Records storage in the cloud: are we modelling the cost?

Cloud services are increasingly seen as a flexible strategy for platform, infrastructure and software. Given the cloud’s claimed economic benefits archives and records professionals are now using cloud services for the storage of digital records and data. However, in determining whether or not to use the cloud for records and/or data storage, what models are available to them for estimating the cost and the medium to long-term financial implications for their organisations? This article identifies models available for estimating cloud storage costs and presents the results of an international survey into their use in the decision-making process with a series of real-use case examples illustrating their value. The study highlights a series of important implications for archivists and records managers. These include the importance and challenges of using the models, their lack of widespread use, their adequacy, and the multiple players who should be involved in their application and development. Archivists and records managers need greater awareness and understanding of the models so they can play a central role in the cloud storage decision-making process and in the development of more effective costing models

New Organizational Challenges in a Digital World: Securing Cloud Computing Usage and Reacting to Asset-Sharing Platform Disruptions

Information technology (IT) and IT-enabled business models are transforming the business ecosystem and posing new challenges for existing companies. This two-essay dissertation examines two such challenges: cloud security and the disruption of asset-sharing business models.The first essay examines how an organizations usage of cloud storage affects its likelihood of accidental breaches. The quasi-experiment in the U.S. healthcare sector reveals that organizations with higher levels of digitalization (i.e., Electronic Health Records levels) or those with more IT applications running on their internal data center are less likely to experience accidental breaches after using public cloud storage. We argue that digitalization and operational control over IT applications increase organizations awareness and capabilities of establishing a company-wide security culture, thereby reducing negligence related to physical devices and unintended disclosure after adopting cloud storage. The usage of cloud storage is more likely to cause accidental breaches for organizations contracting to more reputable or domain expert vendors. We explain this result as the consequence of less attention being focused on securing personally accessible data and physical devices given high reliance on reputed and knowledgeable cloud providers. This research is among the first to empirically examine the actual security impacts of organizations cloud storage usage and offers practical insights for cloud security management.The second essay examines how Asset-Sharing Business Model Prevalence (ASBMP) affects the performance implications of industry incumbent firms competitive actions when faced with entrants with asset-sharing business models, like Airbnb. ASBMP represents the amount of third-party products and services that originally were unavailable inside the traditional business model but now are orchestrated by asset-sharing companies in an industry. We use texting mining and econometrics approaches to analyze a longitudinal dataset in the accommodation industry. Our results demonstrate that incumbents competitive action repertoires (i.e., action volume, complexity, and heterogeneity) increase their performance when the ASBMP is high but decrease incumbents performance when the ASBMP is low. Practically, incumbents who are facing greater threat from asset-sharing firms can implement more aggressive competitive action repertoires and strategically focus on new product and M&A strategies. This research contributes to the literature of both competitive dynamics and asset-sharing business models

The use of homemade food selling and delivery applications: investigating the adoption and post-adoption among Saudi female micro-entrepreneurs

On a global scale, businesses have effectively utilised intermediary digital marketplaces, such as Amazon and Alibaba by implementing a range of optimal strategies that integrate these platforms into their business models. Various intermediary mobile applications exist to provide support for micro-entrepreneurs engaged in the production of handmade food across diverse contexts, like Curryful and The Chef. The existing body of literature pertaining to female micro-entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia who operate home-based businesses examines the advantages and drawbacks associated with commonly used trading platforms in the country, such as social media and intermediary physical shops. However, this literature fails to address the adoption and post-adoption phenomena of homemade food selling and delivery applications that have emerged in the Saudi homemade food sector in recent times. Furthermore, there is a dearth of scholarly research in the domain of Information Systems that investigates the adoption and usage of this technology, specifically within the context of handmade food businesses in other contexts. In contrast, a considerable body of research exists that examines the adoption and implementation of comparable technologies in diverse business sectors across multiple industries. In addition, most Saudi micro-entrepreneurs have not yet discovered the potential of using these marketplaces to support their homemade food businesses. This study provides significant and notable theoretical contributions to the current Information Systems literature by examining new business phenomena associated with the transition of micro-entrepreneurs from intermediary physical shops to homemade food selling and delivery applications. This study investigates the reasons behind this transition and explores the impacts of incorporating this technology on micro-entrepreneurs' lives, businesses, and attitudes towards its continued usage. This research adopts a qualitative interpretive framework and a series of semi-structured interview-based research design. The relevant data is collected from three sources and Gioia's methodology is followed to analyse the data abductively. The data is explained and interpreted through the lens of several theories. The findings suggest that many inhibitors constrain the micro-entrepreneurs' use of intermediary physical shops. Thus, their unmotivated experiences with these shops have pushed them to use homemade food selling and delivery applications. Moreover, other technological, organisational and environmental reasons have pulled them to adopt this new technology in the Saudi homemade food sector. It is also found that the applications provide micro-entrepreneurs with many benefits. However, for some micro-entrepreneurs, registration in this technology is shown to be useless. Consequently, the results of this work show that some micro-entrepreneurs continued with the application while others stopped using it. The results also reveal the different and interesting impacts of Covid-19 and some mooring reasons for future continued use intentions. The results clearly demonstrate that micro-entrepreneurs have a pivotal role in influencing their business. This study's findings help to construct an integrative conceptual model that illustrates these phenomena, which contributes to explaining the adoption and post-adoption phenomena of this technology among female micro-entrepreneurs. There are no studies on this type of technology or a framework that fully explains these two phenomena (switching reasons, and value of use and continuance use reasons) and how they relate to each other before this study. Thus, this model is seen as a major addition to the Information Systems literature. Additional significant theoretical contributions pertain to the incorporation of the entrepreneurial bricolage theory, which is being utilised for the first time in the Information Systems literature. Furthermore, the expectancy-confirmation model in this domain has been expanded by incorporating compatibility as an additional reason for continued technology use, alongside satisfaction. The third significant theoretical contribution is the introduction of new concepts to the literature regarding two new types of intermediate marketplaces used by micro-entrepreneurs, namely intermediate physical stores and homemade food selling and delivering mobile applications, as well as the description of their business models and the experiences of these entrepreneurs. Furthermore, this study holds several practical consequences. The findings of this study provide significant consequences for several stakeholders. Specifically, they provide light on the extent to which entrepreneurs have utilised the help offered by the Saudi government, as well as the genuine requirements of these individuals. These findings also help in explaining female micro-entrepreneurs' realistic experiences with these intermediary markets in the Saudi home-made food sector, which can help the owners of these markets improve their services and support. The research findings also shed light on the barriers and challenges faced by female micro-entrepreneurs in accessing or continuing the use of these intermediary markets, such as limited financial resources and lack of marketing skills. By understanding these obstacles, stakeholders can develop targeted interventions and provide tailored support to empower female micro-entrepreneurs in the Saudi home-made food sector. Ultimately, this research aims to foster an environment conducive to growth and sustainability for female micro-entrepreneurs, enabling them to contribute significantly to the local economy and society. These practical implications will positively contribute to enhancing the home-working experience of micro-entrepreneurs and their customers

