Characteristics of Cloud Computing in the Business Context: A Systematic Literature Review
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O RI G I N A L A R T I C L E
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
Ó Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management 2014
Abstract Cloud Computing services have become more
cost effective and technically flexible than traditional
solutions. Therefore they are gaining more and more
attention among organizations. But there is still disagree-
ment about the exact meaning of Cloud Computing. This
paper evaluates the current status concerning the con-
ceptualization of Cloud Computing research by reviewing
and classifying existing scientific literature. A compre-
hensive analysis of the Cloud Computing literature is
drawn by identifying and discussing core concepts and
characteristics within that literature. The paper concludes
with possible further research areas in the field of Cloud
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 et al.
2012). Due to the availability of complex 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 organi-
zations (Opitz et al. 2012). Supporting all kinds of different
service scenarios, the dynamic purchase and procurement of
resources in the cloud has become much more cost effective
and technically flexible than traditional solutions (Weinhardt
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 attitude of
decision-makers towards Cloud 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 opponents
grew from 38 to 44 percent from 2011 (sample size n = 411)
to 2012 (sample size n = 436) as well (KPMG 2013) As a
consequence of this the only shrinking group is the group of
waverers.
One possible reason for these different attitudes and
polarizing opinions is the disagreement about the exact
meaning of Cloud Computing among basic and applied
researchers. Due to the rapid development of information
technology in general, this often conflicts with the forma-
tion of a solid, systematic and consistent concept (Thomas
2005). This especially applies to Cloud Computing,
because it is developing at a very fast pace.
Another aspect is the complexity of innovative tech-
nologies and services. Viewing Cloud Computing from a
technical perspective may be too narrow to comprehen-
sively analyze such a complex innovation. Instead, com-
plexity can originate from many other sources than the
service system itself (Benedettini and Neely 2012). In IS
research, such systems are considered as socio-technical
systems involving technological components as well as
people and the organizational environment interacting with
M. Stieninger D. Nedbal (&)
Digital Business, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria,
Wehrgrabengasse 1-3, 4400 Steyr, Austria
e-mail: dietmar.nedbal@fh-steyr.at
URL: www.fh-ooe.at
M. Stieninger
e-mail: mark.stieninger@fh-steyr.at
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
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
Ó Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management 2014
Abstract Cloud Computing services have become more
cost effective and technically flexible than traditional
solutions. Therefore they are gaining more and more
attention among organizations. But there is still disagree-
ment about the exact meaning of Cloud Computing. This
paper evaluates the current status concerning the con-
ceptualization of Cloud Computing research by reviewing
and classifying existing scientific literature. A compre-
hensive analysis of the Cloud Computing literature is
drawn by identifying and discussing core concepts and
characteristics within that literature. The paper concludes
with possible further research areas in the field of Cloud
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 et al.
2012). Due to the availability of complex 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 organi-
zations (Opitz et al. 2012). Supporting all kinds of different
service scenarios, the dynamic purchase and procurement of
resources in the cloud has become much more cost effective
and technically flexible than traditional solutions (Weinhardt
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 attitude of
decision-makers towards Cloud 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 opponents
grew from 38 to 44 percent from 2011 (sample size n = 411)
to 2012 (sample size n = 436) as well (KPMG 2013) As a
consequence of this the only shrinking group is the group of
waverers.
One possible reason for these different attitudes and
polarizing opinions is the disagreement about the exact
meaning of Cloud Computing among basic and applied
researchers. Due to the rapid development of information
technology in general, this often conflicts with the forma-
tion of a solid, systematic and consistent concept (Thomas
2005). This especially applies to Cloud Computing,
because it is developing at a very fast pace.
Another aspect is the complexity of innovative tech-
nologies and services. Viewing Cloud Computing from a
technical perspective may be too narrow to comprehen-
sively analyze such a complex innovation. Instead, com-
plexity can originate from many other sources than the
service system itself (Benedettini and Neely 2012). In IS
research, such systems are considered as socio-technical
systems involving technological components as well as
people and the organizational environment interacting with
M. Stieninger D. Nedbal (&)
Digital Business, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria,
Wehrgrabengasse 1-3, 4400 Steyr, Austria
e-mail: dietmar.nedbal@fh-steyr.at
URL: www.fh-ooe.at
M. Stieninger
e-mail: mark.stieninger@fh-steyr.at
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; Orlikowski 1992; Belfo
2012). We follow this research discipline and see Cloud
Computing as a concept involving engineering as well as
various management aspects. Thus, it needs a socio-tech-
nical approach to assess its characteristics from a holistic
view.
