SaaS Cloud Computing in Small and Medium Enterprises: A Comparison between Germany and New Zealand

Dillon S, Vossen G

Abstract
Cloud sourcing and cloud computing have become de-facto standards in recent years for a range ofapplications. Cloud solutions are attractive for a number of reasons including ease of use, pricing,availability, scalability, and reliability. In particular, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) whose corecompetencies do not include Information Technology (IT) can benefit from cloud sourcing, since theycan essentially outsource their IT to an external provider. Previous empirical research on cloudsourcing in SMEs, including work by one of the authors, has largely focused on single context(country) cloud adoption issues. This research makes a significant contribution to this emerging fieldby conducting an international survey of cloud computing adoption and perspectives of SMEs, acrosstwo countries: Germany and New Zealand, and seeks to clarify and compare their views of cloudsourcing. Starting with the actual IT situation, we show the prerequisites as well as the reasons infavour of and against a use of the cloud. We then show that the views of SMEs differ in somesignificant respects between the two countries, and we draw conclusions that can help towards abetter design and delivery of cloud software and services that suit SMEs.

Keywords
Cloud Computing; Cloud Sourcing; Cloud Solutions; Small and Medium Enterprises; SME; DE-NZ comparison