Using cloud computing in higher education: a strategy to address trust issues in adoption of cloud services in Kenyan Public and Private Universities

Abstract

Cloud computing is fast gaining significant ground as a solution to offer institutions with competitive advantage compared to the old traditional IT. Nevertheless, many institutions are still clenched to the traditional IT where legacy IT systems or applications are hosted in-house and hence administration of the systems or services is local or on- premise. This has resulted in high IT expenditures on both hardware and software due to increased storage demands as well as investing on high skilled resources to administer the existing systems or applications which might not be viable in the long run. There are three main service models of cloud computing which through them other service models have been derived. SPI Model, as it is known comprises of Software-as-a service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). Deployment of these services can be through Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid or Community Cloud depending on the services or applications used by the institution. Despite the potential benefits that is associated with cloud computing which includes reduction of total costs of acquisition or ownership (TCO) of hardware, software and skilled resources, adoption level of cloud services is still very low in higher institutions of learning due to matters security especially trust issue which remains a major concern over cloud solutions. A case study was carried out in selected public and private universities to determine the reason for the low cloud uptake by the key stakeholders in higher institution of learning. An adoption strategy was recommended with reference to the resources, confidentiality, integrity and availability. The focus was on how key stakeholders view cloud services in the context of unique operational efficiency.