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)

A Systematic Literature Review on IT Outsourcing Decision and Future Research Directions

During the recent decades, some academic research on the subject of information technology outsourcing (ITO) decision has appeared in different outlets, which may impede the use of such resources and as a result, repetition of research by various researchers is very likely. The purpose of this paper is then to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) pertaining to research on ITO decision. Then, this review intends to 1) classify ITO decision literature, 2) provide a list of factors affecting ITO decision, and 3) identify ITO strategies. To this end, 91 ITO articles published between 2000 and 2018 in 51 unique journals were reviewed. The results yielded three kinds of descriptive, relational, and comparative ITO decision studies. The determinants of ITO decisions are classified into technological, organizational, environmental and user adoption factors. Furthermore, the trend of studied ITO strategies in the reviewed literature is analyzed, and future sourcing varietals are proposed. Finally, some insights and future research directions are proposed based on the review results.During the recent decades, some academic research on the subject of information technology outsourcing (ITO) decision has appeared in different outlets, which may impede the use of such resources and as a result, repetition of research by various researchers is very likely. The purpose of this paper is then to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) pertaining to research on ITO decision. Then, this review intends to 1) classify ITO decision literature, 2) provide a list of factors affecting ITO decision, and 3) identify ITO strategies. To this end, 91 ITO articles published between 2000 and 2018 in 51 unique journals were reviewed. The results yielded three kinds of descriptive, relational, and comparative ITO decision studies. The determinants of ITO decisions are classified into technological, organizational, environmental and user adoption factors. Furthermore, the trend of studied ITO strategies in the reviewed literature is analyzed, and future sourcing varietals are proposed. Finally, some insights and future research directions are proposed based on the review results

An enhancement of toe model by investigating the influential factors of cloud adoption security objectives

Cloud computing (CC) is a future technological trend for technological infrastructure development. And it is growing strongly as the backbone of industrial future technological infrastructure. As CC service has a lot to offer, it also has some major downside that clients cannot ignore. For CC service adoption, the potential candidates are SMEs but due to lack of resources, experience, expertise and low financial structure scenario CC can be most helpful. CC faces a major issue in term of cloud security, an organization doesn’t understand the cloud security factors in the organization and data owner doubts about their data. In the research paper, an investigation on the cloud security objectives to find out the influential factors for cloud adoption in SMEs by proposing an enhancement of Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) model with some positive influential factor like cloud security, relative advantages, cost saving, availability, SLA, capability, top management, organizational readiness, IS knowledge, malicious insiders, government regulatory support, competitive pressure, size and type. Some negative influencing factors like technological readiness, cloud trust and lack of standards in cloud security. Data were collected by questionnaires from a selected IT company based on SaaS and public cloud. Case study method has been used for validating the enhance TOE model. The IBM Statistics SPSS v22 tool was used for data analysis. The results of data analysis support the enhancement as well as all the proposed hypotheses. In summary, the results of the analysis show that all the enhancement factors were found to have a significant cloud security influence on adoption of cloud computing for SMEs

A Multi Perspective Approach for Understanding the Determinants of Cloud Computing Adoption among Australian SMEs

Cloud computing is proved to be an effective computing technology for organisations through the advantages that it offers such as IT technical agility and scalability, enhancing businesses processes, and increasing enterprises competitiveness. In Australia, there is an emerging trend that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) begin to adopt this technology in the conventional working practices. However, there is a dearth of prior studies on examining the factors that influence the cloud computing adoption among Australian SMEs. To fill the empirical vacuum, this research-in-progress proposes an integrated framework for examining the determinants of cloud computing service adoption with the consideration of the unique characteristics of Australian SMEs, such as relatively low adoption of cloud computing services, less innovative, and limited knowledge about cloud computing and its benefits and hindrances. To this end, we are conducting consecutive studies to investigate this research issue. An exploratory interview study will be applied to observe and verify the characteristics of Australian SMEs toward the cloud computing adoption. This is followed by an organisational level survey that examines the effects of determinants on cloud computing adoption. Finally, a decision model for cloud computing adoption among Australian SMEs will be developed by using a Multi Criteria Decision Approach (MCDA) through rating, prioritising, and ranking of various criteria and alternatives available to the decision makers. Adopting the mixed-method research fashion, this research-in-progress intends to make significant implications to scholars and practitioners alike in the cloud computing research and applications areas

