The Perceived Business Benefit of Cloud Computing: An Exploratory Study

The objective of the research is to study the benefits of cloud computing perceived by adopters and examine the impact of moderating factors on the relationship between the type of cloud computing and the perceived benefit. The moderating factors include firm size and value-chain activities. A measurement instrument of a 5-point Likert scale was administered on businesses of different sizes in Taiwan. The benefit of cloud computing measured in the study were: cost reduction, improved capability and enhanced scalability. The results show that the perceived benefit of cloud computing varies depending on the type of cloud computing, the value chain activity where cloud computing is deployed, and the business size. Also, businesses benefit more in enhanced scalability than in cost reduction and increased business capability. After adopting cloud computing, businesses gain more capability in support activities than in primary activities. However, there is no significant difference in composite benefit among Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Furthermore, there is marginally significant interaction effect between the types of cloud computing and the business size.