Characteristics of Cloud Computing in the Business Context: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper evaluates the current status concerning the conceptualization of Cloud Computing research by reviewing and classifying existing scientific literature. A comprehensive analysis of the Cloud Computing literature is drawn by identifying and discussing core concepts and characteristics within that literature.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Characteristics of Cloud Computing in the Business Context:
A Systematic Literature Review
Mark Stieninger• Dietmar Nedbal
Received: 13 September 2013 / Accepted: 17 December 2013 / Published online: 8 January 2014
Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management 2014
Abstract Cloud Computing services have become more
cost effectiveand technicallyflexiblethan traditional
solutions.Thereforetheyare gaining moreand more
attention among organizations.But there is still disagree-
mentaboutthe exactmeaning ofCloud Computing.This
paperevaluatesthe currentstatusconcerning the con-
ceptualization of Cloud Computing research by reviewing
and classifying existing scientific literature.A compre-
hensiveanalysisof the Cloud Computing literatureis
drawn by identifying and discussing core conceptsand
characteristics within that literature. The paper concludes
with possible further research areas in the field ofCloud
Computing from a broad perspective.
Keywords Cloud characteristics Cloud Computing
Literature review
Introduction
For a couple of years the use of Cloud Computing services
has been influencing the IT landscape (Repschla¨ger etal.
2012).Due to the availability ofcomplex cloud based
information systems (such as enterprise resource planning,
customer relationship management, document sharing, col-
laboration and communication systems), Cloud Computing
has gained increased attention and diffusion among organ
zations (Opitz et al. 2012). Supporting all kinds of differen
service scenarios, the dynamic purchase and procurement
resources in the cloud has become much more cost effect
and technically flexible than traditional solutions (Weinhar
et al. 2009; Amato et al. 2014). Flexibility, defined as ‘‘the
ability to respond quickly to changing capacity require-
ments’’,has been identified by science and industry as a
relative advantage of Cloud Computing (Repschla¨ger et al.
2012). Nevertheless, a recent study concerning the attitud
decision-makerstowardsCloud Computing in German
companies revealed that there is a growing group of both
supporters and opponents.The group of supporters grew
from 28 percent to 35 percent, and the group of opponent
grew from 38 to 44 percent from 2011 (sample size n = 41
to 2012 (sample size n = 436) as well (KPMG 2013) As a
consequence of this the only shrinking group is the group
waverers.
One possible reason forthese differentattitudesand
polarizing opinionsis the disagreementaboutthe exact
meaning ofCloud Computing among basic and applied
researchers.Due to the rapid developmentof information
technology in general,this often conflicts with the forma-
tion of a solid, systematic and consistent concept (Thomas
2005). This especiallyappliesto Cloud Computing,
because it is developing at a very fast pace.
Anotheraspectis the complexity ofinnovative tech-
nologies and services.Viewing Cloud Computing from a
technicalperspective may be too narrow to comprehen-
sively analyze such a complex innovation.Instead,com-
plexity can originate from many othersources than the
service system itself (Benedettiniand Neely 2012).In IS
research,such systems are considered as socio-technical
systemsinvolving technologicalcomponentsas well as
people and the organizational environment interacting wit
M. Stieninger D.Nedbal (&)
Digital Business, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria,
Wehrgrabengasse 1-3,4400 Steyr,Austria
e-mail: [e-mail]
URL: www.fh-ooe.at
M. Stieninger
e-mail: [e-mail]
URL: www.fh-ooe.at
123
Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2014) 15(1):59–68
DOI 10.1007/s40171-013-0055-4

it (Picot and Baumann 2009;Orlikowski1992;Belfo
2012).We follow this research discipline and see Cloud
Computing as a conceptinvolving engineering as wellas
various managementaspects.Thus,it needs a socio-tech-
nicalapproach to assess its characteristics from a holistic
view.
The main objective of this paper is to identify the cur-
rentstatus ofthe conceptualization ofCloud Computing
research.Therefore,an overview of the term Cloud Com-
puting itself based on existing literature needs to be created
to establish an integrated and broad understanding of the
abstractconcept.Furthermore,it is importantto identify
the core concepts and components used within literature in
order to address further research by classifying the litera-
ture (Brooks etal. 2010).For example,Yang and Tate
(2012)identified relevanttopicssuch as technological
issues,business issues,conceptualization of Cloud Com-
puting and domains and applications across the literature.
