Cloud Computing in Life Sciences R&D

The pharmaceutical outsourcing trend and economic restrictions, coupled with the increasing attractiveness of cloud computing offerings, have created a highly dynamic yet nascent market. Included in this report:

• Technological aspects of cloud computing and activities of companies that are active in the field
• Current and emerging applications of cloud computing, with special emphasis on next-generation sequencing and its resultant data
• Market aspects of cloud computing, including competition among providers and user requirements
• Results and analysis from an extensive survey of bioinformatics people concerning their practices and views
• Expert interviews
• General observations, conculsions and possible future trends

Cloud computing is rapidly growing in importance as life science R&D organizations are deluged with data from multiple sources. Simultaneously, demand for computationally complex modeling and simulation studies continues to rise dramatically. Limited funding and budgets make it difficult for many organizations to build the infrastructure necessary to keep pace with these challenges. Cloud computing appears for many as a promising alternative to in-house expansion. The intersection of the outsourcing trend and economic restrictions with the increasing attractiveness of cloud computing offerings has created a highly dynamic, yet nascent, market.

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Factors Driving Use of Cloud Computing in Life Sciences R&D
1.2. Goals and Organization of the Report

CHAPTER 2
EVOLUTION OF CLOUD COMPUTING AND TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
2.1. Definition of Cloud Computing
2.2. Evolution of Cloud Computing

• Computer Clusters

2.3. Key Concepts

• High-Performance Computing (HPC)
• Virtual Computing
• Grid Computing
• Utility Computing
• MapReduce and Hadoop

CHAPTER 3
TECHNOLOGY
3.1. Cloud Models
3.2. Services

• Software-as-a-Service
• Platform-as-a-Service
• Infrastructure-as-a-Service
• Cloud Storage

3.3. Security
3.4. The Cloud Definition Revisited
3.5. Approaches of Cloud Computing Providers

• Approaches of Major Players
•  Amazon Web Services
•  Google
•  Microsoft
•  Hewlett-Packard (HP)
•  IBM
•  Others
• Approaches of Small Companies and Specialty Players
•  Cloudera
•  Cycle Computing
•  Darkstrand
•  EMC
•  GenoLogics
•  GenomeQuest
•  Geospiza
•  Gridcore
•  Nirvanix
•  Ocarina Networks
•  NVIDIA
•  ParaScale
•  Penguin Computing
•  Platform Computing
•  RightScale
•  Univa UD

CHAPTER 4
APPLICATIONS
4.1. Next-Generation Sequencing
4.2. Docking Studies
4.3. -Omics Data Analysis
4.4. Personalized Medicine
4.5. Clinical Studies

CHAPTER 5
MARKET DYNAMICS
5.1. Market Segmentation
5.2. Service Providers
5.3. User Survey

• Respondents and Their Organizations
• Nature of Respondents’ Work Activities
• Involvement in Cloud Computing
• Reasons for Interest in Cloud Computing
• Cloud Services of Greatest Interest
• Cloud-Type Preferences
• Reasons for Concern over Public and Hybrid Clouds
• Applications Which Respondents Use or Supervise
• Likelihood That Selected Applications Will Be Run in the Cloud
• Anticipated Increases in Data Processing and Storage Requirements
• Current and Projected Budgets for Life Sciences R&D Cloud Computing
• User Perceptions about Cloud Computing
• User Perceptions about Companies Involved in Cloud Computing

CHAPTER 6
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS
6.1. Steven Muskal, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Eidogen-Sertanty
6.2. David Dooling, PhD, Assistant Director, Informatics, The Genome Center at Washington University in St. Louis
6.3. Giles Day, Senior Director, Biotherapeutics Informatics, Pfizer
6.4. Todd Smith, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Geospiza
6.5. Ronald Ranauro, President and Chief Executive Officer, Director, GenomeQuest
Tony Flynn, Chief Marketing Officer, GenomeQuest
6.6. Michael Schatz, Research Assistant, University of Maryland, Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

CHAPTER 7
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
7.1. Issues

• Cost
• Moving Data Into and Out of the Cloud
• Security

7.2. The Future

• Third-Generation Technologies
• Other Perspectives on the Future

7.3. Observations and Conclusions

FIGURES

• Nature of the GenomeQuest Cloud-Based System for Next-Generation Sequencing
• Geospiza’s Centralized, Internet-Based Data Center Provides IT Infrastructure and System Access to Both Labs and Users

SURVEY EXHIBITS

• Cloud Computing Involvement of Commercial Respondents
• Cloud Computing Involvement of Academic Respondents
• Reasons for Interest in Cloud Computing, Commercial Sector
• Reasons for Interest in Cloud Computing, Academic Sector
• Main Type of Cloud-Related Service Interest, Commercial Sector
• Main Type of Cloud-Related Service Interest, Academic Sector
• Cloud-Type Interests, Commercial Sector
• Cloud-Type Interests, Academic Sector
• Reasons for Concern Over Public and Hybrid Clouds, Commercial Sector
• Reasons for Concern Over Public and Hybrid Clouds, Academic Sector
• Applications Which Respondents Use or Supervise, Commercial Sector
• Applications Which Respondents Use or Supervise, Academic Sector
• Likelihood That Applications Will Be Run in the Cloud in Next Three Years, Commercial Sector
• Likelihood That Applications Will Be Run in the Cloud in Next Three Years, Academic Sector
• Anticipated Increases in Data Processing and Storage Requirements During the Next Year, Commercial Sector
• Anticipated Increases in Data Processing and Storage Requirements During the Next Year, Academic Sector
• Anticipated Increases in Data Processing and Storage Requirements During the Next Three Years, Commercial Sector
• Anticipated Increases in Data Processing and Storage Requirements During the Next Three Years, Academic Sector
• Proportion of Life Sciences R&D Informatics Budget Devoted to Cloud Computing, Currently and in the Coming Year; Commercial Sector
• Proportion of Life Sciences R&D Informatics Budget Devoted to Cloud Computing in Three Years, Commercial Sector
• Proportion of Life Sciences R&D Informatics Budget Devoted to Cloud Computing, Currently and in the Coming Year; Academic Sector
• Proportion of Life Sciences R&D Informatics Budget Devoted to Cloud Computing in Three Years, Academic Sector
• User Perceptions about Cloud Computing, Commercial Sector
• User Perceptions about Cloud Computing, Academic Sector
• User Views on “I believe that Amazon Web Services will remain the market leader in life sciences R&D-based cloud computing for the foreseeable future,” Commercial Sector
• User Views on “I believe that Amazon Web Services will remain the market leader in life sciences R&D-based cloud computing for the foreseeable future,” Academic Sector
• Competitor Ratings, Commercial Sector
• Competitor Ratings, Academic Sector