Trust Factors for the Usage of Cloud Computing in Small and Medium Sized Craft Enterprises

Abstract

Although many benefits of cloud computing exist for SMEs, the development and usage of cloud computing solutions still face various challenges. The decision for applying cloud computing solutions, depend mainly on the length of time an enterprise exists, the degree of specialization, and finally the degree of need for security. Therefore, one of the key obstacles towards the adoption of cloud computing is among technical issues the establishment of trust into the performance, security, data protection and other features of cloud services and their providers. However, trust strongly depends on the target users and their characteristics. Over 16 percent of German SMEs apply cloud computing and realize its potentials. In the research project CLOUDwerker, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic and Technology, software as a service solutions for SMEs in the craft sector are examined and developed. In order to increase the usage of cloud computing at the target group of those SMEs, the paper focus on identifying and comparing the factors which influence trust into cloud computing solutions from the craft-specific view of small and medium sized craft enterprises and craft-specific cloud service providers who both have been addressed and questioned in two separate surveys. The results are considered to improve the development of trusted cloud computing applications which achieve a high user acceptance.