Implementation of G-cloud technology in the public sector of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia : perceived drivers and outcomes

Abstract

This research proposes and empirically tests a novel framework incorporating the employees’ perceived drivers, adoption and outcomes of G-cloud in the Saudi Arabian public sector. In particular, this research identifies factors affecting employees’ perceptions of G-cloud technology, the impact of such perceptions on G-cloud adoption and the subsequent outcomes. A systematic literature scan reveals that there is a paucity of research in this particular area and hardly any previous research has focused on the possible outcomes of G-cloud technology implementation in Saudi Arabia’s public sector setting. Furthermore, no previous study looked at governmental drivers impacting on employees’ perceptions of G-cloud. This study addresses the above lacuna by including an additional governmental construct and an outcome construct in the research framework. This framework has then been tested using multivariate statistical techniques such as correlation and regression analysis. Data for this study have been collected through a structured survey instrument involving employees of a public sector organisation in Saudi Arabia. The results of regression analysis indicate that most perceived drivers have significant and positive impact on employees’ perceptions of G-cloud except for two drivers (i.e. integration with current enterprise systems and compliance policy),which have been shown to insignificantly affect employees’ perceptions of G-cloud. The insignificant outcomes might be attributed to the fact that cloud computing is still going through a testing phase and it has not yet been adopted in Saudi Arabian public sector organisations. Therefore, employees are a bit unsure about the integration of G-cloud into the public sector as well as the compliance issues. Perceptions of G-cloud and its perceived adoption have been found to be related significantly in a positive fashion. Finally, employees’ perceived adoption of G-cloud have wielded a significant and positive impact on all the perceived outcome variables except for two, these being reduced maintenance and enhanced accessibility. The reasons for this insignificant impact of G-cloud adoption concerning the above two issues may result from employees lacking precise knowledge as to what type of cloud computing would be implemented. For example, implementation of private cloud computing would be expensive in terms of managing and maintaining a cloud computing system. These findings have important implications for the implementation of G-cloud in the Saudi Arabian public sector organisations, which are witnessing a trend in acceptance and implementation of advanced technology in its e-government system. These implications include the development of public policy regarding Saudi Arabia’s national IT plan. More specifically, the implementation of G-cloud might result in cost reductions in terms of procuring expensive ICT equipment, improvement of system quality, and increased collaboration between different public organisations. Perceived implementation may have implications for security concerns, intrusions of privacy and increased cyber-crimes. Furthermore, the above findings would inform policy-makers to upgrade the current IT policy of public sector organisations in Saudi Arabia. These findings have strategic implications for effective adoption and implementation of G-cloud in the growing public sector in Saudi Arabia. These implications are highlighted in this thesis.

Date of Award	2018
Original language	English
Supervisor	Ali Quazi (Supervisor), Majharul TALUKDER (Supervisor) & Masoud MOHAMMADIAN (Supervisor)