IMPACTS AND CHALLENGES OF CLOUD COMPUTING FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE BUSINESSES IN NIGERIA

Cloud computing technology is providing businesses, be it micro, small, medium, and large scale enterprises with the same level playing grounds. Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) that have adopted the cloud are taking their businesses to greater heights with the competitive edge that cloud computing offers. The limitations faced by (SMEs) in procuring and maintaining IT infrastructures has been handled on the cloud platform for the SMEs that adopt it. In this research, the impact and challenges of cloud computing on SME’s that have adopted it in Nigeria has been investigated. The impacts identified ranges from provisioning IT infrastructures, reshaping and extending business values and outreach to giving competitive edge to businesses subscribed to it. Though Cloud computing has many benefits; however, it is not without some pitfalls. These pitfalls include data vulnerability, vendor lock-in, limited control over the infrastructure by the subscribers etc. To investigate the level of impacts and challenges being faced by SMEs in Nigeria on the cloud platform, questionnaires were administered to managers and employees of about fifty SMEs that have deployed cloud. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), from which appropriate recommendations were made.Key Words: Cloud Computing, Impacts, Challenges, SME.