ITC/USA 2010 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Sixth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 25-28, 2010 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / The development and analysis cloud is a rapid development system being designed to support the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) Simulation & Technology Assessment Branch. The purpose is to isolate research, development, test, and evaluation of unique software within a Zone D enclave [1] to allow researchers and analysts to develop and test software free of the many IT requirements that hamper development and without risk of contaminating the overall Air Force network. The cloud system is being designed so researchers and analysts will utilize Software as a Service (SaaS) models. Such a model makes it transparent to users such things as where the software originates and any licensing concerns. Utilities, tools, and other enhancing software that users need are published and using them frees the developer to focus on their specific development efforts versus tertiary development modules.

Studien avser att beskriva om och hur faktorernakärnkompetens, osäkerhet, nyttoaspekter och kontroll/flexibilitet påverkat besluten vid inköp av cloud-tjänsten SaaS. Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ studie som är baserad på semistruktuerade intervjuer med nyckelpersoner på två små IT-företag samt vetenskapliga artiklar och litteratur inom ämnesområdet. Studiens slutsats är att de båda företagen påverkats av några eller alla faktorer vid inköpen av cloud-tjänsten. Faktorn nyttoaspekter påverkade båda företagens inköpsbeslut i hög grad. Faktorerna osäkerhet och kontroll/flexibilitet påverkade inte alls inköpsbeslutet hos det ena företaget medan de till stor del påverkade inköpsbeslutet hos det andra företaget. Faktorn kärnverksamhet påverkade det ena företagets inköpsbeslut till en viss del och det andra företaget till en stor del.

Background: The intense growth of data that is continuously expanding has resulted in SMEs using cloud computing to store, process and analyze data. Thus, a critical element is for SMEs to understand the value of cloud computing and the factors influencing the adoption decision.  Problem: Due to the increased use of cloud computing, the importance of examining the factors that can affect and impact SMEs adoption has been highlighted. Cloud computing has been pointed out as a component for SMEs to stay competitive and sustainable in public crises and uncertain environments. Despite the importance among scholars, no research has studied cloud adoption factors among SMEs during 2020 - 2021 and the present of a public crisis. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate and explore SMEs cloud computing adoption factors in the turbulent time of a public crisis. The result of this research is expected to add knowledge and theoretical insights to existing literature and fill the gap within the underexplored context of cloud computing adoption factors during public crisis. Method: In this research, a qualitative research design was applied where six semi-structured interviews with people experienced of the phenomenon under study were conducted and eight customer cases with cloud users were collected from cloud providers' websites. Conclusion: The findings of this research declared ten significantly important factors; complexity, compatibility, relative advantage, cost savings, security, top management support, technology readiness, organizational culture, competition and trading partner pressure and supplier computing support, to influence SMEs cloud computing adoption. Although this research was conducted during the time of a public crisis, no conclusion of the crisis' impact on which factors influencing SMEs cloud computing adoption could be recognized.

An increasing amount of companies and organizations are starting to implement the use of cloud computing in their business. This trend results in that software, which was previously sold and distributed to the customers whom then had to install the software on their own computers, now is being replaced with Software as a Service (SaaS). SaaS makes software available through the customers’ browsers, which results in that the service providers only have to administer a single application. The process to migrate a distributed application to a service delivered as a SaaS lacks sufficient investigation; this paper will provide some guidelines for conducting such a pro- cess. During the work on this paper, a prototype of a service delivered as a SaaS has been devel- oped with the intention to test, among other things, how a distributed relational database can be converted to a key/value pair storage. A conversion of this kind enables data to be stored locally in the customers’ browsers, which relieves some pressure on the server as well as enables the application to be used in offline-mode. The paper results in three guidelines which should be considered when planning to migrate software to a service delivered as a SaaS with a local data- base; Think before you act, Don’t expose your soul and Size matters. These guidelines describe how a migration process should be planned, when an application is not deemed appropriate to migrate and when a conversion of the database is not appropriate. / Allt fler företag och organisationer börjar implementera användandet av olika molntjänster i sin verksamhet. Den här trenden medför att programvaror, som tidigare sålts och distribuerats till kunder vilka sedan själva får installera dem på sina egna datorer, nu börjar ersättas med en Soft- ware as a Service (SaaS). Det innebär att programvaran istället finns tillgänglig på Internet via kundernas webbläsare, något som medför att tjänsteleverantören enbart behöver administrera en enda programvara. Processen att migrera en distribuerad programvara till en SaaS-tjänst saknar ordentlig utredning, det här arbetet syftar därför till att ta fram några vägledande riktlinjer för en sådan process. Under arbetets gång har en prototyp av en SaaS-tjänst utvecklats med syfte att testa bland annat hur en tidigare distribuerad relationsdatabas kan konverteras till nyckel/värde- par. En sådan konvertering möjliggör lokal lagring av data i kundernas webbläsare, vilket mins- kar belastningen på servern samt erbjuder möjligheten att arbeta offline. Arbetet resulterar i tre riktlinjer att beakta då en migration till en SaaS-tjänst med lokal databas planeras; Tänk efter, före, Blotta inte din själ och Storleken har betydelse. Riktlinjerna beskriver hur en migrations- process bör planeras, när en applikation inte anses lämplig att migrera samt när en konvertering av databasen inte anses lämplig.

