Prediction of Propensity for Enterprise Cloud Computing Adoption

Cloud computing (CC) can offer significant benefits to enterprises. However, it can pose some risks as well, and this has led to lower adoption than the initial expectations. For this reason, it would be very useful to develop ‘predictive analytics’ in this area, enabling us to predict which enterprises will exhibit a propensity for CC adoption. In this direction, we investigate the use of six well-established classifiers (fast large margin Support Vector Machine, Naive Bayes, Decision Tree, Random Forest, k-Nearest Neighbor, and Linear Regression) for the prediction of enterprise level propensity for CC adoption. Having as our theoretical foundation the Technology – Organization – Environment (TOE) framework, we are using for this prediction of set of technological (concerning existing enterprise information systems), organizational and environmental characteristics. Our first results, using a dataset collected from 676 manufacturing firms of the glass, ceramic and cement sectors from six European countries (Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, and UK) through the e-Business W@tch Survey of the European Commission, are encouraging. It is concluded that among the examined characteristics the technological ones, concerning the existing enterprise systems, seem to be the most important predictors

Adoption of Cloud Computing in Organizations

Cloud Computing is gaining popularity as a new IT arrangement in organizations, offering many advantages such as cost reduction and high flexibility that help in coping with high elasticity of demand. This study investigates organization‟s propensity to adopt Cloud computing services. The decision is viewed as an IT outsourcing decision and as a technology adoption decision through three theoretical perspectives: Transaction cost theory, resource dependence theory and diffusion of innovation theory. Based on these theories, a conceptual model is proposed with research hypotheses for future empirical testing. The study makes an attempt to contribute to the emerging literature of cloud computing, in addition to offering organizations considering adoption a list of benefits and risks of adopting cloud computing

The Role of Management Support in Software-as-a-Service Adoption Decision: A Conceptual Model

The role of management support is crucial when companies embark on the adoption of emerging technologies such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The current paper investigates the role of management support in the SaaS adoption decision. It presents a multifaceted model explaining antecedents of the propensity to adopt SaaS with the central role played by management support. The proposed model is being verified drawing from the opinions of IT practitioners representing both SaaS adopters and providers. The adopted research approach is Partial-Least-Squares Structural Equations Modelling (PLS-SEM). The preliminary results obtained in the PLS-SEM analysis demonstrate that the presented model is promising, confirming that the propensity to adopt SaaS is significantly influenced by management support, which is shaped only by trust. At the same time, the findings also suggest the insignificant role of other potential antecedents of management support, thus suggesting ideas for further model verification and improvement

Deinstitutionalising Existing Technologies to Institutionalise Cloud Infrastructure

Cloud computing is attracting attention in business world as well as in academic research. This interest is spreading fast to different areas of demand and supply side of cloud computing. However, the decision to move to a cloud is dicey and requires lot of attention in deinstitutionalising existing organisational technical infrastructure to facilitate implementation, assimilation, routinization, and institutionalisation of cloud services. At the core of this process is as much of emphasize on unlearning as it is on learning to use cloud services. The overall aim of this research is to facilitate this process by developing theoretical and practical support for business organisations to transfer to cloud paradigm. However, this paper describes the background and the research framework that drives this research to obtain the overall objectives. This paper highlights that the process of deinstitutionalisation and reinstitutionalisation is evolutionary and nonlinear and its success depends on a number of organisational, technical, environmental, social, cultural, and other institutional factors and their mutual interactions

A Study of Effectiveness and Satisfaction Level of Cloud CRM Users in Taiwan\u27s Enterprises

Cloud computing in recent years has become a popular IT application. In Taiwan, enterprises currently using CRM (Customer Relationship Management) applications seek to take advantages of cloud computing features to enhance CRM effectiveness. However, despite international IT service providers’ investments in Taiwan’s market for establishing a cloud computing environment for CRM users, no statistics are available to reflect experience with actual use. Therefore, the purposes of this study are to understand the satisfaction levels of the current cloud CRM users (i.e., Taiwan’s enterprises) and to determine the key factors, which significantly affect enterprises’ managerial effectiveness and users’ satisfaction with cloud CRM. The basis for the research model is the Information System Success model and the characteristics of SaaS and CRM. This study has obtained contacts with Taiwan’s enterprises currently using cloud CRM, and the complete analyses of valid survey responses will occur shortly

