Elements and Performance Criteria

The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.
Business requirements may include:
data conversion requirements
hardware and software requirements
interface requirements
operational requirements
user requirements.
Characteristics may include:
data centre hosting
multiple physical locations
networked online storage
virtualisation use.
Advantages may include:
ability to provide security through local machine duplication
ability to off load storage maintenance tasks, such as:
backup
disaster recovery
data replication
hardware purchases
access to a wider variety of web services to support the enterprise
anywhere any time access
pay-as-you-use storage costs
provides the option of off-premises or on-premises storage or a combination of both.
Disadvantages may include:
accessibility:
bandwidth-dependent for access
compliance:
service provider’s legislative requirements may not be compliant with local legislative requirements
data sensitivity:
data more easily compromised
security:
chance of piracy
distributed data - access available at more physical locations
greater chance of virus attack
greater number of people with physical access
supplier stability:
vulnerability to bankruptcy
purchased by competitive company
purchased by legally non-compliant company.
Big data may include:
data access that incorporates high volume, high velocity and a high variety of information with fast in-depth processing
data managed by large information management specialist companies using big data technologies, such as Software AG, Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, EMC, and HP
data that is distributed within the cloud across a wide number of database servers.
Cloud storage applications may include a wide variety of key consumer applications:
digital photography:
Flickr
Picasa
Office applications:
Google Docs
social networking:
Facebook
MySpace
storage services:
MediaMax
Strongspace
Xdrive
video:
YouTube
web email:
Gmail
Hotmail
Yahoo
website hosting:
GoDaddy
HostMonster
StartLogic.
Service level agreements may include:
cloud storage SLAs focused on the characteristics of the data centre and cloud network:
data throughput
jitter disturbance
mean time between failures
mean time to recovery
mean time to repair
various data rates.
Hidden costs may include:
costs besides basic monthly costs per gigabyte, such as:
copying and deleting files
costs for internet connections
data transfers
metadata functions.

The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.
Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit
Evidence of the ability to:
review benefits and challenges associated with implementing a cloud storage solution
determine most appropriate cloud storage solutions for the enterprise and effective strategies for their implementation
review implementation of a cloud storage strategy and identify areas for improvement.
Context of and specific resources for assessment
Assessment must ensure access to:
site where cloud storage technologies may be used
cloud storage technologies currently used in industry
SLA documentation relevant to cloud storage scenarios
documentation detailing work health and safety (WHS) standards, environmental guidelines and enterprise requirements
modified equipment for people with special needs.
Method of assessment
A range of assessment methods should be used to assess practical skills and knowledge. The following examples are appropriate for this unit:
verbal or written questioning to assess candidate’s knowledge of features and functions of industry-specific cloud technologies
direct observation of candidate using industry-specific cloud technologies
simulation of uses of industry-specific cloud technologies.
Guidance information for assessment
Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, where appropriate.
Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate, and suitable to the communication skill level, language, literacy and numeracy capacity of the candidate and the work being performed.
Indigenous people and other people from a non-English speaking background may need additional support.
In cases where practical assessment is used it should be combined with targeted questioning to assess required knowledge.