Modern business applications are getting increasingly distributed as multi-tenant software as a service (SaaS). This leads to new challenges in terms of quality assurance, because all customers are directly affected by software changes. The resulting problem is to proactively determinate evolutionary effects. Because SaaS applications are often realized in the sense of a software product line, this thesis examines ways of using feature models to face the mentioned problem. For this purpose, two approaches are analyzed: extended feature models with quality attributes annotated per feature and the analysis of structural aspects of feature models and corresponding concrete configurations. The presented attributed feature model approach measures the quality of concrete configurations to make configurations comparable according to specific quality goals. Criteria are elicited for when configurations can be compared to draw helpful conclusions. The structural approach focuses economic questions that are quality assurance related, such as identifying features that none of the tenants selected in their application configurations. Furthermore, three algorithms are presented that demonstrate the structural analysis approach to gather information relevant to quality assurance.

The thesis provides legal insight of the Cloud computing with a particular focus on a specific cloud service called software as a service (SaaS). There are discussed all cloud services and distribution models of the cloud infrastructure as well as its legal aspects. The thesis analyses legal requirements of contractual provisions for a provision of the SaaS services. The substantial part deals also with types of licenses, which can be used in relation to the provision of the SaaS services. The practical part of the thesis firstly contains above all the legal framework of data protection and its legal requirements on contractual relation between provider and customer of the cloud Services. Secondly the abovementioned part provides a comparison between contractual provisions related to the processing and protection of data between two contracts, Google Apps for Work and Microsoft Office 365. Keywords Cloud computing, cloud, software as a service (SaaS), data protection, contract

A Computação em Nuvem (CN) tem potencial para transformar grande parte do setor de Tecnologia da Informação (TI). Sua evolução ao longo dos últimos anos, certamente é tida como um dos maiores avanços na história da computação. Ela vem ganhando espaço significativo como um modelo bem sucedido ao prometer economia, facilidade de uso e maior flexibilidade no controle de como os recursos são usados, a qualquer momento e em qualquer lugar, para entregar a capacidade computacional desejada. A proposta de valor capturada pelo modelo da CN é que os recursos não ficam mais ociosos a maior parte do tempo, sendo agora quase totalmente utilizados (com menores custos unitários). Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo compreender como são tomadas as decisões para aquisição, contratação e operação dos serviços de CN em organizações de grande porte atuando no Brasil. Para alcançar este objetivo foi elaborado um Método de Análise para adoção da CN a partir de elementos extraídos da literatura. Fatores associados à adoção da CN como vantagens, desafios, riscos e barreiras e capacidades essenciais dos gestores para atingir objetivos de negócios (BOB), desempenhar a gestão da função TI (MNG), dispor dos atributos da qualidade dos serviços (QAS) e tomar decisões de arquitetura (ARC), consideradas essenciais para a operação das áreas de TI das organizações, estão entre estes elementos. O trabalho também investigou como a CN pode contribuir para o alinhamento estratégico da TI ao negócio destas organizações. A metodologia utilizada é o estudo de casos múltiplos, com a aplicação do Método de Análise em quatro organizações, onde foram entrevistados os principais executivos da área de TI capazes de influenciar decisões para adotar ou aprofundar a adoção da nuvem. Os resultados obtidos mostraram a viabilidade e a aplicabilidade do Método de Análise. Ao mapear os fatores associados à adoção, o processo de decisão pode ser mais bem compreendido, possibilitando às organizações melhor estruturar o processo de aprovação e de adoção propriamente dito. Também pôde ser observado nos casos estudados de que forma se deu a contribuição da adoção da nuvem para o alinhamento estratégico da TI ao negócio. / Cloud Computing (CC) is potentially able to change a major part of Information Technology (IT) industry. Its evolution over the past few years is certainly one of the greatest advancements in the history of computing. Cloud Computing has been gaining ground as a successful model as it promises economic savings, easiness of use and greater flexibility in the control of resource use, anytime and anywhere, while delivering the required computing power. CC model value proposition is that resources are no longer idle most of the time, as they are almost used to the fullest (with lower unit costs). The purpose of this research is to understand how the decisions are made for the purchase, hiring and operation of CC services in large organizations operating in Brazil. In order to achieve this objective, we prepared an Analysis Method to adopt CC based on elements found in literature. Such elements are those factors associated to the adoption of CC such as advantages, challenges, risks and barriers and core capabilities for managers to achieve business objectives (BOB), perform management of IT function (MNG), provide quality of services (QAS) and manage architecture decisions (ARC), considered essential for operation of IT areas of organizations. The study also investigated how CC can contribute with IT strategic alignment with business of these organizations. The methodology employed is multiple cases study, applying the Analysis Method in four organizations, through interviews with main IT executives capable of influencing decisions to adopt or increase cloud adoption. The results obtained show feasibility and applicability of Analysis Method. By mapping factors associated with adoption, the decision making process may be better understood, allowing organizations to better structure approval process and the adoption itself. In cases studied it is possible to note how the adoption of cloud computing contributes with strategic alignment of IT with business.

