Exploratory Study to Investigate the Factors Influencing the Adoption of Cloud Computing in Australian Regional Municipal Governments

Cloud computing is seen as an increasingly important enabler for improving productivity, efficiency and cost reduction. This research aims to investigate the potential for value creation for Australian municipal governments by identifying factors that are perceived likely to influence the adoption of cloud computing. The research model is proposed based on two theories derived from the literature: the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory. The research employed in-depth interviews of Australian councils’ IT managers. The obtained results indicate that the critical factors that were identified as playing a significant role in Australian regional municipal governments’ adoption of cloud services were: relative advantage, compatibility, cost, technology readiness, competitive pressure. For practitioners, this research identifies key factors for regional municipal governments to make an adoption decision toward cloud computing technology. As for academia, this research can be provided as a useful reference for future studies in this subject field.