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There is increasing interest around the world of cloud computing (CC). The future of computing depends on CC, whose major goal is reducing the cost of IT services, maintenance, and scalability (Ali, 2019; Priyadarshinee, 2018). The adoption of CC in different industries provides Innovative solutions for major problems facing business (Abolfazli et al., 2015; Rababah, Khasawneh, & Nassar, 2017). On the other hand, it provides businesses with unlimited storage, computing power, and business information mobility through the Internet (Oliveira, Thomas, & Espadanal, 2014). CC can provide SMEs with all these benefits in the competitive market without having to worry about their limited budget (Hassan, Mohd Nasir, Khairudin, & Adon, 2017). However, the CC adoption rate is not growing as fast as expected (Hassan et al., 2017; Khayer, Talukder, Bao, & Hossain, 2020). The lack of understanding of the CC concept affects its adoption rate in SMEs (Asiaei & Ab. Rahim, 2019). Moreover, there is a lack of exploratory studies that explain the diffusion and adoption of CC (Low, Chen, & Wu, 2011) especially among SMEs in developing countries (Asiaei & Ab. Rahim, 2019; Ding, Wang, Wu, & Olson, 2017; Kumar, Samalia, & Verma, 2017).
Jordan, as one of the developing countries, faces economic, political, and social challenges. In Jordan, there is a need for increasing interest in such technologies as CC that could help to solve the huge problems that face the country. However, according to The Jordan Times, experts said - during a conference on CC held by the ICT Association of Jordan- CC usage is still below the desired level in Jordan (Albawabah business, 2011). Further, Cisco Jordan General Manager Ashraf Arafeh said “Adoption of cloud computing is still very low. This is not only the case in Jordan but in the entire region’’ (Albawabah business, 2011). In addition, the use of CC is still very low by both public and private sectors in Jordan (Ghazal, 2012). A possible and acceptable justification for this little usage of CC in Jordan was provided by Abed Shamlawi, CEO of int@j who stated that “The level of awareness on the advantages of this technology is still limited. Everyone in the IT sector is talking about CC but many are not aware of its practical applications and how good it is for all businesses,” and he added, “Many companies do not understand the benefits of CC and how it can help reduce costs, and make work more efficient and concentrated on innovation” (Albawabah business, 2011).
Furthermore, despite the benefits offered by CC, the majority of studies on CC adoption topics have been conducted on the factors influencing such adoption in another context, other than Jordanian SMEs. Therefore, the present work investigates the factors influencing the adoption of CC among Jordanian SMEs. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a pioneering study that contributes towards extending the literature on factors influencing CC adoption among SMEs in Jordan.
The remaining sections of the paper consist of a review of the literature background and development of the research model and hypotheses. This is followed by the study methodology. The next section contains data analysis and results, followed by a section for discussions and implications. The last section presents the study's conclusion and suggestions for future avenues of research.