Success Dimensions in Selecting Cloud Software Services

Cloud computing is promoted by providers as a service offering to satisfy the modern information system needs of the business stakeholder. These services are presented in a way that can be elastic, scalable, cost-effective and delivered via the internet on a pay-for-usage pricing model. These services are now within the grasp of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). Businesses in general, and SMEs in particular, may not have the technical capability to explicitly state their service needs or expectations or to assess risks. This paper highlights some of the unseen technical hurdles faced by SMEs in selecting and identifying software-as-a-service offerings. The research was undertaken through an analysis of providers considered by businesses, the expertise the businesses sought, and an ethnographic observation of a service selection. The results are used to propose indicative success dimensions for cloud service selection and a need for more detailed research to support SME in service selection

[1]  Neil C. Ramiller,et al.  The Organizing Vision in Information Systems Innovation , 1997 .

[2]  Hemant K. Bhargava,et al.  Computing as Utility: Managing Availability, Commitment, and Pricing Through Contingent Bid Auctions , 2004, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[3]  Philip Powell,et al.  SMEs: aligning IS and the strategic context , 2001, J. Inf. Technol..

[4]  Philip Powell,et al.  Information Systems: A Management Perspective , 1992 .

[5]  Gordon B. Davis,et al.  User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View , 2003, MIS Q..

[6]  Michael A. Cusumano,et al.  Cloud computing and SaaS as new computing platforms , 2010, CACM.

[7]  Michael A. Cusumano,et al.  MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW プラットフォーム・リーダーシップ:イノベーションのマネジメント , 2002 .

[8]  Josh May.  Cloud Computing , 2011 .

[9]  Dave Durkee,et al.  Why Cloud Computing Will Never Be Free , 2010, ACM Queue.

[10]  Haluk Demirkan,et al.  Coordination Strategies in an SaaS Supply Chain , 2010, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[11]  P. Mell,et al.  The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing , 2011 .

[12]  Kalle Lyytinen,et al.  Identifying Software Project Risks: An International Delphi Study , 2001, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[13]  Roger Smith,et al.  Computing in the Cloud , 2009 .

[14]  G. Harindranath,et al.  Adoption and Use in UK SMEs : a Failure of Initiatives ? , 2008 .

[15]  Edward F. Watson,et al.  Application service providers , 2010, Commun. ACM.

[16]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  The DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success: A Ten-Year Update , 2003, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[17]  Monideepa Tarafdar,et al.  Examining Tactical Information Technology — Business Alignment , 2010, J. Comput. Inf. Syst..

[18]  Tsong Yueh Chen,et al.  CHOC'LATE: a framework for specification-based testing , 2010, CACM.

[19]  David Schuff,et al.  Taking a flexible approach to ASPs , 2010, Commun. ACM.

[20]  Ulrike Schultze,et al.  A Confessional Account of an Ethnography About Knowledge Work , 2000, MIS Q..

[21]  Dustin Owens,et al.  Securing Elasticity in the Cloud , 2010, ACM Queue.

[22]  James Hayes.  Cloud's caveats [IT Strategy] , 2010 .

[23]  Dov Te'eni,et al.  Review: A Cognitive-Affective Model of Organizational Communication for Designing IT , 2001, MIS Q..

[24]  CusumanoMichael.  Cloud computing and SaaS as new computing platforms , 2010 .

[25]  Halil Nadiri,et al.  Zone of tolerance for banks: a diagnostic model of service quality , 2009 .

[26]  Robert J. Kauffman,et al.  Should We Go Our Own Way? Backsourcing Flexibility in IT Services Contracts , 2010, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[27]  Imran A. Zualkernan,et al.  A Simple Instrument to Measure IT-Business Alignment Maturity , 2009, Inf. Syst. Manag..

[28]  Jesper Simonsen,et al.  Involving top management in IT projects , 2007, CACM.

[29]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Dependent Variable , 1992, Inf. Syst. Res..

[30]  Larry Yu,et al.  How team communication affects innovation , 2005 .

[31]  Randy H. Katz,et al.  A view of cloud computing , 2010, CACM.

[32]  George M. Scott,et al.  Strategic planning for technology products , 2001 .

[33]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  Factors That Influence the Social Dimension of Alignment Between Business and Information Technology Objectives , 2000, MIS Q..

[34]  Pervaiz K. Ahmed,et al.  The ASP phenomenon: an example of solution innovation that liberates organization from technology or captures it? , 2004 .

[35]  Gautam Korlam.  Password Cracking in the Cloud , 2012 .

[36]  Brian Hayes,et al.  What Is Cloud Computing? , 2019, Cloud Technologies.

[37]  David Arditi,et al.  Use of information and communication technologies by small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in building construction , 2005 .

[38]  Brenda Dervin,et al.  Sense-making theory and practice: an overview of user interests in knowledge seeking and use , 1998, J. Knowl. Manag..