Another literature review on the use of Cloud Computing
in the public sector was provided by Tsaravas and Them-
istocleous.They identifiedbenefitsand obstaclesfor
e-government(Tsaravasand Themistocleous2011).
Despite the existence ofliterature reviews on this topic,
there is stilla lack of reviews with a focus on definitions
and characteristics of the term Cloud Computing.
The remainderof the paperis structured asfollows.
Section ‘‘Research Methodology’’outlinesthe research
methodology.Section ‘‘Concept-Centric Literature Over-
view’’ provides a concept-centric overview of the literature
consideredfor this research.Section‘‘Discussionof
Research Topics’’discusses the findings ofthe analysis
concerning conceptualtopicswithin the literature.This
followed by an assessment of. Conclusions concerning the
currentstate ofCloud Computing research and recom-
mendations for the need of further research are drawn in
‘‘Conclusion’’ section.
Research Methodology
The systematic review ofrelevantliterature is an estab-
lished research methodology that supports the development
of theories.Reviews provide overviews of certain objects
of research and identify areas where extensive research has
already been done orwhere there is a lack ofresearch
results (Websterand Watson 2002;Schryen 2010).The
research methodology followed Webster and Watson and
included the following steps:(i) identification of relevant
literature sources;(ii) selection ofrelevantarticles;(iii)
classification of the literature according to concepts;(iv)
discussion of findings and implications for future research.
In the firststep relevantliterature sourceshad to be
identified.Because ofthe timelinessof the topic both
papers in peer reviewed scientific journals and conference
proceedings were considered for the review. Literature wa
divided into the two categories basic research and applied
research according to Brooks etal. (Brooks etal. 2010).
From the perspective of the applied research literature the
authors concentrated on peer reviewed practitioner relate
journalsand professionalpapers.Relevantpaperswere
found in Communications of the Association for Comput-
ing Machinery (CACM),Communications of the Associ-
ation for Information Systems (CAIS), CIO Magazine (CIO
Mag.), IEEE Spectrum (IEEE Spec.), and HMD, which is a
relevant German journal for applied research.
For the literaturetargeting on basicresearcherswe
considered papers from the premier academic IS journals
which are the Journal of Management Information Systems
(JMIS), Journal of the Association for Information Systems
(JAIS), ManagementInformationSystemsQuarterly
(MISQ), Information Systems Research (ISR),European
Journalof Information Systems(EJIS), the Information
Systems Journal (ISJ),and Management Information Sys-
temsQuarterly Executive (MISQ Exec.)(Brookset al.
2010).As already stated,we additionally included pro-
ceedingsof the widely recognized IS conferencesthe
InternationalConference on Information Systems (ICIS),
the HawaiiInternationalConference on System Science
(HICSS), the Pacific Asia Conferenceon Information
Systems(PACIS), and the America‘sConferenceon
Information Systems (AMCIS).
For the selection of relevant articles we used the online
archives of the journals/conferences and their search func
tions provided.In the firstround we searched for articles
containing the keyword ‘‘Cloud Computing’’within the
title. In this way, 86 papers were identified. After a stepwis
refinement towards papers that aim at providing a genera
understanding of differentconceptualareas a totalof 21
were considered as relevant for this review. The review do
not includepapersthatfocuson a certain application
domain, or a specific technical asset of it.
A structured approach of literature reviews implies to
synthesizethe sourcematerialaccordingto concepts
(Webster and Watson 2002).In the course of this review
nine essentialconceptswere identified.These concepts
were discussed and implications for future research were
identified as final step in this review.
Concept-Centric Literature Overview
In this section an overview ofthe analyzed papers and
articles is provided.The overview is concept-centric and
divided into two parts.At first,the literature targeting on
applied researchers and practitioners (‘‘applied literature’’
covering twelve papers is presented in Table 1. The secon
60 Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2014) 15(1):59–68
123

tablecoversnine papersfor the academiccommunity
(‘‘basic literature’’).
The papers mainly deal with nine topics in the context of
Cloud Computing.Twelve papers explicitly address defi-
nitions of Cloud Computing and nine papers refer to the
definition of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology (NIST).Further emphasis is given on success fac-
tors, potentials and challenges, requirements, consequences,
risks,decision guidance,businessmodels,and provider
topics. These topics are discussed in the following.
