Cloud adoption amongst Indian SMES: a survey based approach

Abstract

Cloud Computing adoption has experienced a considerable rate of growth since its emergence in2006. By 2015, it had become the top technology priority for organizations worldwide and according to some leading industry reports the cloud computing market is estimated to reach$241 billion by 2020.Research into cloud computing adoption has till date primarily focused on the larger, multinational enterprises. However, one key area where cloud computing is expected to hold considerable promise is for the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME).SMEs are recognized as being inherently different from their large firm counterparts, largely from a resource constraint perspective and for this reason, cloud computing is reported to offer significant benefits for SMEs through, for example, facilitating a reduction in the financial burden associated with new technology adoption. Cloud computing has the potential to play a major role in addressing inefficiencies and make a fundamental contribution to the growth and competitiveness for SMEs. By adopting cloud computing services SMEs will be able to obtain the latest technology, without the need for upfront cost. This project will be an exploratory study into Cloud Computing adoption among Indian SMEs. It explores the perception of cloud computing from an Indian SME stance. Motivations, requirements, and concerns surrounding the adoption of cloud computing are discussed. A survey of 30 SMEs in India shows an interest in exploiting cloud services. However, SMEs have shown concerns with regards to security and vendor lock-in. More importantly, a lack of awareness seems to be a major constraint for cloud adoption. These concerns could have influenced the speed of computing adoption. The findings are expected to assist SMEs in their adoption of cloud computing services; they may also inform service providers with respect to end-users concerns.