The Adoption of CloudComputing: TowardsEnhancing EGovernment Systems in the Saudi Public Sector

Abstract

Governments are always trying to find ways to improve their services to citizens; and in order to achieve this they need to restructure their processes and use information technology (IT) effectively. Pressure to do this comes from citizens who increasingly have access to digital technologies and expect better e-services from their governments. Public sector organisations in Saudi Arabia, therefore, need to proactively implement technological innovation to enhance their services. One way to achieve this is to develop a cloud computing infrastructure and the appropriate applications. Cloud computing is understood, however, more needs to be known about how it impacts public service organisations and the provision of services. This research aims to identify and discuss the importance of particular factors pertaining to the fitness and viability of adopting the cloud for Saudi public organisations. The model that forms the theoretical framework for this integrates the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory and the Fit Viability Model (FVM). The cloud computing adoption performance within Saudi public organizations, together with determining the best cloud model for these organizations are also discussed in this research. This research adopts a mixed methodology which includes one survey conducted with 408 IT staff and 21 IT experts for the second and third surveys. The analysis of quantitative data was processed by structural equation modelling (SEM) and descriptive statistics. The qualitative analysis phase was conducted using semi-structured interviews with IT heads and experts in four government organizations to deeply understand and analyse the research problem and to find the optimal solution that would lead decision makers to cloud adoption. The thematic analysis approach was chosen to analyse the qualitative data. The outcomes confirmed that the proposed model worked well and the quantitative data collected showed that fit, viability, task, relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, top management support, IT skills, ROI and asset specificity had a direct and significant effect on the adoption of cloud computing while IT policy, IT infrastructure, cloud knowledge, security, complexity and uncertainty had no direct and significant effect. The qualitative data largely confirmed these findings but shed further light on cloud adoption and suggested that other factors such as trust, service quality, accessibility and ease of interaction also needed to be considered.