Factors That Influence Application Migration To Cloud Computing In Government Organizations: A Conjoint Approach

• Main Author: West, Barry C
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University 2014
• Subjects: Cloud Computing in Government Organizations; Conjoint; Transaction Cost Theory; Resource-Based Theory; Agency Theory; Dynamic Capabilities Theory
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/bus_admin_diss/40; http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=bus_admin_diss

Cloud computing is becoming a viable option for Chief Information Officers (CIO’s) and business stakeholders to consider in today’s information technology (IT) environment, characterized by shrinking budgets and dynamic changes in the technology landscape. The objective of this study is to help Federal Government decision makers appropriately decide on the suitability of applications for migration to cloud computing. I draw from four theoretical perspectives: transaction cost theory, resource-based theory, agency theory and dynamic capabilities theory and use a conjoint analysis approach to understand stakeholder attitudes, opinions and behaviors in their decision to migrate applications to cloud computing. Based on a survey of 81 government cloud computing stakeholders, this research examined the relative importance of thirteen factors that organizations consider when migrating applications to cloud computing. Our results suggest that trust in the cloud computing vendor is the most significant factor, followed by the relative cost advantage, sensing capabilities and application complexity. A total of twelve follow-up interviews were conducted to provide explanation of our results. The contributions of the dissertation are twofold: 1) it provides novel insights into the relative importance of factors that influence government organizations’ decision to migrate applications to cloud computing, and 2) it assists senior government decision makers to appropriately weigh and prioritize the factors that are critical in application migration to cloud computing.