Cloud-based services and customer satisfaction in the small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shurui Gao ◽  
Weidong Meng
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Data Security ◽  
Cloud Services ◽  
It Infrastructure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
It Knowledge

PurposeCloud-based technologies are reliably improving Information Technology (IT) environment incorporating changes and modifications to the present business structure. Cloud computing enables small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to organize and exchange pertinent data and information in real time. This study checks out the influence of cloud-based services (IT infrastructure, expenses of cloud services, cloud data security and IT knowledge of human resources) on customers' satisfaction in SMBs.Design/methodology/approachCloud computing offers a way to coordinate and share organizational and personal information and data. The adoption of cloud services is one of the most emerging technological advances in the current competitive business environment. Cloud-based services allow start-ups or SMBs to take advantage of technological advancements and respond more quickly to changing consumer demands. In the available literature, cloud computing has received a lot of attention. However, there is also a research gap in creating a paradigm that links the value development drivers in the electronic industry with the leveraging impact of cloud and intercloud computing resources for start-ups and SMBs. A hypothetical model was constructed based on a literature review, and the associations between the latent variables were investigated utilizing structural equations.FindingsFindings from the study confirmed the validity of the proposed model for customer satisfaction assessment. Besides, the results showed that customer satisfaction is affected by cloud-based services in SMBs. The results illustrated that IT infrastructure influences customer satisfaction significantly and positively, with a T-value of 2.42. Also, the results confirmed that the cost of cloud services with a T-value of 2.68 affects customer satisfaction significantly and positively. Cloud data security also impacts customer satisfaction with a T-value of 5.20. The results also showed that the IT knowledge of human resources affects customer satisfaction with a T-value of 3.01.Originality/valueThe main originality of this research is proposing a new conceptual model to assess the impact of cloud-based services on the satisfaction of the customers in SMBs.

A discriminant analysis of high and low-innovative firms: the role of IT, human resources, innovation strategy, intellectual capital and environmental dynamism

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Popa ◽  
Pedro Soto-Acosta ◽  
Daniel Palacios-Marqués
Keyword(s):  
Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Incremental Innovation ◽  
Organizational Capital ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovative Firms ◽  
It Knowledge ◽  
Innovation Outcomes ◽  
Selection Practices

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of technological, organizational and environmental factors on the level of innovation outcomes in manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the technology-organization-environment theory this paper conducts a discriminant analysis of firms’ innovation level based on a data set of manufacturing SMEs. Findings The results show that low- and high-innovative firms can be distinguished in terms of information technology (IT) knowledge and infrastructure, commitment-based human resources (HR) selection practices, exploitative innovation and organizational capital. Practical implications The study findings support the idea that innovation is a complex phenomenon explained by multiple factors. As a consequence, firms need to devote extra efforts to develop IT knowledge and infrastructure, commitment-based HR selection practices and organizational capital because these are crucial for obtaining greater innovation outcomes. In addition, the identification of exploitative innovation as a strong discriminant variable highlights that the most effective way to be a highly innovative SME is through incremental innovation, which permits the firm to capitalize as much as possible on previous exploratory efforts. Originality/value Although many studies have highlighted that innovation is more challenging for SMEs than for their larger counterparts, the vast majority of studies has been conducted in large companies. This paper extends prior literature by analyzing the discriminant variables that may distinguish between low- and high-innovative manufacturing SMEs.

scholarly journals A New Secure Model for Data Protection over Cloud Computing

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Amr M. Sauber ◽  
Passent M. El-Kafrawy ◽  
Amr F. Shawish ◽  
Mohamed A. Amin ◽  
Ismail M. Hagag
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
Data Protection ◽  
Cloud Services ◽  
Security And Privacy ◽  
Storage Model ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Data Owner ◽  
Proposed Model

