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Top1. Introduction
The use of Information Technology (IT) in supporting the operations of businesses is a very long-established phenomenon. IT is used to support every aspect of organizations (public or private; small, medium or large) and from diverse sectors (e.g. education, telecommunications, healthcare, banking and finance, retailing & distribution, manufacturing, services, etc.). However, in most cases, the cost of IT infrastructure (hardware, software, services, and support) and manpower alone can be a deterrent to many organizations especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies, specifically sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Most SME businesses in developing economies and specifically Ghana, in particular, find it difficult when it comes to ICT investment due to insufficient finance and manpower (Mujinga & Chipangura, 2011). If you consider the benefits that come with adopting appropriate ICT tools in any business, this becomes an obstacle that deters such small and medium businesses. As a result, the SMEs are at disadvantaged positions compared with the more established larger organizations with all the appropriate technologies and manpower.
SMEs support the economic growth of emerging economies via service delivery, employment creation, poverty reduction, entrepreneurship, rural development, and exports of a nation, and are mostly unearth in the informal sector where they partake in a diversity of sectors from finance, manufacturing, hospitality, and mining among others (Mujinga & Chipangura, 2011; Yeboah-Boateng & Essandoh, 2014). As SMEs are the engine of growth in all economies both developed and developing (Yeboah-Boateng & Essandoh, 2014), the need for them getting the requisite support in terms of technologies to advance their businesses is highly desirable.
It is in line with these that one key technology, Cloud Computing has become popular amongst SMEs due to its perceived benefits in cost-cutting when it comes to IT spending (Ali, Soar, Mcclymont, Yong, & Biswas, 2015). Through cloud computing, many firms that would have had it difficult to buy IT equipment, software, telecommunication, and hire competent IT staff have been able to enjoy the services without spending much (Mujinga & Chipangura, 2011). Cloud computing offers on-demand computing power with rapid implementation, fewer IT staff, low maintenance, and subsequently lower cost (Yang & Tate, 2012). These appealing features have caused cloud computing to be a principal IT press topic in recent years. The worldwide expenditure on Public Cloud services according to a recent IDC research was expected to reach US$210 billion in 2019 and the industry keeps growing where “the market is forecast to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.5% with public cloud services spending reaching $370 billion in 2022” (IDC, 2019).
Subashini and Kavitha (2011) emphasized that SMEs have seen the potential values of cloud computing which is enhancing their businesses through the tapping of cloud infrastructure to advance fast access to the finest infrastructure and business applications at an insignificant cost. Cloud computing can bring substantial benefits to SMEs through the reduction of costs of investment in ICT infrastructure and even manpower. As cloud computing enables end-users to make use of various services including software, computation, data access, and storage without knowing the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services, it does not necessarily require the competence of a highly skilled IT staff to implement (Mujinga & Chipangura, 2011). This is an advantage to most SMEs since the hiring of skilled IT staff and maintenance of IT hardware infrastructure is not needed.