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Cloud Computing Adoption in SMEs: A Literature Review

ISBN: 978-81-924713-8-9

Pragati Priyadarshinee M. K. Jha

Rakesh Raut National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE)

([email protected]) ([email protected]) ([email protected])

This paper presents a detailed literature review with descriptive classification for Cloud Computing research. This includes 296 referred journal articles published between 2010 and 2014. The articles are classified into 4 main categories: Technology Adoption, SMEs, Risk Analysis, and conceptualizing Cloud Computing. The critical findings show that the research area of Risk Analysis in adoption of Cloud Computing in Small and Medium scale Enterprises needs more attention. This review provides a reference to guide future research and facilitate knowledge accumulation and creation concerning the adoption of Cloud Computing in Indian Small and Medium scale Enterprises.

1. Introduction

Cloud computing has become a universal topic in recent years. Due to size, resources, IT expertise and other constraints Cloud Computing could be of specific advantage to SMEs. However, migrating internal Information Technology data and applications to the cloud is associated with a wide range of risks and challenges [1]. Security, confidentiality, auditability, regulatory compliance and a host of other risks must be verified before adopting any new technology. Migrating data, applications or services to the cloud exposes a business to a number of new threats and vulnerabilities, which need to be properly assessed. The migration of data and applications to cloud may also have some compatibility problems [2]. In addition, SME increases a number of issues: Protection of Critical Infrastructures; Information Assurance and Trusted Computing; Privacy and Freedom of Information; and Laws and Regulation of IT Security. Hardware, software, operations, help desk, and back up are conducted by cloud vendors. Also software as a service, software development and platform control are managed by the vendors [3]. Addressing these issue can develop a way forward for more and more SMEs to adopt Cloud computing. Current market is characterized as being very competitive. Therefore, for companies who want to survive, it is essential to adopt innovations. As it has been mentioned previously, one of the most state-of-the-art technologies that assist companies gain competitive advantage is Cloud Computing. It allows companies to access the most advanced technologies over a network (e.g. Internet). If companies switch to Cloud Computing, they can save time, energy and money. These resources can then be spent in other value-adding areas of their business. It makes companies more efficient and productive which is particularly true for SMEs. If several companies switch to Cloud Computing the payback for companies and the economy is much higher. In that case Cloud Computing brings efficiency to the economy and environment. Cloud providers are specialized in offering IT services; therefore they can accomplish IT related tasks more quickly and by spending fewer resources [4]. Moreover, offering any service in large scale brings in economies of scale which results in more efficient operations. Economies consisting of more efficient and innovative companies are certainly better than those which are comprised of inefficient companies. Widespread usage of Cloud computing will reduce the number of data centers; because individual companies do not need to have their own data centers. Data centers that are operating by cloud providers consume resources in a more efficient manner than small data centers. Cloud Computing is based on virtualization, which results in consumption of less power. It is one way to achieve environmental sustainability. It also saves energy cost for the company. It is an exhaustive review of Cloud Computing Adoption in SMEs published in academic journals in the period of 2010 to 2014. The main outlines of the paper consists of review process of the literature, the classification criteria of Cloud Computing adoption articles in SMEs , Cloud Computing adoption in SMEs are analyzed and the outcomes of the review, conclusion, and research gaps .We have developed a classification framework for this literature review process.

2. Review Process As the related matters are covered in different research papers, Adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs is very hard to restrict to a particular direction. Technology adoption is the general academic subject for researcher in Cloud Computing. The online databases searched for the Cloud Computing Adoption are: 1) Science Direct 2) EBSCO Open Access Journals 3) ACM Digital Library. 4) Emerald Management. 5) IEEE Electronic Library. 6) Pro Quest Science Journals.

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There are some other famous areas in IT like “Adoption of Technology”. But, we found lots of Research work has been done and still going on in this area considering TOE/TAM Model. As per the Survey in EBSCO combining all three (Adoption+ Cloud Computing + SMEs), the total number of academic journals published are 462 where as in current area (RM +Cloud Computing + SMEs), the total number of academic journals till date is only 291.So, it’s clear from this Literature Review that a lot of study still required in the field of “Risk Associated for Adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs”.