Definitions As already stated, one focus of this paper is
to provide a broad definition of Cloud Computing across
the literature.Therefore specialattention wasgiven to
explicit definitions of the term Cloud Computing within the
papers.As the NIST definition of Cloud Computing (Mell
and Grance 2011) turned outto be the mostwidely used
definition, this is subject to further investigation. The NIST
definition is used both as working definition and as starting
pointfor providing extensions within the literature.The
sources which are oriented towards the NIST definition are
marked separately (column ‘‘NIST oriented’’). Besides this
predominantdefinition there are severaldifferentapproa-
ches to define Cloud Computing (Armbrustet al. 2010;
Creeger2009;Fogarty 2009;Repschla¨ger et al. 2010;
Linthicum 2009;Leimeister etal. 2010;Son etal. 2011)
which were regarded as relevant and thus included within
this investigation (Table 2).
Potentialsand challengesThe adoptionof Cloud
Computing entailsboth potentialsand challenges.It is
crucialto be aware of these in advance to gain benefitin
the long term (Armbrustet al. 2010;Creeger 2009;Gar-
rison et al.2012; Hayes 2008; Fogarty 2009; Repschla¨ger
et al.2010; Hoberg et al.2012; Marston et al.2011; Iyer
and Henderson 2010).
SuccessfactorsSuccessfuladoption oftechnological
innovationslike Cloud Computing dependson certain
factors originating from different areas within the compa-
nies.Regarding the polarized attitudes among companies
concerning Cloud Computing (KPMG 2013) it is essential
to identify relevantsuccess factors to establish a willing-
ness to adopt such solutions (Garrison et al. 2012; Creege
2009; Iyer and Henderson 2010).
RequirementsFor a successfuladoption and imple-
mentation of Cloud Computing solutions it is inevitable to
meetthe requirementsfrom the beginning.Therefore,
requirements have to be identified and prioritized (Creege
2009;Garrison etal. 2012;Walterbusch and Teuteberg
2012).
Consequences The adoption of Cloud Computing solu-
tions causes multiple changes in differentareas ofcom-
panies.Theseconsequencesof adoption vary in their
severity.They have to be considered in an early phase
within the adoption process to make appropriate arrange-
ments in a timely manner (Creeger 2009; Cusumano 2010
Table 1 Applied literature
Definitions NIST oriented Success
factors
Potentials and
challenges Requirements Consequences Risks Decision
guidance
Business
models
Provider
topics
CACM Armbrust et al.
(2010)
CACM Brynjolfsson
(2010)
CACM Creeger
(2009)
CACM Cusumano
(2010)
CACM Garrison et al.
(2012)
CACM Hayes
(2008)
CAIS Yang & Tate
(2012)
CIO Mag. Fogarty
(2009)
HMD Repschläger et al.
(2010)
HMD Walterbusch et al.
(2012)
HMD Pröhl et al.
(2012)
IEEE Spec. Katz
(2009)
Journal/
Conference Reference
Concept focus
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Pro¨hl et al. 2012;Hoberg etal. 2012;Leimeisteret al.
2010; Son et al.2011; Son and Lee 2011).
Risks The adoption of Cloud Computing might involve
certain risks which have to be keptin mind too (Fogarty
2009; AlZain et al.2011).
Decision guidance Decision support is an important part
in Cloud Computing literature. Especially due to the great
variety of application areas itis helpfulfor companies to
receive guidance concerning their decisions (Marston et al.
2011;Kaisler etal. 2012;Iyer and Henderson 2010;Son
et al.2011).
BusinessmodelsThe topicsnamed so farhave their
impactmainly on the customerside ofthe Cloud Com-
puting relationship. The topic of business models is aimed
at the providerside.New forms ofservice deployments
also carry new opportunities and potentials. Therefore it is
necessary to establish new business models (Brynjolfsson
et al.2010; Repschla¨ger et al.2010; Walterbusch and Te-
uteberg 2012).
Provider topics Additionaltopics besides the business
model which are mainly interesting for the Cloud Service
Providers (CSP)include affordable land,available fiber-
optic connectivity,abundantwater,and inexpensive elec-
tricity. These topics need to be considered too (Katz 2009).
Discussion of Research Topics
This section discusses the main contents ofthe articles.
Table 3 showsthe distribution ofthe articlesby topics
whereat one article may belong to multiple categories.
In the following subsections the particulartopicsare
detailed on the basis of the analyzed literature.
Definitions
Because of the importance of the NIST definition (Mell and
Grance2011)of Cloud Computing in generala brief
summary ofthis definition is provided in the following.
