SMEs and cloud computing: the benefits to the national economy and global competitiveness

Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in national economies and global competitiveness. SMEs contribute to job creation and improve the socio-economic status of workers by providing work and supply goods and services for the economy. SMEs therefore directly contribute to increasing national Gross Domestic Product (GDP. Cloud computing has the potential to increase SMEs’ productivity and outcomes by providing affordable and up to date access to information and communications technology (ICT). In addition, utilising cloud-based services improves business innovation in SMEs and opens a channel to the global market that gives firms more opportunities to compete and be successful. This study consists of three main sections: a national economy section to highlight the significance of SMEs and how cloud computing can boost business outcomes that could result in improving the local economy. The second part is an overview of the technologies for SME cloud adoption. The third section discusses a study of adopting cloud computing by Australian SMEs in the period (2014-2015). The significance of this paper is twofold. Firstly, the paper provides a literature analysis to show how cloud computing contributes to the national economy. Secondly, the paper quantifies the adoption rate of cloud computing by SMEs in the Australian context. Future research will establish the critical success factors and challenges for SMEs utilising cloud services. The Australian context is used because Australia has characteristics such as a large geographical footprint, small population and in a different time zone to many markets. The paper concludes by suggesting future research directions.