Capacity Planning in the Cloud Computing Industry Under Time and Demand Uncertainties
By Shi Chen, Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington, USA, shichen@uw.edu
Abstract
The rapid digital transformation of business organizations has catalyzed the unprecedented growth of the public cloud services industry. However, this surge has brought forth formidable challenges for cloud service and infrastructure providers, particularly in capacity planning for data center expansion. Key challenges include the extended and fluctuating lead times coupled with uncertain demand. This monograph elucidates the typical data center capacity planning problem, emphasizing two pivotal challenges: time and quantity uncertainties. We introduce two distinct modeling frameworks, drawing inspiration from two prominent studies in other industries, to tackle these challenges individually. Moreover, we highlight that a comprehensive perspective on cloud capacity planning is needed, advocating for an integrated approach that accounts for both time and demand quantity uncertainties. Such a holistic viewpoint promises to inspire novel and impactful avenues for future research in this domain.
Supply Chain Finance and Risk Management in a Digital Era
This special issue, which surveys the most recent research in integrated risk management for supply chains, is motivated by the success of the 8th “Supply Chain Finance and Risk Management Workshop,” which was held at the Olin Business School of Washington University in St. Louis on May 30 and May 31, 2023. The Editors wanted timelier access to the latest research on supply chain finance and supply chain risk management. It is well-known, that due to review process lead times, articles published in traditional journals can take 2 to 3 years. The idea of producing an edited volume, which would include the latest articles on the topics above appealed not only to the workshop participants but also to other active members of the iFORM (Interface of Finance, Operations, and Risk Management) research community. Foundations and Trends in Technology, Information and Operations Management provides an ideal outlet for such a volume.
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Foundations and Trends® in Technology, Information and Operations Management, Volume 18, Issue 1 Special Issue: Supply Chain Finance and Risk Management in a Digital Era
See the other articles that are also part of this special issue.