Furthermore the NIST definition provides an overview of
the core componentsof Cloud Computing.After that,
additions from both categories are provided.
Mell and Grance (2011) define Cloud Computing as ,,a
modelfor enabling ubiquitous,convenient,on-demand
network access to a shared pool of configurable computin
resources(e.g.,networks,servers,storage,applications,
and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released
with minimalmanagementeffort or serviceprovider
interaction. This cloud model is composed of five essential
characteristics,three service models,and four deployment
models.In the following the central elements of this defi-
nition are described.
EssentialcharacteristicsThe firstcharacteristic men-
tioned is on-demand self-service.This means,thatprovi-
sion of computing capabilities is done automatically and n
active interaction is required.The second characteristic,
broad network access,implies thatservices are provided
over the network and available fordifferentplatforms.
Resource pooling indicates that multiple consumers share
common pool of services which is allocated dynamically.
Rapid elasticity means thatresources are provisioned and
released rapidly oreven automatically depending on the
Table 2 Basic literature
Definitions NIST oriented Success
factors
Potentials and
challenges Requirements Consequences Risks Decision
guidance
Business
models
Provider
topics
AMCIS
2012
Hoberg et al.
(2012)
CC Journal Linthicum
(2009)
ECIS
(2010)
Leimeister et al.
(2010)
HICSS
(2011)
Marston et al.
(2011)
HICSS
(2011)
AlZain et al.
(2011)
HICSS
(2012)
Kaisler et al.
(2012)
MISQ
Exec. Iyer et al. (2010)
PACIS
(2011) Son & Lee (2011)
PACIS
(2011) Son et al. (2011)
Journal/
Conference Reference
Concept focus
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demand.The fifth characteristic is measured service:The
use of resourcesis managed automatically and can be
monitored in a transparentway by the consumer and the
provider.
Service models Software as a Service (SaaS) provides
applications and software for the user. The user has various
configuration possibilities (e.g. through a web browser, or a
programming interface) butno controlof the underlying
infrastructure.With Platform as a Service (PaaS) the user
has access to a basic infrastructure including an operating
system where applications can be run and configured. The
third service model,Infrastructure asa Service (IaaS),
providesbasic hardware and networking resourcesonly
which the consumer can use for running operating systems
and applications independently.
DeploymentmodelsFinally the NIST definition lists
four deployment models to describe Cloud Computing. The
privatecloud providesexclusiveinfrastructureto an
organization which is managed either by the organization
itself or by an externalservice provider.The community
cloud is exclusively allocated for a defined group of users
which may belong to different companies. The public cloud
is a modelwhich provides services to the generalpublic.
The lastservice modelmentioned by Melland Grance is
the hybrid cloud. It is a combination of two or more of the
other models which work independently from each other
but are connected to enable data and application portability
(Mell and Grance 2011).
From the perspective ofapplied literature some addi-
tionalaspects should be considered.In the course of the
research these were clustered into four distinct categories:
financial,organizational,resourcebased,and ecologic
characteristics.
Financialcharacteristics The adoption of Cloud Com-
puting can help to reduce huge initial capital expenditures
(CAPEX) which are often quite hazardous due to lack of
demandforecast(Creeger2009). Cloud Computing
transforms those to operationalexpenditures (OPEX)by
introduction of the pay-as-you-go paymentmodel.In this
model,customersbenefitfrom demand oriented service
charges and reduced risk of expensive oversizing and too
narrow resourcepurchasing(Armbrustet al. 2010).
Another aspectmentioned is the assumption thatservices
meeting needs of a company are already available on the
market or are going to evolve over time. This allows them
to change the procurement strategy and adopt a philosop
of ‘‘buy first,build second’’(Creeger2009).Thus,the
following characteristicsshould be considered within a
‘‘Big Picture’’ of Cloud Computing:
• Procurement strategy (buy first, build second) (Creeger
2009)
• Transformation of capital to OPEX (Creeger 2009)
• Payment model (pay-as-you-go) (Armbrust et al. 2010)
Organizationalcharacteristics Depending on the com-
pany that adopts Cloud Computing, the implementation of
a Cloud Computing solution leads to radical changes of the
process structure.IT departments have a greatdemand to
managethis fundamentalchange.They are no longer
responsible foroperation and maintenance ofIT infra-
structure and its components only,butrather for organi-
zationaltaskslike the selection ofCSPs, service level
agreements and integration of cloud solutions and corpo-
rate systems (Pro¨hl et al. 2012;Repschla¨ger etal. 2010).