Securing intellectual capital:an exploratory study in Australian universities

Purpose – To investigate the links between IC and the protection of data, information and knowledge in universities, as organizations with unique knowledge-related foci and challenges.Design/methodology/approach – We gathered insights from existing IC-related research publications to delineate key foundational aspects of IC, identify and propose links to traditional information security that impact the protection of IC. We conducted interviews with key stakeholders in Australian universities in order to validate these links.Findings – Our investigation revealed two kinds of embeddedness characterizing the organizational fabric of universities: (1) vertical and (2) horizontal, with an emphasis on the connection between these and IC-related knowledge protection within these institutions.Research implications – There is a need to acknowledge the different roles played by actors within the university, and the relevance of information security to IC-related preservation.Practical implications – Framing information security as an IC-related issue can help IT security managers communicate the need for knowledge security with executives in higher education, and secure funding to preserve and secure such IC-related knowledge, once its value is recognized.Originality/value – This is one of the first studies to explore the connections between data and information security and the three core components of IC’s knowledge security in the university context

Cloud Computing Adoption: A Mapping Of Service Delivery And Deployment Models

The recent upward trend in adopting cloud computing by businesses worldwide reflects the captivating opportunity of cost effective computing brought by cloud computing to replace the traditional IT computing services model. However, the decision to adopt cloud computing is somewhat complex. This paper will review the literature of cloud computing service and deployment models with the aim to determine the relevant characteristics of both service delivery and deployment models. Then, the authors will develop a mapping between the two sets of characteristics of cloud computing models. The mapping will lead to the development of a decision-making framework for managing cloud-computing adoption

An Examination of Small Businesses\u27 Propensity to Adopt Cloud-Computing Innovation

The problem researched was small business leaders\u27 early and limited adoption of cloud computing. Business leaders that do not use cloud computing may forfeit the benefits of its lower capital costs and ubiquitous accessibility. Anchored in a diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional survey study was to examine if there is a relationship between small business leaders\u27 view of cloud-computing attributes of compatibility, complexity, observability, relative advantage, results demonstrable, trialability, and voluntariness and intent to use cloud computing. The central research question involved understanding the extent to which each cloud-computing attribute relate to small business leaders\u27 intent to use cloud computing. A sample of 3,897 small business leaders were selected from a commerce authority e-mail list yielding 151 completed surveys that were analyzed using regression. Significant correlations were found for the relationships between the independent variables of compatibility, complexity, observability, relative advantage, and results demonstrable and the dependent variable intent to use cloud computing. However, no significant correlation was found between the independent variable voluntariness and intent to use. The findings might provide new insights relating to cloud-computing deployment and commercialization strategies for small business leaders. Implications for positive social change include the need to prepare for new skills for workers affected by cloud computing adoption and cloud-computing ecosystem\u27s reduced environmental consequences and policies

Cloud Computing Adoption: A Literature Review on What Is New and What We Still Need to Address

Research on cloud computing (CC) recently emerged congruently with the technology’s importance for organizations at a fast pace. This makes it difficult for practitioners to obtain a consolidated overview of what determines CC adoption based on the numerous papers in this regard. Moreover, for further research in the field to add value, it is necessary to identify what still needs to be addressed. In this vein, we conducted a descriptive review of 39 papers, integrating the results of a previous review on 23 papers from 2014, to compare findings across studies. We identify 44 determinant factors that exhibit consistent directional influence on the dependent meta-variable “CC adoption”, extending previous literature reviews with regard to asset, client, and environmental characteristics. We then critically reviewed the research landscape to identify what is there, and what is not yet covered: Future research should specifically regard the adoption of Infrastructure-, Platform-, and Everything-as-a-Service, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud deployment, investigate vendor, solution, and individual characteristics, analyzing information systems, or the decision-maker