Optimal security and pricing strategies for AI cloud service providers: Balancing effort and price discounts across public, private, and hybrid AI cloud models
{"title":"Optimal security and pricing strategies for AI cloud service providers: Balancing effort and price discounts across public, private, and hybrid AI cloud models","authors":"Xiaotong Guo , Yong He , Joshua Ignatius","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpe.2025.109605","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, we focus on cloud security and pricing as key factors that influence end users' choices. We develop an analytical model to examine how an artificial intelligence (AI) cloud service provider optimally sets security investments and price discounts, considering users' different views of public, private, and hybrid AI cloud services. Our results show how end users' characteristics and market dynamics affect these strategies and reveal the balance providers must strike between improving user experiences, capturing market share, and maximizing profits. We find that the provider's control over AI cloud security—along with security costs for both the provider and users, as well as users' potential security losses—plays a critical role in shaping effective strategies. In low-security-loss environments, end users gain more from choosing public AI cloud solutions. However, private AI cloud solutions become more favorable if the provider's security cost coefficient falls within certain limits. In the hybrid AI cloud scenario, the model becomes more complex. Under some conditions, security investment and price discounts act as complementary strategies; in others, they substitute for one another. We also analyze how these choices affect market share and profitability, and find that in some cases, security investments can outperform price discounts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14287,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Production Economics","volume":"284 ","pages":"Article 109605"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Production Economics","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527325000908","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In this study, we focus on cloud security and pricing as key factors that influence end users' choices. We develop an analytical model to examine how an artificial intelligence (AI) cloud service provider optimally sets security investments and price discounts, considering users' different views of public, private, and hybrid AI cloud services. Our results show how end users' characteristics and market dynamics affect these strategies and reveal the balance providers must strike between improving user experiences, capturing market share, and maximizing profits. We find that the provider's control over AI cloud security—along with security costs for both the provider and users, as well as users' potential security losses—plays a critical role in shaping effective strategies. In low-security-loss environments, end users gain more from choosing public AI cloud solutions. However, private AI cloud solutions become more favorable if the provider's security cost coefficient falls within certain limits. In the hybrid AI cloud scenario, the model becomes more complex. Under some conditions, security investment and price discounts act as complementary strategies; in others, they substitute for one another. We also analyze how these choices affect market share and profitability, and find that in some cases, security investments can outperform price discounts.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Production Economics focuses on the interface between engineering and management. It covers all aspects of manufacturing and process industries, as well as production in general. The journal is interdisciplinary, considering activities throughout the product life cycle and material flow cycle. It aims to disseminate knowledge for improving industrial practice and strengthening the theoretical base for decision making. The journal serves as a forum for exchanging ideas and presenting new developments in theory and application, combining academic standards with practical value for industrial applications.