The main goal of any data storage model on the cloud is accessing data in an easy way without risking its security. A security consideration is a major aspect in any cloud data storage model to provide safety and efficiency. In this paper, we propose a secure data protection model over the cloud. The proposed model presents a solution to some security issues of cloud such as data protection from any violations and protection from a fake authorized identity user, which adversely affects the security of the cloud. This paper includes multiple issues and challenges with cloud computing that impairs security and privacy of data. It presents the threats and attacks that affect data residing in the cloud. Our proposed model provides the benefits and effectiveness of security in cloud computing such as enhancement of the encryption of data in the cloud. It provides security and scalability of data sharing for users on the cloud computing. Our model achieves the security functions over cloud computing such as identification and authentication, authorization, and encryption. Also, this model protects the system from any fake data owner who enters malicious information that may destroy the main goal of cloud services. We develop the one-time password (OTP) as a logging technique and uploading technique to protect users and data owners from any fake unauthorized access to the cloud. We implement our model using a simulation of the model called Next Generation Secure Cloud Server (NG-Cloud). These results increase the security protection techniques for end user and data owner from fake user and fake data owner in the cloud.

Systems approach to cloud computing adoption in an emerging economy

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahak Sharma ◽  
Ruchita Gupta ◽  
Padmanav Acharya ◽  
Karuna Jain
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Cloud Services ◽  
Financial Loss ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cloud Computing Adoption

PurposeCloud computing (CC) services have given a tremendous boost to the creation of efficient and effective solutions. With developing countries at a slow pace of adoption, this research aims to identify factors and their interrelationships influencing the adoption of CC in a developing country context. The developing countries are enjoying numerous benefits from CC services; however, its low adoption is still a question in developing economies; hence, the authors have selected the context of information and communication technology (ICT) firms in India.Design/methodology/approachThe qualitative research method is used where experts from thirteen ICT firms in India are interviewed.FindingsSixteen factors, twenty-eight subfactors, and 25 interrelationships are revealed through content analysis. Further, causal loop diagrams are proposed to display the behavior of cause and effect of these factors from a system's perspective. This will help to understand the relationships among the factors in order to enhance the speed of CC adoption. Possible financial loss and resistance to change are found as the key barriers to adoption. The proposed interrelationships can guide both policymakers and service providers for designing effective CC policies.Originality/valueThis is the first scholarly work that identifies interrelationships among factors and subfactors, thereby providing a holistic picture to decision-makers while making a choice on whether to adopt cloud services or continue with on premise data centers and servers.

Cloud Computing for On-Demand Virtual Desktops and Labs

2012 ◽  
pp. 111-125
Author(s):  
Christoph Reich ◽  
Sandra Hübner ◽  
Hendrik Kuijs
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Cloud Services ◽  
The Internet ◽  
It Infrastructure ◽  
On Demand ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Collaboration Platforms ◽  
Computer Resources ◽  
Support Research

Cloud computing is used to provide users with computer resources on-demand any time over the Internet. At the Hochschule Furtwangen University (HFU) students, lecturers, and researchers can leverage cloud computing to enhance their e-learning experience. This chapter presents how cloud computing provides on-demand virtual desktops for problem solving, on-demand virtual labs for special courses, and on-demand collaboration platforms to support research groups. The focus is how cloud services can be used, how they can be integrated into the existing HFU-IT infrastructure, and how new didactic models could look.

Cloud Load Balancing Algorithms: A Comparative Assessment

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 3989-3994
Author(s):  
Jaspreet Singh ◽  
Deepali Gupta ◽  
Neha Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Load Balancing ◽  
Data Centers ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Comparative Assessment ◽  
Cloud Services ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Cloud Data Centers ◽  
Cloud Users

Nowadays, Cloud computing is developing quickly and customers are requesting more administrations and superior outcomes. In the cloud domain, load balancing has turned into an extremely intriguing and crucial research area. Numbers of algorithms were recommended to give proficient mechanism for distributing the cloud user’s requests for accessing pool cloud resources. Also load balancing in cloud should provide notable functional benefits to cloud users and at the same time should prove out to be eminent for cloud services providers. In this paper, the pre-existing load balancing techniques are explored. The paper intends to provide landscape for classification of distinct load balancing algorithms based upon the several parameters and also address performance assessment bound to various load balancing algorithms. The comparative assessment of various load balancing algorithms will helps in proposing a competent load balancing technique for intensify the performance of cloud data centers.