The use of homemade food selling and delivery applications: investigating the adoption and post-adoption among Saudi female micro-entrepreneurs

On a global scale, businesses have effectively utilised intermediary digital marketplaces, such as Amazon and Alibaba by implementing a range of optimal strategies that integrate these platforms into their business models. Various intermediary mobile applications exist to provide support for micro-entrepreneurs engaged in the production of handmade food across diverse contexts, like Curryful and The Chef. The existing body of literature pertaining to female micro-entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia who operate home-based businesses examines the advantages and drawbacks associated with commonly used trading platforms in the country, such as social media and intermediary physical shops. However, this literature fails to address the adoption and post-adoption phenomena of homemade food selling and delivery applications that have emerged in the Saudi homemade food sector in recent times. Furthermore, there is a dearth of scholarly research in the domain of Information Systems that investigates the adoption and usage of this technology, specifically within the context of handmade food businesses in other contexts. In contrast, a considerable body of research exists that examines the adoption and implementation of comparable technologies in diverse business sectors across multiple industries. In addition, most Saudi micro-entrepreneurs have not yet discovered the potential of using these marketplaces to support their homemade food businesses. This study provides significant and notable theoretical contributions to the current Information Systems literature by examining new business phenomena associated with the transition of micro-entrepreneurs from intermediary physical shops to homemade food selling and delivery applications. This study investigates the reasons behind this transition and explores the impacts of incorporating this technology on micro-entrepreneurs' lives, businesses, and attitudes towards its continued usage. This research adopts a qualitative interpretive framework and a series of semi-structured interview-based research design. The relevant data is collected from three sources and Gioia's methodology is followed to analyse the data abductively. The data is explained and interpreted through the lens of several theories. The findings suggest that many inhibitors constrain the micro-entrepreneurs' use of intermediary physical shops. Thus, their unmotivated experiences with these shops have pushed them to use homemade food selling and delivery applications. Moreover, other technological, organisational and environmental reasons have pulled them to adopt this new technology in the Saudi homemade food sector. It is also found that the applications provide micro-entrepreneurs with many benefits. However, for some micro-entrepreneurs, registration in this technology is shown to be useless. Consequently, the results of this work show that some micro-entrepreneurs continued with the application while others stopped using it. The results also reveal the different and interesting impacts of Covid-19 and some mooring reasons for future continued use intentions. The results clearly demonstrate that micro-entrepreneurs have a pivotal role in influencing their business. This study's findings help to construct an integrative conceptual model that illustrates these phenomena, which contributes to explaining the adoption and post-adoption phenomena of this technology among female micro-entrepreneurs. There are no studies on this type of technology or a framework that fully explains these two phenomena (switching reasons, and value of use and continuance use reasons) and how they relate to each other before this study. Thus, this model is seen as a major addition to the Information Systems literature. Additional significant theoretical contributions pertain to the incorporation of the entrepreneurial bricolage theory, which is being utilised for the first time in the Information Systems literature. Furthermore, the expectancy-confirmation model in this domain has been expanded by incorporating compatibility as an additional reason for continued technology use, alongside satisfaction. The third significant theoretical contribution is the introduction of new concepts to the literature regarding two new types of intermediate marketplaces used by micro-entrepreneurs, namely intermediate physical stores and homemade food selling and delivering mobile applications, as well as the description of their business models and the experiences of these entrepreneurs. Furthermore, this study holds several practical consequences. The findings of this study provide significant consequences for several stakeholders. Specifically, they provide light on the extent to which entrepreneurs have utilised the help offered by the Saudi government, as well as the genuine requirements of these individuals. These findings also help in explaining female micro-entrepreneurs' realistic experiences with these intermediary markets in the Saudi home-made food sector, which can help the owners of these markets improve their services and support. The research findings also shed light on the barriers and challenges faced by female micro-entrepreneurs in accessing or continuing the use of these intermediary markets, such as limited financial resources and lack of marketing skills. By understanding these obstacles, stakeholders can develop targeted interventions and provide tailored support to empower female micro-entrepreneurs in the Saudi home-made food sector. Ultimately, this research aims to foster an environment conducive to growth and sustainability for female micro-entrepreneurs, enabling them to contribute significantly to the local economy and society. These practical implications will positively contribute to enhancing the home-working experience of micro-entrepreneurs and their customers