cloud-based PM practices are evident in the resource allocation across the high performance multimedia apps as it is the case with cloud gaming.

Another area said to have been endorsed by cloud-based PM practices in the gaming industry revolves around the advanced system integration as it is with the case of the non-transparent platforms and the transparent platforms. The development of GamingAnywhere is said to have prompted adaptations of algorithms that expanded the gamer experience, the implementation of the network delivery methods, graphics rendering modules as well as the video compression techniques. OnLive has equally created a platform for the Quality of Service Evaluations and the Quality of Experience, which still remain fundamental tools of the Cloud-Based PM Practices.

Case study #5: A Case Study of the Cloud Computing Decision Tool

Project management practices constitute the decision paradigm of any given project. The same decision making process can still be influenced by the cloud computing platform that is served by the relevant external partners. The findings on the cloud computing decision tool in the gaming world can be tapped from the following sources.

 

 

 

Authors	Type of the source	Topic of the source	Title of the case study	The Publishing Date	Reviews/ Reads
Bildosola, Río-Belver, Cilleruelo and Garechana	Main	“Design and implementation of a cloud computing adoption decision tool”	“Generating a cloud road”	2015	1371

 

This study focused on the findings established by the Cisco Company regarding Global cloud traffic. Based on the findings, the global cloud IP traffic was anticipated to hit 5.3 zettabytes before the year 2017 on an annual basis. The cloud IP traffic was equally anticipated to reach around 443 exabytes and same traffic accounted for around two thirds of the entire data center traffic since the year 2017. Based on the statistics provided, it could observed that cloud computing became the key driving force for the IT sector as well as SMEs. North America represented the greatest opportunity for the SaaS. The decision tool provided by the cloud solutions is said to help in terms of boosting the priority areas while generating the Cloud Road in the course implementing cloud technologies. The cloud’s business model, on the basis of the on-demand service paves way for the implementation of the cloud SaaS solutions that would fit the needs of the company. In this sense, entities are said to reduce the costs while improving the management of the customers, the agents, employees and even the suppliers with the help of the basic cloud tool.

Case Study #6: A case study on the organizations that are flying high in cloud

Most of the project managers have increasingly focused on the system quality, which focuses on the quality of the available information system and the overall performance. Based on this observation, findings on the significant study were tapped from the following source.

Authors	Type of the source	Topic of the source	Title of the case study	The Publishing Date	Reviews/ Reads
Abeywickrama and Rosca	Main	“Public organizations flying in the cloud”	“A case study of cloud computing value creation in Moldova central public administration”	2015	–

 

The case study takes into account the Moldova public authorities and how the organizations are considering cloud computing in managing the IT resources. The IT platform is noticeably enabling organizations in utilizing the local infrastructure in the management of the resources and services remotely with the help of internet. Based on the case study, it could be established that the computing industry has brought about a shift of the PM practices from just accessing the product to the enablement of the remote access provided to the public organizations, enterprises, individuals and even users.

 

Chapter 5: Analysis and Discussion

The research focused more on establishing the impact cloud computing has on the project management practices in the gaming world. Due to the wide coverage of the entire research, the process broke it down into explicit elements that address significant areas that build the progressive understanding of the subject topic. The notable areas under coverage include the PM practices in the gaming world, the influence of the cloud-based services on the PM practices, the interlink between the cloud computing and the online gaming experience, and the subsequent analysis on how the cloud-based PM practices would change the dynamics of the online gaming experience. On the first findings on the PM practices in the gaming world, the research established the notable findings from Case Study #1. Based on the findings, it could be noted the Massive Multiplayer Online Games have seen the adoption of the virtual teams, which invest time in virtual resource allocation, planning and even coordination. All these changes are said to have changed the online gaming experience by making it real-time and of a high level of the quality of experience. Based on the same findings, it could still be established that the gaming architecture needs the attention of the PM practices. These findings are in tandem with the findings established in the literature review. It is evident that some of the practices in PM have appeared in the gaming industry. This can be realized in the real-time project scheduling and PM education.

Some of the observations could be noted with the project massive that looks upon the MMOG subscribers, how they organize and carry out communications while playing the online game. In essence, the development of the games content has paved way for the developers to observe the system dynamics, which insist on the importance of developing the models. This concept could equally be captured from the Simsoft Computer Game, which focuses on the assessment of the outcomes. The Simsoft case study equally captures the gaming practices such as the ones adopted in the development of International Arcade Museum 1995. In both the two cases, it could be noted that the gaming industry equally adopted the tenets of planning, resource allocation, managing and execution of the developed game. Therefore, the observation of the PM practices, the MMOG and the virtual worlds would essentially resonate into the integrative approach with the help of the IT resources. In equal measures, the game-based learning takes the advantage of the massive gaming as well as the potential technologies. The massive multiplayer games are essentially embracing the significant role of communicating, education, human resources and time, which are elements that reappear in the virtual worlds. Therefore, PM practices are evident in the gaming world which harnesses the synergies of collaboration, adjustment of the game features, creativity in the game creation, as well as consideration of costs in the course of game development. This means that changes in the PM practices would still impact the scale of gaming experience.