Cloud Computing may also work as a catalystfor inno-
vationsall acrossthe organization (Brynjolfsson etal.
2010).The following organizationalcharacteristics were
consequentlyregardedas useful to describeCloud
Computing:
• Manage the change of processes and reorientation of
the IT organization (Pro¨hl et al. 2012;Repschla¨ger
et al.2010).
• Catalyst for innovation (Brynjolfsson et al.2010)
Resource based characteristics IT systems in companies
are often oversized because peak demands occur sporadi-
cally.But most of the time the demand is rather low.The
average serverutilization liesbetween five and twenty
percent(Armbrustet al. 2010).The concentration ofIT
capacity in data centers of the CSPs enables optimization
of resource utilization and economies of scale (Cusumano
2010;Repschla¨ger etal. 2010).For this reasons the fol-
lowing characteristic has to be added too:
• Optimized resource utilization (Armbrustet al. 2010;
Cusumano 2010; Repschla¨ger et al.2010)
Ecological characteristics Another aspect considered as
relevant within the literature is based on the contribution
energyefficientdata centers.Great potentialsavings
through reduced energy consumption motivate CSPsto
Table 3 Overview of research topics
Focus Applied
literature
Basic
literature
Total
Definitions 5 (42 %) 7 (78 %) 12 (57 %)
NIST oriented 4 (33 %) 5 (56 %) 9 (43 %)
Success factors 2 (17 %) 1 (11 %) 3 (14 %)
Potentials and challenges6 (50 %) 4 (44 %) 10 (48 %)
Requirements 3 (25 %) 0 (0 %) 3 (14 %)
Consequences 3 (25 %) 4 (44 %) 7 (33 %)
Risks 1 (8 %) 1 (11 %) 2 (10 %)
Decision guidance 0 (0 %) 4 (44 %) 4 (19 %)
Business models 3 (25 %) 0 (0 %) 3 (14 %)
Provider topics 1 (8 %) 0 (0 %) 1 (5 %)
Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2014) 15(1):59–68 63
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focus on energy saving technologies (Katz 2009).This is
why the following characteristic was added to the list:
• Energy efficiency (Katz 2009)
Within the second category some furtheraspects that
describeCloud Computingwere identified.Theseare
summarized in the following.
Financial Characteristics The payment or pricing model
also appears within the academic literature. Son et al. (2011)
describe some resource based characteristics including the
payment model (pay-per-use,or subscription fee).Hoberg
et al. (2012) also define the pricing model as a characteristic
and distinguish between pay per use and fixed fees.
Service models Besides the three commonly used ser-
vice models (SaaS,IaaS,PaaS),academic literature pro-
videsfurtherapproachesto structure Cloud Computing
service models.Linthicum (2009) already defined a clas-
sification of ten different service models 3 years before the
NIST. Comparing these two models makes a certain sim-
ilarity evident whereat Linthicum is more detailed than the
NIST. Another approach was developed by Kaisler etal.
(2012).Their five-layer model is rather similar to the ser-
vice model view of Linthicum and NIST as well.In sum-
mary, the following service models (also called
‘‘everything as a service’’ or XaaS) extend the NIST view
on Cloud Computing:
• Storage as a service (storage in the cloud which can be
mapped locally) (Linthicum 2009)
• Database as a service (hosted database for shared use
(Linthicum 2009)
• Informationas a service(accessto all kind of
informationthroughdefinedinterfaces)(Linthicum
2009)
• Processas a service (remote-access to resourcesfor
generating business processes) (Linthicum 2009)
Table 4 Characteristics in Cloud Computing definitions
Financial characteristics Procurement strategy (Creeger 2009)
Payment model (Armbrust et al.2010; Son et al.2011; Hoberg et al.2012)
CAPEX to OPEX (Creeger 2009)
Organizational CharacteristicsManage change of processes (Pro¨hl et al.2012; Repschla¨ger et al.2010).
