A Case Study: Transitioning Business Processes to the Cloud for Small Enterprises

With the advent of cloud-computing, small and medium-sized enterprises have begun taking advantage of available software as a service solutions to manage their business processes. Understanding the implications of employing SaaS into their business process or workflow, SEMs can make better decisions on when and how to transition to a cloud-based model. This case study analyzes a small organization’s current business process and provides recommendations for business process improvements as they transition to a cloud-based software application. In addition, the study utilizes a hybrid Waterfall/RAD development methodology to develop and employ a reporting system and database to support and manage the organization’s programmatic activities. The Waterfall/RAD approach was successfully used in this study. The approach allowed for flexibility during development without affecting current business operations and an iterative introduction of the software application to external users. The results of this analysis may assist small and medium-sized enterprises transitioning to cloud-based solutions in order to improve the efficiency of their current business processes

Benefits of Cloud Computing: Literature Review in a Maturity Model Perspective

Cloud computing is drawing attention from both practitioners and researchers, and its adoption among organizations is on the rise. The focus has mainly been on minimizing fixed IT costs and using the IT resource flexibility offered by the cloud. However, the promise of cloud computing is much greater. As a disruptive technology, it enables innovative new services and business models that decrease time to market, create operational efficiencies and engage customers and citizens in new ways. However, we are still in the early days of cloud computing, and, for organizations to exploit the full potential, we need knowledge of the potential applications and pitfalls of cloud computing. Maturity models provide effective methods for organizations to assess, evaluate, and benchmark their capabilities as bases for developing roadmaps for improving weaknesses. Adopting the business-IT maturity model by Pearlson & Saunders (2007) as analytical framework, we synthesize the existing literature, identify levels of cloud computing benefits, and establish propositions for practice in terms of how to realize these benefits