Cloud computing adoption: Strategies for Sub-Saharan Africa SMEs for enhancing competitiveness

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to design and implement strategies for adopting new technologies as a competitive tool for maintaining their competitive advantage and cloud computing is at its peak. Since its emergence, there has been a surge in the adoption of cloud computing with research into its adoption primarily concentrated on bigger firms. However, a major characteristic of cloud computing is the anticipated possibilities it holds for SMEs. This paper primarily explores cloud computing adoption strategies for SMEs operating in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using a mixed method approach, a sample of 261 respondents and 11 SMEs was respectively used for the quantitative and qualitative stages of the research. The results reveal that, even though SMEs have their unique expectations for adopting cloud computing, they were of the consensus that elements of an adoption strategy should include adoption goals, a roadmap and considerations. The paper makes specific recommendations to SMEs to develop adoption strategies that meet their specific needs if they expect cloud computing to play a stronger role to support more strategic initiatives to grow their businesses and improve customer experience.

Keywords:

• competitive advantage
• competitive tool
• measurable benefits
• small businesses
• strategic initiatives

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Walter Sisulu University.