Innovation catalyst (Brynjolfsson et al.2010)
On-demand self-service (Mell and Grance 2011; Creeger 2009; Hoberg et al.2012)
Broad network access (Mell and Grance 2011; Hoberg et al.2012)
Rapid elasticity (Mell and Grance 2011; Hoberg et al.2012)
Measured service (Mell and Grance 2011; Hoberg et al.2012)
Additional design principles (Hoberg et al.2012)
Market structure (Hoberg et al.2012)
Resource based
characteristics
Resource pooling (Mell and Grance 2011; Hoberg et al.2012)
Resource design (Son et al.2011)
Resource delivery (Son et al.2011)
Optimized resource utilization (Son et al. 2011; Armbrust et al. 2010; Cusumano 2010; Repschla¨ger et al. 2010)
Ecological characteristics Energy efficiency (Katz 2009)
Service models (XaaS) Software/application (Mell and Grance 2011; Linthicum 2009; Kaisler et al.2012; Hoberg et al.2012)
Platform (Mell and Grance 2011; Linthicum 2009; Kaisler et al.2012; Hoberg et al.2012)
Infrastructure (Mell and Grance2011; Kaisler et al.2012; Hoberg et al.2012)
Storage (Linthicum 2009)
Database (Linthicum 2009)
Information (Linthicum 2009)
Process (Linthicum 2009)
Integration (Linthicum 2009)
Security (Linthicum 2009)
Management/Governance (Linthicum 2009)
Testing (Linthicum 2009)
Deployment models Private cloud (Mell and Grance 2011; Hoberg et al.2012)
Community cloud (Mell and Grance 2011; Hoberg et al.2012)
Public cloud (Mell and Grance 2011; Hoberg et al.2012)
Hybrid cloud (Mell and Grance 2011; Hoberg et al.2012)
64 Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2014) 15(1):59–68
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• Integration as a service (includes the main features of
EAI) (Linthicum 2009)
• Security asa service(rudimentalsecurity services,
identity management) (Linthicum 2009)
• Management/Governance as a service (management of
several cloud services) (Linthicum 2009)
• Testing as a service (provision of a testenvironment)
(Linthicum 2009)
OrganizationalCharacteristicsAnother definition
including factorsrelevantfrom theorganizationalper-
spective is provided by Hoberg et al. (2012). They subsume
several factors they term as design principles.These con-
tain the five characteristics from the NIST definition and
the characteristicsvirtualization,serviceand interface
description,limited customizability,and security and pri-
vacy.Hoberg et al.also identify market structure as rele-
vant which includesdecentralizedmarket,provider,
customer and integrator.Therefore we add:
• Additional design principles (Hoberg et al.2012)
• Market structure (Hoberg et al.2012)
Resource based Characteristics Son etal. (Son etal.
2011)describe the following additionalresource based
characteristics which have not yet been mentioned:
• Resource design (service oriented,definition ofstan-
dardized offers) (Son et al.2011)
• Resource delivery (over the internet,high availability
for multiple users) (Son et al.2011)
• Resource usage (flexible use of share service,comput-
ing utility,elasticity,scalability) (Son et al.2011)
Summing up the definitions from applied and basic lit-
erature,Cloud Computing includes six main categories as
shown in Table 4:financialcharacteristics,organizational
characteristics,resource based characteristics,ecological
characteristics,service models,and deployment models.
Potentials and Challenges
Armbrustet al. (2010)identify ten obstaclesfor Cloud
Computing, each of them indicating a potential opportunit
(see Table 5).
Iyer and Henderson (2010) also identify severalpoten-
tials to detailCloud Computing:controlled interfaces,
location independence, sourcing independence, ubiquitou
access,virtualbusinessenvironment,addressability and
traceability,and rapid elasticity.
Another potential concerns mobility and collaboration w
are said to be improved by Cloud Computing (Hayes 2008
Repschla¨ger et al. (2010) describe potentials for the two
main actors of a Cloud Computing relationship,the CSP
and the recipient of the service. Potentials for the CSP aris
from cost advantages through efficient resource utilization
and economiesof scale through large capacities.They
achieve customer restraints by building up lock-in effects.
Recipients benefit in two ways: cost savings and enhanced
flexibility.The mayor challenges are reliability and trust-
worthiness as well as IT security and compliance issues.
Marston et al.(2011) also mention the cost advantages
as a potentialbenefitof Cloud Computing.They also
includethe immediateaccessto the serviceswithout
upfrontcapitalinvestmentsas a potentialbenefit.This
leads to a faster time to market, scalability of services and
enabling of new classes of applications.