Investigating Cloud ERP Adoption in Australian Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study

Background: Some higher education institutions (HEIs) are constantly under pressure to deliver superior quality education services at low costs through deploying traditional on-premise systems. Cloud-based enterprise resource planning (Cloud ERP) presents an ideal opportunity to lower HEI costs in terms of scalability and pay-per-use features. Adoption of Cloud ERP is, however, still low for the context of HEIs. The successful adoption of Cloud ERP depends not only on the support of system providers but also on understanding Cloud ERP adoption from the client organization perspective. This study explores Cloud ERP adoption in the context of Australian HEIs. Method: This study adopted a case study methodology involving the in-depth semi structured interviews of several key stakeholders. Thematic analysis was used to analyze and interpret interview data. Results: Based on the case study, our findings suggest that this particular Australian HEI was subject to strategic, operational, technological, and financial motives originating from either internal or external locus. Most of the expected motives were realized, except the full flexibility of Cloud ERP. Four major challenges of Cloud ERP implementation were found. Conclusion: This study empirically investigates Cloud ERP adoption in HEIs by identifying the motives, realized benefits and challenges of Cloud ERP adoption, which bridges the research gap of this topic. This study could assist Cloud ERP providers to adjust their marketing strategies to promote the adoption rate of Cloud ERP in HEIs. Understanding the motives, challenges and benefits of IT adoption in HEIs facilitates judicious decision-making prior to selection and minimizes the possibility of the failure of Cloud ERP adoption

Cloud computing in government organizations: towards a new comprehensive model

Cloud computing is a new information technology paradigm, one which has been adopted in many different sectors. Many developing countries are working on improving e-government to provide services to their citizens that are integrated and effective. Therefore, the Saudi government has made improving e-government a high priority. The aim of this study is to explore significant factors affecting the adoption of cloud computing in e-government services in Saudi Arabia as a case study. After identifying these factors, we propose a new comprehensive model for the Adoption of Cloud Computing in Saudi G-GOVernment (ACCE-GOV) that has been adopted from the Technology Organisation Environment (TOE) framework and the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory. This research model examines factors of technological context (compatibility, complexity, service quality, security, and relative advantages), organisational context (top management support, organisation size, and technology readiness), environmental context (regulations and competitive pressures), and social context (awareness, trust, and attitude) in regard to the adoption of cloud computing. Ultimately, this study enhances the decision-making of the Saudi government through understanding and highlighting the most important factors that influence the adoption of cloud computing in an e-government context. This is a position paper, reporting on the work in progress. The findings of this study will be useful for the researchers who considers suitability of different methodological approaches for cloud computing adoption and evaluation

Investigating factors influencing local government decision makers while adopting integration technologies (IntTech)

The emergence of innovative and revolutionary Integration Technologies (IntTech) has highly influenced the local government authorities (LGAs) in their decision-making process. LGAs that plan to adopt such IntTech may consider this as a serious investment. Advocates, however, claim that such IntTech have emerged to overcome the integration problems at all levels (e.g. data, object and process). With the emergence of electronic government (e-Government), LGAs have turned to IntTech to fully automate and offer their services on-line and integrate their IT infrastructures. While earlier research on the adoption of IntTech has considered several factors (e.g. pressure, technological, support, and financial), inadequate attention and resources have been applied in systematically investigating the individual, decision and organisational context factors, influencing top management's decisions for adopting IntTech in LGAs. It is a highly considered phenomenon that the success of an organisation's operations relies heavily on understanding an individual's attitudes and behaviours, the surrounding context and the type of decisions taken. Based on empirical evidence gathered through two intensive case studies, this paper attempts to investigate the factors that influence decision makers while adopting IntTech. The findings illustrate two different doctrines - one inclined and receptive towards taking risky decisions, the other disinclined. Several underlying rationales can be attributed to such mind-sets in LGAs. The authors aim to contribute to the body of knowledge by exploring the factors influencing top management's decision-making process while adopting IntTech vital for facilitating LGAs' operational reforms