scholarly journals The denial of limits and interior aspects of descent

foresight ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 527-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Slaughter
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
It Infrastructure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Limits To Growth ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Indices ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purposes of this paper are as follows. Part one examines the role of denialism in the context of proposals advanced through the much-abused Limits to Growth (LtG) project. Part two uses three sets of criteria (domains of reality, worldviews and values) to characterise some of the interior human and social aspects of the “denial machine.” It uses these criteria to address some vital, but currently under-appreciated “interior” aspects of descent. (N.B. A succinct “primer” or overview of the concept and underpinning rationale for notions of “descent pathways” is provided in the introduction to this special issue.) Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a number of authoritative sources that track the dimensions of global change and, specifically, the ways that humanity is tracking towards Dystopian overshoot-and-collapse futures. The significance of the LtG project is assessed in this context. Part two employs the criteria noted above to identify and open out the centrality of the human and cultural interiors. Findings – Responses to the LtG project are shown to have deprived humanity of the clarity and will to respond effectively to the emerging global emergency. The rise of climate change denialism has followed suit and made effective responses increasingly difficult. A new focus, however, on some of the dynamics of reality domains, worldviews and values, clarifies both the nature of the problem and prefigures a range of solutions, some of which are briefly outlined. Research limitations/implications – This is primarily a conceptual paper that suggests a range of practical responses. For example, re-purposing parts of the current information technology (IT) infrastructure away from financial and economic indices to those tracking the health of the planet. Also translating the case put forward here for a new generation of Institutions of Foresight (IoFs) into real-world start-ups and examples. Further research is needed into the uses and limitations both of positive and negative views of futures. It is suggested that the latter have more value than is commonly realised. Practical implications – In addition to those stated above, the practical implications include new uses for IT infrastructure based on worldcentric – rather than financial and economic worldviews; designing and implementing a new generation of IoFs; and finding new ways to inform the public of impending Dystopian outcomes without exacerbating avoidance and depression. Social implications – The social implications are profound. Currently, humanity has allowed itself to “tune out” and ignore many of the well-founded “signals” (from the global system) and warnings (from those who have observed and tracked real-world changes). As a result, it has outgrown the capacity of the planet to support the current population, let alone the 10 billion currently projected by the United Nations (UN). Something must give. Applied foresight can provide essential lead time to act before human actions are overwhelmed by forces beyond its control. Originality/value – The paper draws together material from hitherto disparate sources to assess the LtG project. It also deploys key concepts from an integral perspective that shed new light on human and cultural forces that determine how people respond to the prospect of Dystopian futures. In so doing, it provides insight into why we are where we are and also into some of the means by which humanity can respond. Specifically, it suggests a shift from collapse narratives to those of descent.

A comparative study of the evolution of vulnerabilities in IT systems and its relation to the new concept of cloud computing