A Computação em Nuvem (CN) tem potencial para transformar grande parte do setor de Tecnologia da Informação (TI). Sua evolução ao longo dos últimos anos, certamente é tida como um dos maiores avanços na história da computação. Ela vem ganhando espaço significativo como um modelo bem sucedido ao prometer economia, facilidade de uso e maior flexibilidade no controle de como os recursos são usados, a qualquer momento e em qualquer lugar, para entregar a capacidade computacional desejada. A proposta de valor capturada pelo modelo da CN é que os recursos não ficam mais ociosos a maior parte do tempo, sendo agora quase totalmente utilizados (com menores custos unitários). Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo compreender como são tomadas as decisões para aquisição, contratação e operação dos serviços de CN em organizações de grande porte atuando no Brasil. Para alcançar este objetivo foi elaborado um Método de Análise para adoção da CN a partir de elementos extraídos da literatura. Fatores associados à adoção da CN como vantagens, desafios, riscos e barreiras e capacidades essenciais dos gestores para atingir objetivos de negócios (BOB), desempenhar a gestão da função TI (MNG), dispor dos atributos da qualidade dos serviços (QAS) e tomar decisões de arquitetura (ARC), consideradas essenciais para a operação das áreas de TI das organizações, estão entre estes elementos. O trabalho também investigou como a CN pode contribuir para o alinhamento estratégico da TI ao negócio destas organizações. A metodologia utilizada é o estudo de casos múltiplos, com a aplicação do Método de Análise em quatro organizações, onde foram entrevistados os principais executivos da área de TI capazes de influenciar decisões para adotar ou aprofundar a adoção da nuvem. Os resultados obtidos mostraram a viabilidade e a aplicabilidade do Método de Análise. Ao mapear os fatores associados à adoção, o processo de decisão pode ser mais bem compreendido, possibilitando às organizações melhor estruturar o processo de aprovação e de adoção propriamente dito. Também pôde ser observado nos casos estudados de que forma se deu a contribuição da adoção da nuvem para o alinhamento estratégico da TI ao negócio. / Cloud Computing (CC) is potentially able to change a major part of Information Technology (IT) industry. Its evolution over the past few years is certainly one of the greatest advancements in the history of computing. Cloud Computing has been gaining ground as a successful model as it promises economic savings, easiness of use and greater flexibility in the control of resource use, anytime and anywhere, while delivering the required computing power. CC model value proposition is that resources are no longer idle most of the time, as they are almost used to the fullest (with lower unit costs). The purpose of this research is to understand how the decisions are made for the purchase, hiring and operation of CC services in large organizations operating in Brazil. In order to achieve this objective, we prepared an Analysis Method to adopt CC based on elements found in literature. Such elements are those factors associated to the adoption of CC such as advantages, challenges, risks and barriers and core capabilities for managers to achieve business objectives (BOB), perform management of IT function (MNG), provide quality of services (QAS) and manage architecture decisions (ARC), considered essential for operation of IT areas of organizations. The study also investigated how CC can contribute with IT strategic alignment with business of these organizations. The methodology employed is multiple cases study, applying the Analysis Method in four organizations, through interviews with main IT executives capable of influencing decisions to adopt or increase cloud adoption. The results obtained show feasibility and applicability of Analysis Method. By mapping factors associated with adoption, the decision making process may be better understood, allowing organizations to better structure approval process and the adoption itself. In cases studied it is possible to note how the adoption of cloud computing contributes with strategic alignment of IT with business.

