Cloud computing as an innovation: Percepetion, attitude, and adoption

doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2012.04.001

International Journal of Information Management

Volume 32, Issue 6, December 2012, Pages 533-540

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2012.04.001 Get rights and content

Abstract

Cloud computing is a current trend that reveals the next-generation application architecture and it is estimated that by 2013 the cloud market will have reached $8.1bn. While cloud services such as webmail, Flickr and YouTube have been widely used by individuals for some time, it not until relatively recently that organisations have began to use cloud services as a tool for meeting their IT needs. This study aims to investigate how cloud computing is understood by IT professionals and the concerns that IT professionals have in regard to the adoption of cloud services. The study was carried out in Taiwan and used a survey by interview approach to understand IT professionals’ understandings and concerns about cloud computing. The findings of the study suggest that while the benefits of cloud computing such as its computational power and ability to help companies save costs are often mentioned in the literature, the primary concerns that IT managers and software engineers have are compatibility of the cloud with companies’ policy, IS development environment, and business needs; and relative advantages of adopting cloud solutions. The findings also suggest that most IT companies in Taiwan will not adopt cloud computing until the uncertainties associated with cloud computing, e.g. security and standardisation are reduced and successful business models have emerged.

Highlights

► In this study we study IT professionals’ perceptions and attitudes of cloud computing adoption in Taiwan. ► The findings of the study suggest that compatibility with company's business model and policy and customers’ demands are the main concerns. ► Relative advantages of cloud computing are not obvious to IT professionals therefore they are hesitant to adopt cloud solutions. ► Successful business cases and models will encourage companies to adopt cloud computing. ► It is the cost of adoption that concerns IT professionals not cost savings that can be made through adoption as suggested by the literature.

Introduction

Cloud computing is a current trend that reveals the next-generation application architecture (Hutchinson, Ward, & Castilon, 2009). While cloud services such as webmail, Flickr and YouTube have been widely used by individuals for some time, it is not until relatively recently that organisations have began to use cloud services as a tool for meeting their IT needs. It is estimated that by 2013 the cloud market will have reached $8.1 bn (BBC, 2010). Despite these trends cloud computing remains for many an unfamiliar concept. Therefore in order for cloud computing to grow it is important to understand the factors that can influence its rate of adoption by businesses. This study aims to investigate how cloud computing is perceived by IT professionals and the concerns that IT professionals have in regard to the adoption of cloud services. The study was conducted in Taiwan in 2009 when cloud computing was still a new phenomenon to most people. It was therefore a good opportunity to study how an innovation is perceived and what factors can encourage and prevent its early adoption. The study sought the views of IT professionals since it is IT professionals more than other professionals who are likely to experiment with, adopt, or otherwise promote the use of cloud computing. Diffusion of innovation theory is the theoretical basis used to underpin the identification of the factors encouraging and preventing its adoption (Rogers, 1995).

Section snippets

Cloud computing

Cloud computing, an emerging concept, has attracted much attention in both commercial and academic spheres. Strictly speaking cloud computing is not a new concept, it can be traced back to 1997 when the term was first mentioned but only recently it has become a fashionable term (Lijun et al., 2008). The use of the term ‘cloud’ is metaphorical and typically points to a large pool of usable resources such as hardware and software that are easily accessible via the Internet (Vaquero, 2009, Vouk,

Theoretical framework

“An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption” (Rogers, 1995, p. 11). Although the novelty of cloud computing is debatable there is no doubt that its introduction challenges our conventional understanding of the location and management of IT infrastructure, the nature of product and service and, business processes and practice (both from IT professionals’ and cutomers’ point of views). While individuals may actively use cloud

Research methodology

This is an exploratory study which used a survey by interview approach to explore IT professionals’ understandings and concerns about cloud computing. A survey by questionnaire survey approach was also considered as many studies based on diffusion of innovation in the IS domain have used this approach to identify the factors influencing the rate of adoption (Premkumar and Roberts, 1999, Teo et al., 1995, Teo et al., 2007, Thong, 1999). After careful consideration however the study identified a

Findings

This section presents the findings of the analysis of the interview data. The findings are organised under the following headings: compatibility, relative advantage, complexity, trialability, and observability.Compatibility

Compatibility refers to the consistency between a previously mooted idea and the perceived innovation. When an innovation is more compatible with the existing values, past experiences and needs of potential adopters, uncertainty will decrease. Also, the rate of adoption will

Discussion

The findings of the study suggest that in order for cloud computing to take off in the IT sector in Taiwan cloud service providers and other stakeholders such as government and leaders in IT sector need to do more. More papers and examples have been published in the past years to identify and illustrate the potential financial benefits offered by cloud solutions however these benefits are not widely realised in practice and there is a lack of sufficient evidence to support the claims. According

Conclusion

This paper investigates IT professionals perceptions and attitudes towards adopting cloud computing in Taiwan. Despite the efforts made by providers such as HP and IBM the interview data suggests that many IT professionals do not have an in-depth understanding of the cloud nor are they aware of its benefits to businesses. Their main concerns revolve not around the complexity and effort that will be required but around the business applications of the cloud. Companies will wait until more

Angela Lin is a lecturer of Information Systems at the University of Sheffield. Her research takes a socio-technical view of organisational process of information systems implementation and adoption. She is particularly interested in the social and political environments in which information systems are implemented and adopted and the changes brought by the information systems to those environments. Another research area that Angela works on is business as well as consumer adoption of

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View full text

Cloud computing as an innovation: Percepetion, attitude, and adoption

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

Cloud computing

Theoretical framework

Research methodology

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion

The International Journal of Management Science

A view of cloud computing

Communication of ACM

Factors influencing corporate web site adoption: A time-based assessment

Information and Management

Decision criteria in the adoption of Edi

Social research methods

Market-oriented cloud computing: Vision, hype, and reality for delivering it services as computing utilities

The cloud adoption toolkit: Supporting cloud computing adoption in the enterprise

Software: Practice and Experience

Cost-benefit analysis of cloud computing versus desktop grids

Information technology implementation research: A technological diffusion approach

Management Science

Electronic commerce adoption: An empirical study of small and medium US businesses

Information and Management

Software as a service inflection point: Using cloud computing to achieve business agility

The case for cloud computing

IT Professional

Navigating the next-generation application architecture

IT Professional

Form: A feature-; oriented reuse method with domain-; specific reference architectures

Annals of Software Engineering

Is cloud computing really ready for prime time?

Computer