COMPUTATION IN CLOUD; A COMPETITIVE STRATEGY FOR THE SMALL AND MEDIUM COMPANIES IN MEXICO

<p><span>C</span>l<span>o</span><span>u</span>d <span> </span>c<span>o</span><span>m</span><span>p</span><span>u</span>t<span>in</span>g <span> </span>is <span> </span>a <span> </span>tec<span>h</span><span>no</span>l<span>og</span>y <span> </span><span>th</span>at <span> </span><span>p</span><span>ro</span><span>v</span>i<span>de</span>s <span> </span>se<span>r</span><span>v</span>ices <span> </span><span>v</span>ia <span> </span><span>t</span><span>h</span>e <span> </span><span>I</span><span>n</span>te<span>r</span><span>n</span>et. <span> </span><span>W</span>ith <span> </span>t<span>h</span>is technology, companies can gain a competitive advantage, provide better customer service and reduce costs. The objective of this research was to analyze the Cloud computing service of companies in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico. This was a non-experimental, descriptive and empirical study with a quantitative approach, which was based on a survey conducted in the months of January 2012 through April 2013. The study’s purpose was small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the industrial, commercial and service sectors which represent the study population. Finite population formula was used to obtain the sample size, which were selected in a random manner. The results showed that 93 % of companies obtain reduced costs using cloud computing. Storage and sharing information was detected as some of the most used services. Companies want to have savings in technology infrastructure in order to increase the life cycle of the equipment, in addition to provide a higher quality service to customers.