Influence of Cloud Computing Data Base Management Systems on Performance of Building Construction Projects in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

There is an immense increase in big data and cloud computing-based solutions globally for the last decade. This is not different in Kenya, as many businesses are also adopting this phenomenon. Construction can clearly benefit from the tech, but its rate of adoption, more so in Kenya is soaring. This research therefore sought to examine the influence of the cloud computing database management systems (DBMS) on performance of building construction projects in Nairobi County, Kenya. The objective of this study was to establish how the following aspects of cloud computing DBMS influences performance of building construction projects: rapid elasticity nature of cloud computing DBMS, multi tenancy capabilities of cloud computing DBMS, on-demand self-service nature of cloud computing DBMS and broad network access capabilities of cloud DBMS. The study adopted two theories, namely; information system success model and Seddan’s model of information success which examines the success, usefulness and relevance of information systems; cloud computing DBMS is a type of information system. The study adopted descriptive research design with a target population of 129; made up of construction project managers in three categories of fellow, corporate and graduate members classified based on the number of years practiced. Stratified random sampling technique was used to come select a sample size of 98 respondents who were served with questionnaires to obtain the primary data for the research. Data was coded and entered into Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) which analysed it to give percentages, frequencies, means and standard deviation. Inferential data analysis was done to establish how independent variables related to dependent variable. Frequency tables were used to present quantitative data while quantitative data was presented in prose form stating explanations. The study found that the flexible provisioning of resources influence performance of building construction projects to a very large extent. Moreover, the study established that providing a set of behaviour stimulation resources adopted from a single common source influenced performance of building construction projects in Nairobi County to a moderate extent. Moreover, the study found that provision of resources such as network storage and automation of computing services influenced performance of building construction projects to a large extent. Further, the study established that enabling users to categorize and segment system influenced performance of building construction projects to a moderate extent. The study concluded that multi tenancy capabilities of cloud DBMS had the greatest influence on performance of building construction projects in Nairobi County, followed by on-demand self-service nature of cloud DBMS, then broad network access capabilities of cloud DBMS while rapid elasticity nature of cloud DBMS had the least influence on performance of building construction projects in Nairobi County. The study recommends that the leaders and the frontiers of the IT departments in the building construction projects in Nairobi County to acknowledge this trend in technology and embrace the strategic opportunities that can be accrued from it. Moreover, the study recommended that Multi-tenancy protections must be offered by cloud service providers for all layers of their offerings. The study also recommends that concerns on the use of cloud computing should be considered in the development of a road map.