Success Factors
Three articles dealwith the topic of success factors.Gar-
rison etal. (2012) specify three main insights concerning
success factors for deploymentof Cloud Computing.The
author states that a trusted relationship between a CSP an
the customers is criticalfor deploymentand achievement
of mutual benefits. The second insight is that organization
Table 5 Obstacles and
opportunities (Armbrust et al.
2010)
Obstacle Opportunity
Availability/business continuity Use multiple CSP
Data Lock-In Standardize APIs; compatible SW to enable
surge or hybrid Cloud Computing
Data confidentiality and auditabilityDeploy encryption,VLANs, firewalls
Data transfer bottlenecks FedExing disks; higher BW switches
Performance unpredictability Improved VM support; flash memory; gang schedule VMs
Scalable storage Invent scalable store
Bugs in large distributed systems Invent debugger that relies on distributed VMs
Scaling quickly Invent auto-scaler that relies on ML; snapshot for conservation
Reputation fate sharing Offer reputation-guarding services like those for email
Software licensing pay-for-use licenses
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having successfully adopted Cloud Computing gain com-
petitive advantage by enabling a concentration on their
core competencies.Finally Garrison concludes that Cloud
Computing leads to greater economies of scale in the field
of IT.
Creeger(2009)discusseschangesof philosophyas
important factors of a successful adoption of Cloud Com-
puting. ‘‘Buy first, build second’’ leads to the consumption
of services provided by externalorganizations instead of
operating an own infrastructure. Furthermore he underlines
the importance offamiliarize the employees responsible
with the IT.They mightbe hindering the change process
due to fear of losing their employment. The reasons for the
deploymentof Cloud Computingsolutionsshouldbe
explained to the decision makers as wellas to the users.
Any person involved should learn how to benefit from the
cloud solution.
Iyer and Henderson (2010) identify seven potentials of
Cloud Computing (cf.previous section).The implementa-
tion of each of them needs expenses.By analyzing these
costsand the intended value ofthe adoption ofCloud
Computing organizations can decide if itis beneficialto
them to adopt.
Requirements
Requirements are needed before the process of adoption of
certain cloud servicesis initiated.Walterbusch and Te-
uteberg(2012)emphasizeon the importanceof trust
between CSP and recipient as an essential requirement for
the adoption of Cloud Computing.Therefore they recom-
mend bridging the asymmetry of the levelof information
between the two parties.
As Creeger notes,organizations need additional exper-
tise to handle Cloud Computing. They no longer need pure
technicians butadministrators thatcan handle the whole
environment around the relationship between the CSP and
their organization (Creeger 2009).
Consequences
By reviewing literature,Hoberg etal. (2012)revealsix
aspectshavingbusinessimpacts.Theseare increased
scalability,reductionof IT infrastructurecomplexity,
increased agility,costreduction and improved alignment
of business and IT.
Pro¨hl et al. (2012) highlightthe factthatCloud Com-
puting may causefundamentalchangesconcerning IT
service management. It might lead to complete outsourcing
of the responsibility for ITSM.
Cusumano (2010)pointsout thatthere are negative
consequences for traditionalsoftware productcompanies
and users as well. They will have to shift to cloud services
to keep in touch with the market.
Risks
Fogarty (2009) mentions severalrisks of Cloud Comput-
ing.MostCSPs are notcompatible with each other.For
example using data stored at one CSP with an application
from anotherCSP mightbe problematic.Privacy is not
controlled by the owner of the data which causes discom-
fort.Concerning the service levels the capabilities of cus-
tomizationare quite limited comparedwith the
opportunities in an in-house data center.Finally he men-
tions the problem of interoperability of highly customized
internal applications with the cloud infrastructure.
AlZain et al. (2011) mainly address privacy and security
risks that affect single clouds,namely data integrity,data
intrusion, and service availability. To overcome these risks
they propose to migrate to a multi-cloud orintercloud
environment.
Decision Guidance
Kaisler et al. (2012) develop a decision framework to assis
managersin determining which cloud solution matches
their specific requirements.They describe three architec-
turalcategories,each of them require five decisions:Ser-
vice architecture containsdecisionsconcerning privacy,
economics,standards,managementand evolution.System
architectureincludes performance/reliability,virtual
machines,distributed virtualstorage,distributed virtual
machines,and security.Finally,application architecture
contains partitioning, scaling, integration, development kit
and support.
Business Models
Brynjolfsson et al. (2010) compare Cloud Computing with
the utility modelof electricity.The authors conclude that
Cloud Computing cannot be considered as a utility model.