3. Classification Method The papers were reviewed and classified with three ways of combination. The classification method consisted of four phases: (1) Database search through internet, (2) Basic grouping through “Cloud Computing Adoption”, (3) Analyzing the grouping outcomes through “Risk Analysis in Cloud adoption in SMEs”, and (4) Final verification of critical findings through the consistent result from the previous three ways. 3.1 Classification Process The Classification of articles is filtered on different combined level of Risk Management, Cloud Computing, Technology adoption and SMEs. 1) Cloud Computing (CC) 2) Adoption of Cloud Computing (ACC) 3) Adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs (ACC + SME) 4) Risk Analysis in Adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs (RA+ACC+SME)

Figure 1 Overall Filtration of Research Papers

Fig.1 shows the overall filtration of research papers from the six online databases. Among the four combinations of academic Journals, in Cloud computing (55 out of 296 articles, 43%) usually the concept of technology adoption is used to support. There were 37 Journals in technology adoption covering various aspects of Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing and Technology Adoption also rank first (55 articles, 43%), and second (37 articles, 29%) respectively with respect of subject matter in the area of adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs. It was observed that very few research papers covering ‘‘Cloud Computing adoption in SMEs” (21 articles, 16%) and ‘‘risk analysis in adoption of cloud computing in SMEs” (16 articles, 12%). With respect to technology adoption, 12% (16 from 55 academic journals) gave risk models to support the adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs. 3.2 Classification Framework This is a comprehensive classification process. If there was an inconsistency in categorization of these academic journals, then it was discussed how the journals should be grouped as given in the grouping framework. The final paper selection process and grouping framework is given in Fig. 2. The grouped journals were verified with respect of Cloud computing adoption in SMEs and risk analysis. The journals were categorized based on the year of publication and the online database in which the paper was present. Initially the journals were searched from online Database based on two search criteria.

1. Cloud Computing Adoption 2. Papers published between 2010 to 2014

Only research articles related to Cloud computing adoption were taken into consideration in the first phase. Then articles related to Risk associated with Cloud computing adoption in SMEs were taken in the next step. The final classification outcome of journals is obtained from the previous three ways of classification of research articles. Fig. 2 explains the papers searched from the online database which gives the reputed journal articles. If research articles were related to Cloud computing adoption, then only it is included otherwise excluded from the next step. This type of most relevant Cloud computing adoption articles published between 2010 to 2014 were 296 in number. Again these 296 research papers were refined to our current research area of adoption of Cloud computing in SMEs and risk associated with it. The numbers of core academic journals sorted out were 55 in number and remaining 241 research papers were excluded in the

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next step of classification. Finally the consistent classified results of academic journals were considered for our study of literature.

Figure 2 Selection Criteria Framework

4. Classification of Journals

The findings of Cloud computing discussed by different authors in several research articles are given as follows. A better understanding could be there for the design challenges of Cloud computing and identifying important research directions in increasingly important area[5].The current developments could be in relation to Cloud computing and it might hold promises for solving some of the pressing needs of construction IT[6].The study criticized that when the cloud vendor faces intense competition, the cost-center organizational model preferred over the profit-center model[7].A clear linkage among Cloud computing areas, threats within the areas and security and privacy properties were provided[8].The study of literature verified some of the important resource management schemes such as resource mapping, resource provisioning, resource allocation, and resource adaptation[9]. The findings of Cloud computing Adoption in SMEs are discussed as follows. The study explained the role of social influence and the moderating effect of a product's public/private status on consumers' intended adoption of innovations in industries [10].The literature discussed Cloud computing technology could be closely related to the Virtualization and the Virtual Machines [11]. It was argued that Cloud computing could be available for many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to its flexibility and pay-as-you-go in the current climate of economic difficulties[12].The various independent variables (factors influencing dependent variable) identified as; Cost reduction , Convenience, Reliability, Sharing and collaboration, and Security and privacy[13]. This study found that almost half of the respondents had not migrated any services to the cloud environment. It suggested that many of these SMEs did not assess their willingness for adopting Cloud computing technology [14]. The findings of Risk in Cloud Computing Adoption are discussed as follows. The literature found the involvement of the risk management discipline into the Cloud computing which could assist in business present in the internal decision-making processes [15]. The study emphasized that as a result of changes in the business environment, globalization, and technological advancements, companies have adopted innovative business models by relying on IT outsourcing [16].A formal mathematical decision model was developed which supports the selection of Cloud computing services in a multi-sourcing scenario [17].It analyzed the newest technologies in accounting software for small to medium sized enterprises [18]. The study verified privacy risk assessment for Cloud computing, and identified threats, vulnerabilities and counter measures that clients and providers could implement in order to achieve privacy compliance and accountability [19]. The literature presented a comprehensive survey which is to focus on the trust management of services in Cloud computing environments [20]. 4.1 Grouping of Papers through Cloud Computing, Cloud Computing Adoption in Smes, and Risk in Cloud

