Development and Evaluation of a Holistic Framework and Maturity Assessment Tools for Data Governance in Cloud Computing Environments

Cloud computing is an emerging technology that is changing the way that public sector organisations consume Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in different countries. The adoption rate of cloud computing services is still very low to none in many countries. Saudi Arabia, for instance, despite their huge investments in the Digital Transformation, as part of the recent Vision 2030, the loss of governance and control of data is one of their major barriers facing the adoption of cloud computing services. Cloud Data Governance, is not only a Saudi concern, it is actually a worldwide challenge, which is under researched and mostly not practiced. This research attempted, for the first time to unlock this challenge in Saudi Arabia, more specifically, for the Public Sector, by advancing research in this field and proposing means by which Cloud Data Governance programmes can be implemented. In this research, existing data governance frameworks were analysed – these frameworks were limited as they lacked consideration of the cloud computing perspective. Hence, the purpose of this research is to develop a generalised Strategy Framework that can be utilised to design, deploy and sustain an effective cloud data governance programme; it also aims to provide knowledge for organisations that wish to apply a cloud data governance programme, to empower them to control their data in cloud environments. Understanding data governance taxonomy and its key dimensions for non-cloud and cloud computing was an important step in developing the proposed Framework. To support the development of the proposed Framework, the Analytic Theory and concept of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) were adopted. The Framework includes a number of complex operations, therefore, to ensure an effective Cloud Data Governance programme, organisations need to have means by which they can assess their current state and define their requirements. To facilitate this, a Maturity Model was proposed together with an Assessment Matrix. The proposed Framework and Maturity Model alongside the Assessment Matrix, were then validated and evaluated for the Public Sector in Saudi Arabia, as a Case Study. Mixed research methods, Qualitative and Quantitative, were adopted for this purpose, where the State of the Art of cloud adoption, data governance and cloud data governance, in the Saudi Public Sector were all analysed. Moreover, a number of Barriers and Critical Success Factors were identified for the case study. For validation purposes, the Focus Group approach was adopted, with appropriate representations from the Saudi Public Sector. The Structural Equation Modelling was adopted for the evaluation of the proposed Framework, using quantitative results from the questionnaire. The Evaluation of the Assessment Matrix was done by developing a Tool, which allows organisations to identify their levels of maturity for cloud data governance programmes, and define requirements for target levels

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Cloud Computing in Saudi Arabia’s Government Sector

In an economic recession, cloud computing technology can play a significant role in public organisations and private sector companies since it decreases the cost of using information technology (IT) services besides offering several other benefits. Cloud computing technology is not currently used extensively in the public sector organisations, specifically in the case of Saudi Arabia for various reasons and factors. The aim of this study is to identify and understand these factors that may affect the adoption of cloud computing in the Saudi government sector; to understand the theoretical background of this problem by proposing a conceptual model; and to help and guide the Saudi government organisations to adopt cloud computing by proposing a practical implementation roadmap. This study has used a mixed-method research approach which consists of two phases in collecting and analysing the data. The first phase, an online survey was conducted and theoretically designed based on the literature survey. 169 respondents participated from four government organisations, the educational sector, and independent consultants. The quantitative analyses of the data were processed from descriptive and one-way frequency statistics to inferential and regression analysis. Nineteen hypotheses were tested. The quantitative data were analysed to identify the factors that may affect the adoption of cloud computing and to measure the significance of these factors. Based on that, the hypotheses of this research were tested and verified. The second phase, a qualitative study was conducted by using a multiple case study approach. The qualitative data were collected by conducting interviews with key people in the government organisations in order to analyse deeply and understand the nature of the problem then to find the potential solution that will lead to the adoption of cloud computing. Four Saudi organisations were chosen to participate in this study. The data were analysed by using a thematic analysis approach. The examined factors were classified into three main categories: the organisational and technological context; the environmental and external pressures; and the perceived benefits. This study contributes to the knowledge by: conducting a comprehensive survey of the literature that lead to identifying the potential factors that may affect the adoption of cloud computing; the study also found a theoretical model lacking that addressed the influences and challenges in the adoption of cloud computing and proposes a novel conceptual model that helps to better understand these factors; moreover, a practical roadmap is developed to guide the government organisations to adopt cloud computing in an effective efficient way in order to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The findings of this study are sequentially divided into two stages. In the first stage, the quantitative data were analysed to identify the factors that may effect on the adoption of cloud computing and to measure the significance of these factors. Based on that, the hypotheses of this research were tested and verified. In the second stage, a qualitative data were collected by conducting interviews with key people in the government organisations in order to dig deeply and understand the nature of the problem, and to find the potential solution that will lead to adopt the cloud computing

