1 Cloud Computing and governance issuesData, Digital assets and Platforms for innovation The World Conference on Intellectual Capital for Communities UNESCO, July 12&13 Presented by: Sabine Khalil
2 Introduction Cloud defined by NIST “a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction” (Mell and Grance, 2011) New form of IS outsourcing Harnesses virtualization and Internet, flexible and scalable while traditional is manual and more expensive (resources) Falls under the virtualization and servicization trends in IS Raises a broad range of organizational issues
3 Outline Cloud Boosters and InhibitorsIT Governance and Business Transformation Research Design Exhaustive Literature Review Twenty interviews with professionals Results Governance issues Discussion and Conclusion
4 Cloud Boosters Total cost reduction Agility ScalabilityEconomies of scale (offers of several CSPs) Trading CapEx with OpEx Easy entrance of start-ups Ecological Agility Rapidly and cost efficiently adapting to changes Increases performance and efficiency of organization Scalability Ubitiquitous characteristic Anywhere, Anytime, Anyway
5 Cloud Inhibitors Security, privacy, confidentiality ReversibilityStoring sensitive data and information Loss of data Multi-tenancy Reversibility Contractual Technological (interoperability) Reliability Untrusted providers Congestion
6 IT Governance and Business TransformationLink between cloud, IT governance and business transformation IT governance definition “the organizational capacity exercised by the board, executive management and IT management in formulating and implementing IT strategy” (Van Grembergen, 2004) Vital to have proper and adequate capacities and structures to align business and IT strategy To welcome the cloud, capacities and structures dedicated to it are needed
7 Continued Large 2016 survey (1,061 IT professionals), the lack of resources and expertise was listed as a top problem of the cloud Prasad et al. (2014), Oredo and Njihia (2012), Rajendran (2013), Joha and Janssen (2012), Guo et al. (2010) also agreed on the need of an internal policy specific to the cloud Additional capabilities made to the current organizational structures to satisfy cloud needs (Joha and Janssen, 2012) Cloud strategy, demand and relationship management, data security, IT network, cloud procurement, etc. Prasad et al. (2014) affirmed need the presence of Chief Cloud Officer (CCO), Cloud Management Committee (CCM), Cloud Service Facilitation (CSF), and Cloud Relationship Center (CRC).
8 Research Design Cloud services affect the organizationmanagement (information access, protection, control, etc.) organizational restructuring and governance risks (security, performance, reliability, etc.) Researchers did not tackle the effects on different aspects of IT governance specifically Fifteen interviews with professionals to validate exhaustive literature review
9 Qualitative Research Fifteen interviews with professionals from large organizations in France CIOs, CEOs, IT professionals Semi-structured Banking, Entertainment, Energy, Transportation, etc. Recorded and fully transcribed Analyzed with NViVo
10 Results The thematic coding in NViVo led toImpact on the technical aspect of IT governance Impact on the strategic aspect of IT governance Impact on the Business transformation
11 Impact on the technical aspect of IT governanceSecurity switching from technical to contractual With legacy: check if security is well established (conducting several security tests) With cloud: check if security aspects mentioned in contract with the CSP are clear and answer the organization’s requirements Reversibility and legal issues Shadow IT Je vais commencer par les dernieres remarques puis je vais remonter le courant
12 Impact on the strategic aspect of IT governanceDifferent business departments and IT department contribution to cloud implementation Business-IT strategic alignment (via more discussions and coordination) Switch of the type of services from customization to standardization Change strategy to differentiate from competitors
13 Impact on the Business transformationIT department not only formed of IT professionals but mixed with business-oriented profiles Lack of correct competences and expertise to fit in today’s competitive market Effect on current employees whose jobs might be obsolete
14 Discussion and ConclusionEven with its enormous advantages, cloud still has massive drawbacks Neither the academic nor the professional literature tackled the role cloud solutions play on IT governance in organizations Qualitative approach Effects on technological aspects of IT governance, (security, reversibility, shadow IT) Effects on strategic aspects of IT governance (strategic alignment, synergies, discussion) Effects on business transformation (new competencies and expertise) Limitation: Limited number of interviews
15 Thank you for your attention
16 References P. Mell and T. Grance, (20011). “The NIST definition of cloud computing,” National Institute of Standards and Technology, vol. 53, Available on: K. Weins, “Cloud Computing trends: 2016 state of the cloud survey,” Right Scale, February 9, Available on: Z. Guo, M. Song, and J. Song, “A governance model for cloud computing,” Management and Service Science (MASS), IEEE, pp. 1-6, 2010. A. Joha and M. Janssen, “Transformation to cloud services sourcing: required it governance capabilities,” ICST Transactions on e-Business, vol. 12, 2012. S. Rajendran, “Organizational challenges in cloud adoption and enablers of cloud transition program,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, 2013. A. Prasad, P. Green, and J. Heales, “On governance structures for the cloud computing services and assessing their effectiveness”, International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, vol. 15, pp , 2014. J. O. Oredo and J. Njihia, “Challenges of cloud computing in business: towards new organizational competencies,” International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 5, pp , 2014.