Implementering av affärssystem inom verksamheter kan ge många fördelar, exempelvis effektivisering och automatisering. Hur systemet levereras till kunden kan påverka förtroendet hos kunden. Förtroendet är viktigt för att bibehålla en god relation mellan kund och leverantör och för att kunden inte ska känna osäkerhet kring att implementera affärssystem. Affärssystem kan implementeras lokalt hos kunden On-Premise eller i molnet  vilket tillhandahålls hos leverantören i form av Software as a Service (SaaS). Syftet för studien var att undersöka skillnader i kunders förtroende till On-Premise och SaaS-system och kartlägga faktorer vilket kan påverka förtroendet som testades med en modell för att mäta förtroende skapad av McKnight (2009). Utifrån modellen samt tidigare forskning inom området formulerades åtta hypoteser. Hypoteserna testades med hjälp av svar från en enkät som skickades ut till kunder av On-Premise och SaaS-system. Totalt blev det 72 svar som analyserades med hjälp av ett ANOVA test vilket slutligen bekräftade fyra av åtta hypoteser. Resultatet indikerade att det inte föreligger någon signifikant skillnad mellan de två urvalsgrupperna. Resultatet tyder på ett ökat förtroende för SaaS vilket tidigare inte innehaft ett lika högt förtroende, dessutom visar det på att digitaliseringen rör sig framåt med ett ökat förtroende för molntjänster trots de risker som tillkommer. Studiens resultat har potentiell relevans för leverantörer av både On-Premise- och SaaS-system genom att öka förståelsen för kundernas förtroende. Slutligen kan leverantörer anpassa system efter kundernas behov, förbättra säkerhet och kvalitet samt främja en gynnsam och långsiktig relation mellan leverantör och kund. / Implementation of business systems within organizations can provide many advantages, such as efficiency and automation. How the system is delivered to the customer can impact the trust of the customer. Trust is crucial for maintaining a good relationship between the customer and the supplier and for preventing the customer from feeling uncertainty about implementing business systems. Business systems can be implemented locally at the customer's site On-Premise or in the cloud, provided by the supplier in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS). The purpose of the study was to examine differences in customer trust in On-Premise and SaaS systems and to identify factors that may affect trust, tested with a model to measure trust created by McKnight (2009). Based on the model and previous research in the field, eight hypotheses were formulated. The hypotheses were tested using responses from a survey sent to customers of On-Premise and SaaS systems. In total, there were 72 responses that were analyzed using an ANOVA test, which ultimately confirmed four out of eight hypotheses. The results indicated that there is no significant difference between the two sample groups. The results suggest an increased trust in SaaS, which previously did not have as high trust. Additionally, it shows that digitization is progressing with increased trust in cloud services despite the associated risks. The study's results have potential relevance for providers of both On-Premise and SaaS systems by increasing understanding of customer trust. Ultimately, providers can tailor systems to customer needs, improve security and quality, and promote a favorable and long-term relationship between supplier and customer.

In general, a common reference architecture can be derived for Software as a Service (SaaS) architecture. However, while designing particular applications one may derive various different application design alternatives from the same reference SaaS architecture specification. To meet the required functional and nonfunctional requirements of different enterprise applications it is important to model the possible design so that a feasible alternative can be defined. In this thesis, we propose a systematic approach and the corresponding tool support for guiding the design of the SaaS application architecture. The approach defines a SaaS reference architecture, a family feature model and a set of reference design rules. Based on the business requirements an application feature model is defined using the family feature model. Selected features are related to design decisions and a SaaS application architecture design is derived. By defining multiple application architectures based on different application feature models we can even compare multiple alternatives and based on this select the most feasible alternative.