As with electricity the technology still has to mature.It is
not just the replacement of an old technology with a new
one. Instead, it has impact on all surroundings. This is why
complete industries will become reshaped.
Repschla¨ger et al. (2010)have chosena different
approach concerning the business models. They derive the
business models directly from the service models. So they
describe three business models, namely SaaS, PaaS and Ia
Provider Topics
Katz (2009) deals with provider topics in his article.He
mentions relevant influencing factors for CSPs concerning
66 Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2014) 15(1):59–68
123

the selection of the location to establish a data center to
host Cloud Computingsolutionslike affordableland,
availablefiber optic connectivity,abundantwaterfor
cooling,and cheap electricity.Furthermore he mentions
the influence ofenergy efficiency,zero emission,and a
minimized environmental impact.
Conclusion
As the review of existing literature revealed, both scientific
communities are discussing the topic of Cloud Computing
and the related subjects intensely.Articles dealwith the
topic of definitions whereat a lot of them refer to the NIST
definition.But also some papers intend to investigate into
additionalperspectives of definitions.The field of poten-
tials and challenges is also already largely covered by both
groups. The topics of success factors and requirements still
have gaps especially within the academic literature which
should be bridged by future research. The review could not
identify a paper in the field of decision guidance within the
category ‘‘applied literature’’. The same applies to business
modelsfrom the academic perspective.Providertopics
should also be addressed by future research as the coverage
is quite low so far for both groups.
The implication ofthis literaturereview on Cloud
Computing isthatthere are stillgapsthatneed to be
investigated in more detail. Results showed that the widely
recognized NIST definition provides a solid basis for the
generalunderstanding of cloud computing butis still not
sufficient in parts identified by this review.
Research questions for future studies may include novel
and additional approaches to define critical success factors
and requirements for dissemination and adoption of Cloud
Computing.The requirements could be discussed together
with decision guidance forthe process ofadoption.The
computation conceptbased on servicemodelsenables
novelbusiness models which also should be subjectfor
investigation. As Cloud Computing still has to cope with a
growing group ofopponentsanotherresearch direction
mightcoverthe field of providertopicsto help them
establish a trustful image.
The core of every scientific discipline is its own con-
sistent and recognized terminology (Thomas 2005). This is
why certain emphasis was given to different definitions of
Cloud Computing.But the paper did notintend to exten-
sively examine the literature concerning Cloud Computing,
as for example Yang and Tate (2012) did by analyzing 205
papers including technologicalapplications and domains.
Instead,it focused on the identification of main concepts
and characteristics in the field of Cloud Computing.Nev-
ertheless,the majordrawback isthe amountof papers
analyzed in this review.But the authors believe thatthe
focus on definitions and characteristics of the term justifie
the research by providing insights into relevantliterature
from a broad view.
The conducted review considered basicand applied
research literature to broaden the perspective.By doing
this, gaps in research were identified concerning this topic
These gaps were provided to encourage further research.
With it, it helps to establish an integrated understanding o
the abstract concept and it contributes to the formation of
consistent terminology of Cloud Computing.
AcknowledgmentsParts of this work emerged from the research
project OptiCloud.This project is funded by the European Regional
Development fund (EFRE, Regio 13) as well as by the Federal State
of Upper Austria.
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Key Questions
1. What is the current status of research concerning Cloud
Computing?
2. What are the core concepts and characteristics of Cloud
Computing used within literature?
3. What are the topics that need to be addressed by further
research?
Mark Stieninger is working as a researcher at the
University of Applied SciencesUpper Austria
since 2013. After several professional positions in
AccountManagementand IT Administration he
earned hisBachelor’sand Master’sdegreein
Electronic Businessand DigitalBusinessMan-
agementat the Upper Austria Universityof
Applied Sciences and Johannes Kepler University
Linz in 2013. His research areas are Cloud Computing and Green IT/
IS.
Dietmar Nedbal is a researcher and lecturer at the
University of Applied SciencesUpper Austria
since 2008.He earned a Master’s degree in Busi-
nessInformaticsat JohannesKepler University
Linz in 2000 and was CIO at RIS Software GmbH
until 2008.He finalized his PhD in the field of
B2B Integration and Enterprise2.0 in autumn
2013. Dietmar is co-author of over 30 publications
at internationaljournalsand conferenceproceedings.His main
research areas are Enterprise 2.0,B2B Integration,Green IT/IS,and
Cloud Computing.
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