The second group of findings is attached to the influence of the cloud-based services on the PM practices. The findings are tapped from Case Study #2, which touches on the IVI Cloud Computing Lifecycle as far as the business spectrum is put into consideration. The findings touch on the lifecycle approach across the Innovation Value Institute, which narrowed down to the IT Capability Maturity Framework. The IVI project harnessed the advantages of the cloud computing environment, which carries with it the capacity of operating, architecting, engaging as well as refreshing while focusing on the high-level resources. It could still be observed that most of the organizations are increasingly taking the preference of moving most of the PM functions or practices to the cloud, which denotes one of the most significant transformations. Again, most of the organizations, such as IVI, believe that moving the PM practices to the cloud would essentially enhance the performance of the business applications. Some of the noticeable areas attached to the advantageous use cloud-based services include the robust on-premises systems, the disaster recovery platform and a convenient security management system. The emergence of the virtual teams has made sure that project managers can easily engage a remote access to the PM functions.

These findings are in tandem with the findings and the methodological contributions tapped from the literature review. Some of the advantages the cloud computing environment provides to the PM practices include the virtual project workspace that is never limited, the documents repositories, the shared task list, the automated notification and the shared flowcharts which ensures that project managers are in touch with the progress of the project. The provision of the dynamic computing infrastructure ensures that PM has an access to the recommendable standards, and a more secure physical platform. The findings on the IVI project still informs on the essence of the IT service approach, the importance of project applications and the significant of the intuitive user interface. This means that project managers stand a chance of running complexities, enhance operational effectiveness and challenge the employees’ productivity. Cloud computing has equally shaped the landscape of PM by ensuring that there is a timely network access, resource pooling, assessed or a measured services as well as rapid elasticity. This means that project management can easily absorb the pressure of the project with an advantage of the cloud platform, which provides extra space for the project expansion, extra planning, and production of the automatic reports and optimization of the resource allocation. Perhaps, there is an equal attention given to the user authorization, the backup policy, the system infrastructure and the real-time usage. It is evident a good range of the cloud-based services have changed the experience of PM and even those are engaged in running the projects. The modern encounter with the real-time management of the resources and engagement of the virtual teams has changed the technological story that has revamped most of the project management services as noticed with the IVI projects and others.

The third group of the findings focused on interlink between the cloud computing and the online gaming experience. The findings could be tapped from Case Study #3, which focused on the developments at G-Cluster. From the architectural perspective, the G-Cluster focused more on the interactive gaming arenas in the online gaming world as noted with the games on demand. It could be established that the system architecture focused more on the execution of online games or the computer ones on the servers that cannot be delinked from the game system platforms. On the basis of a survey that was conducted in the year 2005 over the software business model, G-Cluster was working on the integration of networking and product development as it is the case with the server gaming platform. Perhaps, it can be argued that that online gaming experience is entirely determined through the structures of the cloud computing environment, and the ideas considered by the cloud service provider. The literature equally agrees to this fact by denoting the growth of cloud gaming through what is referred to as the cloud technology. Some of the companies such as Microsoft and Google Inc. are believed to leverage essential investments across a good range of the cloud-based solutions as far as the gaming industry is concerned. Therefore, the emergence of cloud gaming provides the factual integration of the online gaming experience and the cloud-based services.

Apparently, cloud gaming hosts most of the deep learning technologies, which may be used in boosting cloud streaming experience. This means that gamers can enhance the optimum quality attached to the gaming experience as witnessed with Deep Neural Network in the face of the ever-growing Artificial Intelligence. In equal measures, the interplay between online gaming and the cloud computing environment can be realized with the generation attached to mobile cloud gaming. Based on the methodological contributions noted in the review, it could be easier to highlight the fact that the experience of G-Cluster is not far from the internet-based multiplayer platforms that require a robust internet connection. Most of the gaming scenarios are currently focusing on virtual reality, the 3D graphics and the rendering technologies as it is the case with the meaningful use of the accelerometers and the Global Positioning System. The communication between the servers and the online gaming platform remains such an essential element in terms of loading both the account information, as well as the game data harvested from the significant game content server. Notably, the observations noted with the G-Cluster SDK, it would still be argued that network operators need to always guarantee the provision of the better quality of the gaming-as-a-service. This due to the fact that most of these operators have a direct link to the cloud service providers, which is something that makes them to stand a better chance of operating the customer contacts, as well as introducing the infrastructure to the relevant cloud-based services. For instance, a PaaS framework that is provided to the network operators, game licensors and the appropriate tools surfaces the most convenient feasible platform linked to the business model.