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Issam Kouatli
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Cloud Services ◽  
Content Type ◽  
It Systems ◽  
Weighted Score ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to classify and categorize the vulnerability types emerged with time as information technology (IT) systems evolved. This comparative study aims to compare the seriousness of the old well-known vulnerabilities that may still exist with lower possibility of happening with that of new technologies like cloud computing with Mobility access. Cloud computing is a new structure of IT that is becoming the main part of the new model of business environment. However, issues regarding such new hype of technology do not come without obstacles. These issues have to be addressed before full acceptability of cloud services in a globalized business environment. Businesses need to be aware of issues of concerns before joining the cloud services. This paper also highlights these issues and shows the comparison table to help businesses with appropriate decision-making when joining the cloud. Design/methodology/approach – A historical review of emerged vulnerabilities as IT systems evolved was conducted, then these vulnerabilities were categorized into eight different categories, each of which composed of multiple vulnerability types. Simple scoring techniques were used to build a “risk” analysis table where each vulnerability type was given a score based on availability of matured solution and the likeliness of happening, then in case of vulnerability type, another score was used to derive the impact of such vulnerability. The resulted weighted score can be derived from the multiplication of likeliness to happen score with that of its impact in case it did happen. Percentage of seriousness represented by the percentage of the derived weighted score of each of the vulnerabilities can then be concluded. Similar table was developed for issues related to cloud computing environment in specific. Findings – After surveying the historical background of IT systems and emerged vulnerabilities as well as reviewing the common malicious types of system vulnerabilities, this paper identifies 22 different types of vulnerability categorized in eight different categories. This comparative study explores amount of possible vulnerabilities in new technology like cloud computing services. Specific issues for cloud computing were also explored and a similar comparative study was developed on these issues. The result of the comparative study between all types of vulnerabilities since the start of IT system development till today’s technology of cloud computing, shows that the highest percentage vulnerability category was the one related to mobility access as mobile applications/systems are relatively newly emerged and do not have a matured security solution(s). Practical implications – Learning from history, one can conclude the current risk factor in dealing with new technology like cloud computing. Businesses can realize that decision to join the cloud requires thinking about the issues mentioned in this paper and identifying the most vulnerability types to try to avoid them. Originality/value – A new comparative study and new classification of vulnerabilities demonstrated with risk analysis using simple scoring technique.

On Data Security and Encryption Algorithms in Cloud Environment

2014 ◽  
Vol 701-702 ◽  
pp. 1106-1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Zheng Zhang ◽  
Ya Juan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
Data Security ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Cloud Service ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Cloud Environment ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Encryption Algorithms

As information and processes are migrating to the cloud, Cloud Computing is drastically changing IT professionals’ working environment. Cloud Computing solves many problems of conventional computing. However, the new technology has also created new challenges such as data security, data ownership and trans-code data storage. We discussed about Cloud computing security issues, mechanism, challenges that Cloud service providers and consumers face during Cloud engineering. Based on concerning of security issues and challenges, we proposed several encryption algorithms to make cloud data secure and invulnerable. We made comparisons among DES, AES, RSA and ECC algorithms to find combinatorial optimization solutions, which fit Cloud environment well for making cloud data secure and not to be hacked by attackers.

scholarly journals Comparative Analysis of Hash Authentication Algorithms and ECC Based Security Algorithms in Cloud Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61
Author(s):  
S. Hendry Leo Kanickam ◽  
L. Jayasimman
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Data Security ◽  
Data Integrity ◽  
Combination Method ◽  
Message Authentication ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Security Authentication ◽  
Secure Cloud Computing ◽  
Hashing Algorithm

Cloud computing is ensuring the security of stored data in cloud computing servers is one of the mainly demanding issues. In Cloud numerous security issues arises such as authentication, integrity and confidentiality. Different encryption techniques attempt to overcome these data security issues to an enormous extent. Hashing algorithm plays an important role in data integrity, message authentication, and digital signature in modern information security. For security purpose using encryption algorithm like ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography) and Authentication of data integrity using hashing algorithms like MD5, and SHA-512. This combination method provides data security, authentication and verification for secure cloud computing.

scholarly journals An efficient data security mechanism with data sharing and authentication

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (19) ◽  
pp. 26-31
Author(s):  
Md. Farooque ◽  
Kailash Patidar ◽  
Rishi Kushwah ◽  
Gaurav Saxena
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Data Sharing ◽  
Data Security ◽  
Security Analysis ◽  
Key Generation ◽  
Security Mechanism ◽  
Computing Environment ◽  
Cloud Computing Environment ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Efficient Data

In this paper an efficient security mechanism has been adopted for the cloud computing environment. It also provides an extendibility of cloud computing environment with big data and Internet of Things. AES-256 and RC6 with two round key generation have been applied for data and application security. Three-way security mechanism has been adopted and implemented. It is user to user (U to U) for data sharing and inter cloud communication. Then user to cloud (U to C) for data security management for application level hierarchy of cloud. Finally, cloud to user (C to U) for the cloud data protection. The security analysis has been tested with different iterations and rounds and it is found to be satisfactory.

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