Cloud computing for small research groups in computational science and engineering: current status and outlook

Cloud computing could offer good business models for small computational science and engineering (CSE) research groups because these groups often do not have enough human resources and knowledge to manage the complexity of computational and data infrastructure for their research, while cloud computing aims to eliminate that complexity from the user. In this paper, we have analyzed current status of supporting tools for small CSE groups to utilize cloud computing. Although cloud computing is perceived as an interesting model, we have identified several issues that prevent a wide adoption of cloud computing from small CSE research groups. We also present recommendations for addressing these issues in order to attract small CSE groups to utilize cloud computing.