The main objective of this paper is to identify the cur-
rent status of the conceptualization of Cloud 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
abstract concept. Furthermore, it is important to identify
the core concepts and components used within literature in
order to address further research by classifying the litera-
ture (Brooks et al. 2010). For example, Yang and Tate
(2012) identified relevant topics such 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 identified benefits and obstacles for
e-government (Tsaravas and Themistocleous 2011).
Despite the existence of literature reviews on this topic,
there is still a lack of reviews with a focus on definitions
and characteristics of the term Cloud Computing.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows.
Section ‘‘Research Methodology’’ outlines the research
methodology. Section ‘‘Concept-Centric Literature Over-
view’’ provides a concept-centric overview of the literature
considered for this research. Section ‘‘Discussion of
Research Topics’’ discusses the findings of the analysis
concerning conceptual topics within the literature. This
followed by an assessment of. Conclusions concerning the
current state of Cloud Computing research and recom-
mendations for the need of further research are drawn in
‘‘Conclusion’’ section.
Research Methodology
The systematic review of relevant literature 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 or where there is a lack of research
results (Webster and Watson 2002; Schryen 2010). The
research methodology followed Webster and Watson and
included the following steps: (i) identification of relevant
literature sources; (ii) selection of relevant articles; (iii)
classification of the literature according to concepts; (iv)
discussion of findings and implications for future research.
In the first step relevant literature sources had to be
identified. Because of the timeliness of the topic both
papers in peer reviewed scientific journals and conference
proceedings were considered for the review. Literature was
divided into the two categories basic research and applied
research according to Brooks et al. (Brooks et al. 2010).
From the perspective of the applied research literature the
authors concentrated on peer reviewed practitioner related
journals and professional papers. Relevant papers were
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 literature targeting on basic researchers we
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), Management Information Systems Quarterly
(MISQ), Information Systems Research (ISR), European
Journal of Information Systems (EJIS), the Information
Systems Journal (ISJ), and Management Information Sys-
tems Quarterly Executive (MISQ Exec.) (Brooks et al.
2010). As already stated, we additionally included pro-
ceedings of the widely recognized IS conferences the
International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS),
the Hawaii International Conference on System Science
(HICSS), the Pacific Asia Conference on Information
Systems (PACIS), and the America‘s Conference on
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 first round we searched for articles
containing the keyword ‘‘Cloud Computing’’ within the
title. In this way, 86 papers were identified. After a stepwise
refinement towards papers that aim at providing a general
understanding of different conceptual areas a total of 21
were considered as relevant for this review. The review does
not include papers that focus on a certain application
domain, or a specific technical asset of it.
A structured approach of literature reviews implies to
synthesize the source material according to concepts
(Webster and Watson 2002). In the course of this review
nine essential concepts were 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 of the 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 second
60 Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2014) 15(1):59–68
123
2012). We follow this research discipline and see Cloud
Computing as a concept involving engineering as well as
various management aspects. Thus, it needs a socio-tech-
nical approach to assess its characteristics from a holistic
view.
The main objective of this paper is to identify the cur-
rent status of the conceptualization of Cloud 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
abstract concept. Furthermore, it is important to identify
the core concepts and components used within literature in
order to address further research by classifying the litera-
ture (Brooks et al. 2010). For example, Yang and Tate
(2012) identified relevant topics such 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 identified benefits and obstacles for
e-government (Tsaravas and Themistocleous 2011).
Despite the existence of literature reviews on this topic,
there is still a lack of reviews with a focus on definitions
and characteristics of the term Cloud Computing.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows.
Section ‘‘Research Methodology’’ outlines the research
methodology. Section ‘‘Concept-Centric Literature Over-
view’’ provides a concept-centric overview of the literature
considered for this research. Section ‘‘Discussion of
Research Topics’’ discusses the findings of the analysis
concerning conceptual topics within the literature. This
followed by an assessment of. Conclusions concerning the
current state of Cloud Computing research and recom-
mendations for the need of further research are drawn in
‘‘Conclusion’’ section.
Research Methodology
The systematic review of relevant literature 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 or where there is a lack of research
results (Webster and Watson 2002; Schryen 2010). The
research methodology followed Webster and Watson and
included the following steps: (i) identification of relevant
literature sources; (ii) selection of relevant articles; (iii)
classification of the literature according to concepts; (iv)
discussion of findings and implications for future research.