Computing Adoption The findings of Cloud computing are summarized in different ways. It includes business issues, research directions, current developments, status of supporting tools, major trends like IT efficiency and business agility, some models like cost and profit center models, linkages, one systematic Literature review and important resources. The findings of Cloud Computing adoption in SMEs are also synthesized in various patterns. It includes models with four constructs, adoption of innovation, virtualization and Inter-organizational Information Systems (IOIS).

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The findings of Risk in Cloud computing adoption are summarized which includes risk management approach led by business-level objectives(BLOs),innovative business models, formal mathematical decision model, risks in cloud industries in China, trust management services in Cloud, audit and risk management system in the information technology environment. 4.2 Grouping of Papers through Year of Publication According to IEEE Conference publication the following articles have been found in the last 5 years (2010-2014) in the Current Research Area. It shows maximum number of research papers (35) were found in 2013.The publications are in ascending order. Recently in 2014 very few publications (5) are there.

11

2534 35

50

10

20

30

40

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Figure 3 IEEE Conference Papers

141, 9%

249, 16%

321, 21%474, 31%

359, 23%

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Figure 4 Science Direct Research Papers

According to Science Direct, the total number of Journal publication in this area in last five years is given in the following chart diagram. Maximum numbers of articles (474, 31%) were there in 2013, but few publications (141, 9%) were there in 2010. The grouping of academic journals through year of publication is shown in Fig. 3 and Fig.4. It is clear from the figures that relevant publications to Cloud Computing adoption in SMEs have sufficiently greater between 2010 to 2013 compared to 2014. 4.3 Grouping of Papers through Conference vs. Journal Publications

Figure 5 EBSCO Conference vs. Journal Publications

Fig. 5 explains the distribution of articles in Cloud Computing adoption in SMEs from EBSCO Conference vs. Journal Publication till 2014.Based on our classification process three types of combinations of articles were taken. Cloud Computing adoption, Risk Management, and SMEs (CC+RM+SME):In this combination the total number of Journal publications(291) is more than the Conference publications(131).Risk Management and SMEs (RM+SMEs):In this also the total number of Journal publications(19,303) is more than the Conference publications(1777).Cloud Computing adoption and Risk Management (CC+RM): In this combination also the total number of Journal publications (6241) is more than the Conference publications (2749).So, it is clear that, in EBSCO, Journal publications are more than the Conference publications in the current area of “Risk associated for Cloud Computing Adoption in SMEs”.

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5. Conclusion and Research Gaps Risk associated with Cloud Computing adoption is very rare in case of Small and Medium scale Enterprises. It is noticed that the academicians and practitioners are very much interested to explore in this area. The paper has distinguished academic journals relevant to Cloud Computing adoption in SMEs which are published between 2010 and 2014. The objective is to give an overview of Cloud Computing adoption in SMEs and risk analysis. Despite the literature review could not declare to be comprehensive, still it provides adequate awareness and allows the occurrence of research in the Adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs. Research Gaps: This literature review has certain limitations. This review only analyzed journals published in the period of 2010 to 2014 in last five years those were generated based on a keyword search of “Adoption of Cloud Computing” and “SMEs”. Hence it is limited only in keyword search method of the articles which mentioned the adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs. The literature only found the journals from 6 databases in internet. There must be other online databases containing more number of academic journals in this subject which might be able to give a bigger exhaustive review of the journals associated to the Adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs. The English publications were only considered for the study of literature. There must be publications in other foreign languages which may give a scope to further study.

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