The last bit of the findings covered a relatively large scope of the entire research process. It narrowed down to the analysis of how the cloud-based PM practices can change dynamics of the online gaming experience. Given the shared connection between cloud computing environment and the PM practices, the research realized that there is a combined use of the cloud-based PM practices that exists in the gaming world, which equally makes them to have a significant impact. This area of the research attracted four significant case studies that exhibited a paramount touch on the impact that the cloud-based functions had on the gaming world. The case studies include case study #4, case study #5 and case study #6. Notably, case study #4 focused on the OnLive Study and the rest of the companies in the gaming world. It is evident that the case study focused on the nine years after an event that saw the famous G-Cluster launch the cloud gaming technology. The gaming experience was best described as the killer application, which is something that must have marked the blueprint across the novel gaming industry. The rise of AMD gave a turning point to the rendering task, the computational workload and the essence of hosting most of the gaming components on the local platform. With the observation of the dynamics behind the cloud computing services, the research process kept an eye on how the PM practices, under the watch of the cloud computing environment, influence the online gaming world.

On the basis of the literature review and the findings from case study #4, it could be established that there are four important PM practices, under the influence of the cloud-based services that have changed the landscape of the online gaming experience. The four include the essence of system integration, Quality of Service Evaluations (QoS), Quality of Experience Evaluations (QoE) and optimization of the resource allocation. On the basis of system integration, PM has essentially invested in most of the transparent platforms that lessens the burden of introducing new games on the already prevailing cloud gaming platforms. This would bring about the suboptimal performance and an equally dynamic experience that is harnessed from a good range of the remote applications. Sampled applications include the RemoteFX which takes a good advantage of the network dynamics while avoiding the most inferior responsiveness and the extreme frame loss rate. Games attached to Google Native Client are thought to have essentially invested in the new methods and techniques known to improve the gaming experience. For instance, the joint graphics streaming and the video system would attract the high coding efficiency, which is believed to resonate well with rate adaptation algorithm and the causal minimization of the usable bandwidth.

All these things are done for the purposes of compensating for the late video frames and the nontrivial network delay while fostering the good gaming experience as far as cloud gaming is put into consideration. The second PM practices, which is equally influenced by the cloud computing environment, revolves around the Quality of Service Evaluations, which remain crucial in terms of conducting the QoS measurements. Under this PM practice, the cloud-based services focus more on the network metrics as well as energy consumption. The network metrics keep an eye on the distributed multimedia applications as the experience of the user entirely depends on the network conditions. The omnipresent and the isometric parameters are sampled for the purposes of analyzing the complexity of the scene, the intra-code block size and the motion at the same time. Attention given to the OnLive characteristics of the network focus more on the frequency, the data size, the uplink bitrates and the overall downlink. On the basis of the energy consumption, it is important to note that more attention is given to the mobile environments that exhibit the most limited power reserves.

Most of the cloud gaming systems are known for having the capacity of offloading the most complicated tasks as it is the case with the physics calculations and the 3D rendering. Among other PM practices, under the impact of the cloud computing environment, there has been more focus on the Quality of Experience Evaluations. The intervention of PM, in this gaming experience determination, revolves around the needed QoE metrics that largely depend on the proposals made, the appropriate training and proper evaluations that need to be conducted for the purposes of validating the most specific model. Most of the QoE evaluations and metrics are commonly directed to mobile gaming with resources believed to be constrained to the wireless network conditions. It is worth noting that the remote desktop systems can be convenient in terms of enhancing the actual functions and the graphics quality of the gaming world. The last PM practice, influenced by the cloud platform, is the cloud gaming optimization. This function touches on the functionality of communication and the server infrastructure. The latter denotes the essence of allocating resources to the multimedia applications for the purposes of ensuring continuity of cloud gaming. In essence, smart resource allocation attracts the most convenient utilization patterns, which boost the efficiency of the private and public data clouds or centers. The VM placement and MMOG game distribution need to aid cost reductions while boosting the popularity of the game and the performance of the entire system.