In the first step relevant literature sources had to be
identified. Because of the timeliness of the topic both
papers in peer reviewed scientific journals and conference
proceedings were considered for the review. Literature was
divided into the two categories basic research and applied
research according to Brooks et al. (Brooks et al. 2010).
From the perspective of the applied research literature the
authors concentrated on peer reviewed practitioner related
journals and professional papers. Relevant papers were
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 literature targeting on basic researchers we
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), Management Information Systems Quarterly
(MISQ), Information Systems Research (ISR), European
Journal of Information Systems (EJIS), the Information
Systems Journal (ISJ), and Management Information Sys-
tems Quarterly Executive (MISQ Exec.) (Brooks et al.
2010). As already stated, we additionally included pro-
ceedings of the widely recognized IS conferences the
International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS),
the Hawaii International Conference on System Science
(HICSS), the Pacific Asia Conference on Information
Systems (PACIS), and the America‘s Conference on
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 first round we searched for articles
containing the keyword ‘‘Cloud Computing’’ within the
title. In this way, 86 papers were identified. After a stepwise
refinement towards papers that aim at providing a general
understanding of different conceptual areas a total of 21
were considered as relevant for this review. The review does
not include papers that focus on a certain application
domain, or a specific technical asset of it.
A structured approach of literature reviews implies to
synthesize the source material according to concepts
(Webster and Watson 2002). In the course of this review
nine essential concepts were 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 of the 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 second
60 Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2014) 15(1):59–68
123
table covers nine papers for the academic community
(‘‘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, business models, 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 special attention was given to
explicit definitions of the term Cloud Computing within the
papers. As the NIST definition of Cloud Computing (Mell
and Grance 2011) turned out to be the most widely used
definition, this is subject to further investigation. The NIST
definition is used both as working definition and as starting
point for providing extensions within the literature. The
sources which are oriented towards the NIST definition are
marked separately (column ‘‘NIST oriented’’). Besides this
predominant definition there are several different approa-
ches to define Cloud Computing (Armbrust et al. 2010;
Creeger 2009; Fogarty 2009; Repschla ̈ger et al. 2010;
Linthicum 2009; Leimeister et al. 2010; Son et al. 2011)
which were regarded as relevant and thus included within
this investigation (Table 2).
Potentials and challenges The adoption of Cloud
Computing entails both potentials and challenges. It is
crucial to be aware of these in advance to gain benefit in
the long term (Armbrust et 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).
Success factors Successful adoption of technological
innovations like Cloud Computing depends on 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 relevant success factors to establish a willing-
ness to adopt such solutions (Garrison et al. 2012; Creeger
2009; Iyer and Henderson 2010).
Requirements For a successful adoption and imple-
mentation of Cloud Computing solutions it is inevitable to
meet the requirements from the beginning. Therefore,
requirements have to be identified and prioritized (Creeger
2009; Garrison et al. 2012; Walterbusch and Teuteberg
2012).
Consequences The adoption of Cloud Computing solu-
tions causes multiple changes in different areas of com-
panies. These consequences of 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
Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2014) 15(1):59–68 61
123
(‘‘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, business models, 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 special attention was given to
explicit definitions of the term Cloud Computing within the
papers. As the NIST definition of Cloud Computing (Mell
and Grance 2011) turned out to be the most widely used
definition, this is subject to further investigation. The NIST
definition is used both as working definition and as starting
point for providing extensions within the literature. The
sources which are oriented towards the NIST definition are
marked separately (column ‘‘NIST oriented’’). Besides this
predominant definition there are several different approa-
ches to define Cloud Computing (Armbrust et al. 2010;
Creeger 2009; Fogarty 2009; Repschla ̈ger et al. 2010;
Linthicum 2009; Leimeister et al. 2010; Son et al. 2011)
which were regarded as relevant and thus included within
this investigation (Table 2).
Potentials and challenges The adoption of Cloud
Computing entails both potentials and challenges. It is
crucial to be aware of these in advance to gain benefit in
the long term (Armbrust et 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).
Success factors Successful adoption of technological
innovations like Cloud Computing depends on 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 relevant success factors to establish a willing-
ness to adopt such solutions (Garrison et al. 2012; Creeger
2009; Iyer and Henderson 2010).
Requirements For a successful adoption and imple-
mentation of Cloud Computing solutions it is inevitable to
meet the requirements from the beginning. Therefore,
requirements have to be identified and prioritized (Creeger
2009; Garrison et al. 2012; Walterbusch and Teuteberg
2012).
Consequences The adoption of Cloud Computing solu-
tions causes multiple changes in different areas of com-
panies. These consequences of 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
Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2014) 15(1):59–68 61
123
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