Cloud-based e-Business System for Small and Medium Enterprises: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

The role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is very significant in determining a country's economic growth. SMEs contribution to GDP is very strong. Besides, SMEs also contribute to the employment growth in many countries. With the growing SMEs in a country, it will certainly give a positive influence on the economic development of the country. However, unfortunately many SMEs are struggling to survive and thrive with limited productivity. There are some factors that make SMEs difficult to survive, including problems of social, economic, geographic or culture, or other problems. However, the lack of successful adoption of Information Technologies is one of the factors that need to be considered. SMEs are organizations with lack of expertise, data sources, and managerial maturity. One solution that is seen in accordance with the limitations of SMEs is to use cloud-based e-Business to improve IT adoption. With cloud computing based, the proposed solution is expected not to burden SME, especially in terms of procurement infrastructure and services. The analysis conducted in this study covers three main points, namely 1) Critical Adoption Factors, 2) SME Characteristics,3) e-Business Application Solution. In this study, a preliminary idea towards a cloud-based e-business framework for SMEs is proposed.