Evaluating the factors influencing Alignment of IT and Business in a Cloud Computing Environment

Abstract

Aligning IT with business strategically is the recent area of attention among researchers and practitioners because of its potential impact on organizational performance. Currently, large numbers of enterprises are migrating towards cloud computing as on-premise implementation of Information technology (IT) infrastructure is expensive. The purpose of this research is to examine the factors that influence the alignment of IT and business in cloud computing environment. Therefore, this study used the Strategic Alignment Maturity (SAM) model as a framework to validate the evolution of IT-business alignment in a cloud computing platform. A questionnaire-based survey method was employed for data collection. The respondents are IT and business executives of adopter firms in India. The structural equation modeling technique is used to statistically validate the model. From the results, it is found that all the constructs contribute significantly to business alignment with cloud computing except partnering and skill maturity. This study contributes to the research related to the application of SAM model in investigating the alignment of cloud computing with business. Software vendors and information technology consultants can utilize this study in assisting a client in the alignment of business with IT strategically in a cloud computing environment.