The factors influencing cloud computing adoption by Maltese credit institutions

Abstract

Cloud computing is transforming the creation, scalability, maintenance and payment mechanism of IS services. This study aimed to identify the factors influencing the adoption of cloud computing by Maltese credit institutions. The research utilised the Technological, Organisational and Environmental (TOE) framework and adopted a semi-structured qualitative approach for the gathering of data from 6 Maltese credit institutions. The factors that were considered to significantly influence the adoption decision were: relative advantage, uncertainty, compatibility, complexity and trialability, firm size, business model, top management, innovativeness and prior IT experience, industry, regulation, supplier effort, external computing support, bandwidth and labour market. On the other hand, competitive pressure was not considered to have a significant influence on the adoption decision. These results are of great value and importance to the research community, credit institutions, regulatory bodies and both CSPs and ISPs. The results can be found useful and beneficial when cloud computing strategies are formed. For CSPs, these findings can help in understanding the drivers of cloud computing adoption by credit institutions. Despite uncertainty and security concerns, most Maltese credit institutions seem eager to adopt cloud computing. Hence why the research sheds light on the importance of trust between the banks and CSPs. This trust can be achieved through the provision of trial periods, and increased transparency from the CSPs.