A Method for Selecting a Suitable Cloud Computing Deployment Strategy.

Cloud computing has opened the door to large-scale computing through the virtualization of physical resources. The advent of the cloud computing era has been a key catalyst for the migration of many applications from traditional on-premises servers to the cloud. The ability to dynamically allocate and use new virtualized resources has freed cloud users from the burden of managing physical infrastructure, since the cloud provider is responsible for the maintenance and all associated administrative tasks. This research work aims to provide organizations with a process that allows them to select the most suitable cloud deployment strategy according to their specific business and IT needs. To do so, this paper proposes a four-step method that identifies the most appropriate deployment strategy using the fundamental concepts of cloud computing including virtualization, cloud deployment models and the main cloud computing services, namely Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The proposed method is intended to be a usable and practical tool to support users in their decision-making process. The method was tested via a case study within an organization specializing in Business To Business (B2B) marketing and findings show its conceptual soundness.