Business Values of Cloud Computing: An Exploratory Study
| Autor: | Te Ming Chen, 陳德明 |
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| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 101 Cloud computing is touted as the next big thing of information technology (IT) by many academics, practitioners and consultants. Many industrial analysts and consulting firms claim that cloud computing is a great breakthrough in IT that will bring plenty of business opportunities, induce important evolution in IT applications, and influence significantly competitive advantage on operation management of an enterprise. Cloud computing is expected to bring an array of benefits to enterprises. However, on the one hand, budget-conscious businesses facing strong demand for return in investment in IT need inevitably to assess the economic feasibility of investing in cloud computing. On the other hand, the evolution from a technological concept to economic value may be considered as a new technological-economic paradigm, but no empirical study on benefits of cloud computing have been conducted. The purpose of the research is to empirically explore the impact of contextual factors on the benefits of cloud computing with the goal in mind that the result findings will provide empirical basis for decision makers who are planning to adopt cloud computing and for policy makers who are making industrial policy. Specifically speaking, first of all, one of research objectives is to examine the difference in benefit between cloud computing and conventional information services. Second, the research also studies how the type of cloud computing affects the amount of benefit brought about by cloud computing. Third, the research further analyzes whether or not the benefits of cloud computing are different in different value chain activities and different size of enterprises on the theory basis of value chain and resource-based theory. Additionally, the research compares expected benefits of cloud computing between those who adopted cloud computing and those who have not. The research method used in the project is the survey. Based on extant literature and inputs from experts, a measurement instrument of 5-point Likert scale was developed and administered on businesse of differen sizes in Taiwan via postal mail and electronic mail. In total, the useful and complete sample is 525. The measured variables are industry type, types of cloud computing (Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Infrastructure as a Service), business activities supported with cloud computing, and benefits of cloud computing. The benefit of cloud computing consists of three dimensions: cost reduction, improved capability and enhanced scalability. The data is analyzed with MANOVA. The result findings show that cloud computing has significantly positive impact on businesses that either have adopted or plan to use cloud computing. However, the benefit of cloud computing varies depending on the type of cloud computing, the business activities where cloud computing is deployed, and the size of business. In the sample of those businesses that adopted cloud computing, businesses benefit more in enhanced scalability than in cost reduction, or in increased capability. Also, it appears that more capability is increased in the area of support activities than in the area of primary activities. However, there is no significant difference in composite benefit between Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Infrastructure as a Service. Furthermore, although there is no significant difference in the composite benefit between different business sizes and between different types of cloud computing, there is marginally significant interaction effect between types of cloud computing and the size of businesses. Large businesses benefit more cost reduction generated from SaaS than small-and medium-sized businesses do, while micro businesses benefit from PaaS. In the sample of those who planned to adopt cloud computing, different types of cloud computing generate different amounts of composite benefit. Specifically, the difference in benefit between different types of cloud computing come from increased capability and enhanced scalability. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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