A framework for the implementation of a private government cloud in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Despite the effort and copious resources Saudi Arabia is investing in its transition towards e-Government, it is hindered by the weakness of the Information and Communication Technology infrastructure in its government agencies. The development of a private government cloud is a solution for improving and standardizing the ICT infrastructure, but cloud computing is still in the early stages in the country. To effectively implement a private government cloud in Saudi Arabia it is necessary to identify the factors that will affect its success. Therefore, this research identifies the success factors for the implementation of a government cloud, and based on these factors, a framework for the successful implementation of a government cloud (FSIGC) in Saudi Arabia was developed. The framework was constructed by synthesizing factors identified from relevant studies concerned with the implementation of cloud computing for government and factors identified from studies concerned with the success of large scale IT projects in Saudi Arabia.

A mixed-method research approach was followed to improve and confirm the initial 10 factor framework which was developed from a literature review. The ten factors identified were: Security and Privacy, Reliability, Cooperation and Coordination, Policy and Legislation, Leadership, Business Process Re-Engineering (BPR), Project planning, Top management support, Consultant and
team competence, Clear requirements. First, interviews were carried out with twelve IT experts working in Saudi government organisations to review the proposed success factors and identify any additional factors not identified from the literature review. The expert review produced five additional factors to the ten proposed in the desk-based study: Communication, Standards, Training, Knowledge Management, Business continuity and disaster recovery. Next, an online survey of government IT employees was conducted to confirm the fifteen component framework. The results from the survey showed that all the factors in the framework were statistically significant.

The validated FSIGC framework was applied in the construction of a measurement instrument called the Government Cloud Readiness Measure. Initially, the instrument was developed by proposing scales to measure each of the factors in FSIG from a desk based study. Then, the instrument was confirmed and validated in two stages. First, an expert review was conducted to confirm its content validity and identify any additional items. Then, the instrument was confirmed by 11 experts and then tested for reliability through an online survey of 153 government and semi-government IT employees.

This research presents the detailed development of the FSIGC, its validation and application in the construction of the Government Cloud Readiness Measure. The findings of this study provide practical guidelines for government organisations in Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries to help increase the success of their cloud implementation projects, thus bridging the gap between theory and practice. This research can also be used as a starting point for other new technology implementation investigations in the public sector.

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ORCID for Gary Wills: orcid.org/0000-0001-5771-4088

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