Effective Cloud Resource Utilisation in Cloud ERP Decision-Making Process for Industry 4.0 in the United States

Marlene Marinho,Lalit Garg,Seema Bawa,Claudio Savaglio,Vijay Prakash

doi:10.3390/electronics10080959

Abstract

Cloud enterprise resource planning (C-ERP) represents an evolution of traditional ERP, which also offers the advantages of cloud computing (CC) such as ease of use and resource elasticity. This article presents the opportunities and challenges of the C-ERP adoption for industry 4.0 in the United States as well as the factors that boost or hinder such a decision. The quantitative research method is used to gather the predictor factors and correlation amongst them. An online survey questionnaire received 109 responses, mainly decision-makers and professionals from the US consumer goods industry. Statistical analysis has been carried out to rank the different levels of influence in the C-ERP adoption decision. The predictor’s complexity and regulatory compliance positively influence C-ERP private service deployment, whereas technology readiness is a good predictor of community service deployment. This paper also proposes a decision support system (DSS), tailored to industry 4.0, and aimed at assisting decision-makers in adopting C-ERP as an effective resource for decision-making. The DSS is built upon the predictors using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and it supports decision-makers in the selection of services and deployment models for C-ERP as a resource.

Highlights

This study aims to understand the factors that influence companies in the decision to migrate enterprise resource planning (ERP) as a resource to the cloud and design a decision support system (DSS) to assist the decision-making process
The research is contextualized in the United States, and it aims to identify the cloud services and models adopted within the consumer goods industry for the ERP
This study focuses on the consumer goods industry and investigates the factors fostering the cloud ERP (C-ERP) adoption, by starting from a depth analysis of cloud computing (CC)

Summary

Introduction

This study aims to understand the factors that influence companies in the decision to migrate enterprise resource planning (ERP) as a resource to the cloud and design a decision support system (DSS) to assist the decision-making process. The research is contextualized in the United States, and it aims to identify the cloud services and models adopted within the consumer goods industry for the ERP. One of the first essential steps in the decision-making process is understanding the factors that influence the adoption of C-ERP. Cloud computing is a topic that is being researched within the academic and nonacademic literature regarding adoption factors. There is a gap in the literature related to the type of industry to adopt C-ERP, as companies from different sizes perceive opportunities and concerns differently [1,2,17]. Relevant factors reside in size, business criticality and organisational relevance [18,19,20,21]

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Conclusion