Changes in the Business Models of Manufacturing Companies in the SME Sector After the Implementation of Cloud Computing Solutions

Abstract

Since the middle of the twentieth century, phenomena suggesting the entry of civilization into the post-industrial era have been observed in all areas of economic, social, and technical life. The methods of production, communication, trade, education, or employment are being transformed. This chapter considers the issues of how the implementation of information technology (IT) software in the cloud computing model affects business models of manufacturing enterprises in the SME sector. The applied methodology covered a literature review, desk research, and quantitative survey methods. The chapter reviews the literature on business model design and shows the role of cloud computing solutions in new ecosystems and smart services platforms. The main part of the chapter is devoted to the analysis of the data gathered with the use of the computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) technique in the course of the research conducted among 277 small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Poland in the first quarter of 2018. The analysis of the obtained research results shows that nearly 30% of the surveyed enterprises claimed to have noted some changes in their organizations’ business model or operational activity after the introduction of IT applications available in the cloud computing model.