Cloud ERP systems architectural challenges on cloud adoption in large international organizations: A sociomaterial perspective

Abstract

This combined literature review and case employs a sociomaterial perspective to explore architectural challenges and countermeasures that BioOrganism, the case company, should consider in a decision to adopt a cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The case has experiences with an on-premises model, but not the cloud model per se. The study is designed with an element of case to provide a solid backdrop toward the sociomaterial perspective, which focuses on a reciprocal enactment between the cloud ERP systems architecture and the BioOrganism contextual surrounding. Six architecture challenges were identified: (1) data security, (2) data privacy, (3) network dependency, (4) system mobility, (5) vendor lock-in, and (6) scalability. Countermeasures that BioOrganism, and other large international organizations of similar nature, can take to mitigate risks from the six challenges are presented in the review.