Examining the Benefits of Cloud Technologies

The rapid emergence, prevalence and potential impact of cloud computing has sparked a significant amount of interest amongst IS and IT industry and research. In wide ranging surveys of CTOs worldwide, cloud computing first appeared on the list of “Key Technology Applications and Investments” at 17th in 2009, but jumped to 2nd place when the same survey was carried out a year later (see Luftman and Zadeh, 2011). Reports of the size and value of the cloud computing services market vary, but despite the rapid emergence of cloud computing, the academic literature surrounding the benefits of cloud adoption is quite limited, as despite a small amount of research, the body of knowledge relies heavily on anecdotal evidence found mainly in white papers, web articles, technical reports and practitioner papers. In addressing this gap, we draw on a field study of ten organisations to provide an insight into cloud computing adoption by focusing on the key benefits associated with implementation in organisations