The national cloud computing strategy

Executive summary On 5 October 2012 the Prime Minister announced that the Australian Government would develop a National Cloud Computing Strategy. This announcement recognised the synergies between the National Broadband Network (NBN) and cloud computing, but also the important role for government in providing the tools that small business, individuals and government agencies need to realise the promise of cloud computing. This strategy has been developed in a partnership between government, industry and consumer groups and outlines a vision for cloud computing in Australia: Australians will create and use world-class cloud services to boost innovation and productivity across the digital economy. When organisations adopt cloud services, they are generally more productive, innovate better and operate with greater agility. As a nation, Australia is well placed to take advantage of cloud computing for a range of reasons—including a stable socio-economic system, a strong rule of law, and a highly diverse and skilled Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. At the individual level there are many organisations across the economy that have implemented innovative cloud computing services that have transformed the way they operate. However, as a group, Australian small business and not-for-profit organisations lag behind their counterparts in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in the use of online technology. This places these organisations at a competitive disadvantage, which could be overcome through the use of cloud computing services. One reason for this has been insufficient access to the necessary infrastructure to support sophisticated cloud services—the relatively slow download or upload speeds in many parts of Australia have limited the adoption of cloud services. The NBN is changing this and is a key enabler of the digital economy more broadly. There are other reasons that cloud computing has not been adopted more generally in Australia, including a lack of awareness of how to make best use of cloud computing and a lack of confidence that some organisations and individuals have in adopting cloud computing services. This strategy has identified three core goals and a set of actions to achieve the government’s vision. However, as the cloud services market continues to evolve, users and providers of cloud services must remain responsive to change. Likewise, the government will continue to adapt its strategy in response to market and technological changes

Review of the environmental and organisational implications of cloud computing: final report.

Cloud computing – where elastic computing resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers – is generating significant interest within HE and FE. In the cloud computing business model, organisations or individuals contract with a cloud computing service provider on a pay-per-use basis to access data centres, application software or web services from any location. This provides an elasticity of provision which the customer can scale up or down to meet demand. This form of utility computing potentially opens up a new paradigm in the provision of IT to support administrative and educational functions within HE and FE. Further, the economies of scale and increasingly energy efficient data centre technologies which underpin cloud services means that cloud solutions may also have a positive impact on carbon footprints. In response to the growing interest in cloud computing within UK HE and FE, JISC commissioned the University of Strathclyde to undertake a Review of the Environmental and Organisational Implications of Cloud Computing in Higher and Further Education [19]

Issues and challenges: cloud computing e-Government in developing countries

Cloud computing has become essential for IT resources that can be delivered as a service over the Internet. Many e-government services that are used worldwide provide communities with relatively complex applications and services. Governments are still facing many challenges in their implementation of e-government services in general, including Saudi Arabia, such as poor IT infrastructure, lack of finance, and insufficient data security. This research paper investigates the challenges of e-government cloud service models in developing countries. This paper finds that governments in developing countries are influenced by how the top management deals with the attention to the adoption of cloud computing. Further, organisational readiness levels of technologies, such as IT infrastructure, internet availability and social trust of the adoption of new technology as cloud computing, still present limitations for e-government cloud services adoption. Based on the findings of the critical review, this paper identifies the issues and challenges affecting the adoption of cloud computing in e- government such as IT infrastructure, internet availability, and trust adopted new technologies thereby highlighting benefits of cloud computing-based e-government services. Furthermore, we propose recommendations for developing IT systems focused on trust when adopting cloud computing in e-government services (CCEGov)

How can SMEs benefit from big data? Challenges and a path forward

Big data is big news, and large companies in all sectors are making significant advances in their customer relations, product selection and development and consequent profitability through using this valuable commodity. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have proved themselves to be slow adopters of the new technology of big data analytics and are in danger of being left behind. In Europe, SMEs are a vital part of the economy, and the challenges they encounter need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. This paper identifies barriers to SME uptake of big data analytics and recognises their complex challenge to all stakeholders, including national and international policy makers, IT, business management and data science communities. The paper proposes a big data maturity model for SMEs as a first step towards an SME roadmap to data analytics. It considers the ‘state-of-the-art’ of IT with respect to usability and usefulness for SMEs and discusses how SMEs can overcome the barriers preventing them from adopting existing solutions. The paper then considers management perspectives and the role of maturity models in enhancing and structuring the adoption of data analytics in an organisation. The history of total quality management is reviewed to inform the core aspects of implanting a new paradigm. The paper concludes with recommendations to help SMEs develop their big data capability and enable them to continue as the engines of European industrial and business success. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Cloud computing and prospective business and economic impacts in developing country: A case study of Thailand

The cloud computing model is a modern concept of computation that provides a number of benefits for its adopters. This online computing model has been widely used in the western world and accepted to have some business and economic impacts. This paper provides some basic knowledge about cloud computing along with its economic benefits. The author proposes that there is an endogenous relationship between the cloud computing and each of the business and economic variables, namely output, employment, and labour productivity. In order to forecast the impacts of the cloud computing adoption, the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model is constructed. Thailand is selected as ground for investigation. Apart from the bi-directional causality, the results also show prospective positive impacts of the cloud computing adoption on the growth of output, employment, and labour productivity. Despite the macroeconomic benefits, some policy implications include the encouragement of the cloud computing adoption in universities and banks in order to realise the benefit of scalability and efficient usage of computing resources. --Cloud computing,Macroeconomic indicators,Forecast,Thailand