A contingency lens on cloud provider management processes

Severin Oesterle, Jan Jöhnk, Robert Keller (), Nils Urbach and Xin Yu
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Severin Oesterle: University of Bayreuth
Jan Jöhnk: Project Group Business & Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT
Robert Keller: University of Applied Sciences Kempten
Nils Urbach: Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
Xin Yu: University of Bayreuth

Business Research, 2020, vol. 13, issue 3, No 21, 1489 pages

Abstract: Abstract Traditional ways of managing information technology (IT) service providers are no longer applicable as companies use more and more services provisioned in the cloud. Therefore, organizations are looking for new ways to manage their relationship with cloud providers. The shift from IT-as-a-product to IT-as-a-service puts clients in a continued dependency on cloud service providers (CSPs), making provider management a critical factor for companies’ success. In this paper, we (1) identify cloud-specific challenges in managing CSPs, (2) develop a corresponding process framework for CSP management, and (3) discuss and extend this framework. Our final cloud management framework comprises ten processes for effective CSP management based on a literature study and twelve expert interviews. Furthermore, we unpack three major contingency factors, i.e., client–provider ratio, specificity, and service delivery model, which influence the reasonability and configuration of the cloud management processes. Drawing on two specific cases from our interview study, we explicate the contingency factors’ influence. Thus, our paper contributes to cloud sourcing research by deepening the understanding of client–provider relationships and by introducing a viable CSP management instrument contingent on three salient factors of cloud service provisioning.

Keywords: Cloud computing; Cloud sourcing; IT sourcing; Provider management; Contingency theory; Interview study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s40685-020-00128-8

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