Title
Risks and rewards of cloud computing in the UK public sector: A reflection on three Organisational case studies
Abstract
Government organisations have been shifting to cloud-based services in order to reduce their total investments in IT infrastructures and resources (e.g. data centers), as well as capitalise on cloud computing’s numerous rewards. However, just like any other technology investments there are also concerns over the potential risks of implementing cloud-based technologies. Such concerns and the paucity of scholarly literature focusing on cloud computing from a governmental context confirm the need for exploratory research and to draw lessons for government authorities and others in order to ensure a reduction in costly mistakes. This paper therefore investigates the implementation of cloud computing in both a practical setting and from an organisational user perspective via three UK local government authorities. Through the qualitative case study enquiries, the authors are able to extrapolate perceived rewards and risks factors which are mapped against the literature so that emergent factors can be identified. All three cloud deployments resulted in varying outcomes which included key rewards such as improved information management, flexibility of work practices and also posed risks such as loss of control and lack of data ownership to the organisations. These findings derived from the aggregated organisational user perspectives will be of benefit to both academics and practitioners engaged in cloud computing research and its strategic implementation in the public sector.
Year
DOI
Venue
2019
10.1007/s10796-017-9756-0
Information Systems Frontiers
Keywords
Field
DocType
Cloud computing,Risks,Rewards,Case studies,Public sector,Local government authority
Information management,Local government,Computer science,Knowledge management,Cloud computing security,Public sector,Exploratory research,Management science,Marketing,Government,Cloud computing
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
21
2
1572-9419
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
4
0.51
50
Authors
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Steve Jones1181.45
Zahir Irani21854122.03
Uthayasankar Sivarajah36711.43
Peter E. D. Love41236111.34