The flight to the Cloud: a phenomenon of multiple maturation

Abstract

Cloud Computing is more and more described as the new paradigm of modern comput-ing. In this article, our goal is to understand the mechanisms that lead to the decision toimplement a cloud computing solution in organizations. This research adopts a qualitativemethodology, based on the analysis of open and semi-structured interviews with people di-rectly involved in the decision process of Cloud Computing implementation. Various tradesand sectors are represented, amongst others we interviewed people working in consultingfirms, software publishing companies and inside IT management departments of severalbusinesses (which vary in size). This paper has several main contributions. First, the corecategory that emerged is the concept of multiple maturations. This multiple-maturationconcept is seen as a process leading (or not) to an implementation decision. Second, thismaturation process emerged at four different levels, as is evidenced by the identification offour different types of maturity: the organizational maturity, the security maturity, the ma-turity of the cloud solution, and the maturity of the legal environment. Third, our data alsosuggests that the decision to implement Cloud Computing at the organizational level is re-lated to a broader pressure of the competitive environment and a pressure from usersthrough the consumerization phenomenon. These contributions enrich the existing litera-ture by emphasizing the fact that maturations are multiple and have their own configura-tions.