The next findings are established in Case Study #5, which constitutes grounds for the cloud computing decision tool. The findings were introduced by Cisco Company, which focused on the Global Cloud Traffic. The Cloud Road is believed to have embraced the cloud technologies with the cloud computing emerging as the excellent driving force. With the current trend in the adoption of such services like SaaS, there has much attention placed on how such cloud solutions are bridging a paradigm shift that is convincing companies to engage the cloud tool in the management of the employees, the suppliers, agents and even the customers. Under the influence of the PM practice and the cloud computing, the gaming experience can be improved through the implementation of the decision tool, which takes into account two stages. First, there is a stage for the creation of the decision tree, which denotes the conditions as well as actions arranged in a sequential way.

Apparently, the decision tree is commonly introduced by the decision tool that is only made possible via cloud computing tools that largely focus on the SMEs. Based on this stage, the SaaS platform has been highly recommended especially when there are such functionalities like online billing, personal management, backup and storage, content management system, e-mailing market, web development and document management among others. The second stage narrows down to development of the entire decision tool, which can still be extended to the gaming world. In this case, the Cloud Road is always implemented for the purpose of running the on-demand-service and the cloud SaaS solutions. The decision tool is appropriate in terms of implementing priorities in the gaming world, managing entities, management of the customers and boosting the administrative role as far as gaming features are put into consideration. The last case study is Case Study #6, which puts attention on why most of the organizations are flying high in the face of the cloud-based PM practices. The case study considered the background of Moldova in the experience the public had towards cloud gaming and the management of the IT platform. Based on the observation made, cloud computing has been helpful in terms of the configuration of the computing resources, and enabling the convenient access to the network. The IT applications are equally paving way for the remote access to the gaming features while considering the management of the new cloud solutions.

 

Conclusion and Recommendation

Summary

The research presents an investigation on how most of the cloud-based services have influenced most of the PM practices. The research was conducted on the basis of the observations noted in the online gaming experience. The background of the study took note of the fact that cloud computing is taking a significant advantage of the larger cyberspace, which largely invests in the project management activities. The rationale of the study insisted on the fact that cloud computing introduces online gaming, which takes into account the MMOG and the MMORPG. However, the research noted that online games are just like any other projects that need the attention of the PM functions which are not limited to communication, planning as well as tapping into the feedback. The research further  broke down the research into the relationship between the PM practices and the gaming world, the connection between the cloud-based services and the PM practices, the interlink between the scope of cloud computing as well as online gaming experience, and the influence of cloud-based PM practices on the online gaming experience.

On the other hand, the literature review observed the methodological contributions and findings tapped from other materials documents deemed relevant to the research. Some of the noticeable findings from the literature review included the fact that there is a rise of mobile cloud gaming, which is something that has raised the idea of smart resource allocation, the QoE, the QoS and system integration. Other findings narrowed down to the simplicity of the project functions when the same projects are handled through cloud. Attention was given to the research methodology, which took account the inductive approach and the case study design in the light of the qualitative research method. Concerns were extended to the adoption of the secondary data research in which case studies would be picked from most of the secondary sources that are believed to address the subject topic under consideration. Case studies were chosen as the robust way of collecting data from the material documents that highlight significant scenarios attached PM practices, the online gaming experience and the cloud computing environment.

First, the research confirmed that there are PM practices said to be hosted in the cloud platforms as it is with the case of the role of the virtual teams. Project managers can access repositories without experiencing challenges and even monitor the progress of the project. In the gaming world, both the MMOG and the MMORPG platforms take note of the essence of planning, scheduling and even having a checklist. More findings noted that some of the cloud-based PM practices that have changed the gaming world include the system integration, the QoE, the QoS and the optimization of the clouding platforms. Such companies like G-Cluster have enjoyed the benefits that come with the practices highlighted above in the light of the dynamic cloud computing environment.

Recommendations

The research process remains comprehensive and precise in terms of presenting the findings linked to the online gaming experience and the PM practices. However, a few recommendations need to be attended to. First, the area of PM and dynamics in the same field need to be reviewed in terms of the elements that are changing with technology and the ones that are not. Secondly, a comparative study is always convenient in highlighting the weaknesses of cloud computing, which is an area that has received a bare attention.

Limitations of the study

The research narrowed down to the scope described within the research objectives as highlighted in the introductory part of the research process. The study is essentially limited to the qualitative method, which impedes the process from highlighting the numerical justification. This limits the credibility of generalizations which are tapped from descriptive materials.

Future Research 

The research process has comprehensively covered the PM practices said to have been moved to cloud, and how they are influencing the online gaming experience. However, most of the technological platforms are focusing on the implementation of neural decisions and logic in the gaming world as far as the project management practices are put into consideration. Therefore, future work needs to focus on how Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things are informing the dynamics in the PM Practices and the gaming world at the same time.