A Multiple-Case Study of Cloud Computing Acceptance in a Small Business Environmen

Cloud computing is a technology that allows multiple organizations to access a dynamic set of information technology infrastructure and application services over the Internet and to pay for only the infrastructure and services that are used. The factors that determine if a small business accepts or rejects cloud computing for a portion of the computing environment include human/social/psychological, technological, organizational, and environmental/political factors. The problem is that the role these factors play in the decision process of small businesses to accept or reject cloud computing is not understood. The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to examine what role human/social/psychological, technological, organizational, and environmental/political factors played in the decision of a small business to accept or reject cloud computing for a portion of their IT infrastructure. A qualitative, multiple-case study was used to gain an understanding of the roles played by the noted factors in the decision to accept or reject cloud computing. A case study was appropriate for the proposed research because the purpose of the research was to learn what role the factors played in the decision to accept or reject of cloud computing with no requirement to control events. Each individual case in the multiple-case study was a small business in the Washington DC metropolitan area that evaluated and either accepted cloud computing for a portion of their computing infrastructure or rejected cloud computing for any part of their computing infrastructure. The implications from the study indicate that a senior management in a small business exerts a great deal of control over how employees perceive the acceptance of cloud computing. The recommendations made come directly from the implications of the research and may help other small business to accept cloud computing.