The benefits of cloud computing in IT intensive organizations

Cloud computing is an emerging technology which could replace traditional IT systems. Cloud computing makes it possible for an organizations’ IT to be more flexible, save costs and process information and data faster than with traditional IT. The problem though lies in the riskiness of this new technology. It is important to know whether value can be added for (growing or upcoming) ‘ICT intensive’ (Meaning core business uses ICT) organizations through using cloud computing. The existing approaches on this problem mainly focus on one side of computing, either benefits or risks. Also these approaches are often focused on the end user of the cloud and not the organizations using it. Different aspects such as the (valuable) possibilities of cloud computing are discussed as also the risks and issues that cloud computing brings. It is necessary to point out the different views and aspects of cloud computing in order to provide a meaningful conclusion at the end of this research and say something useful about the possible implementation of cloud computing in ICT intensive companies. This Master Thesis contains an introduction to the topic of cloud computing and relevant literature in the topic’s area. Besides this the methodology, risks and benefits, interviews, own created models, risk assessment, conclusions, used literature and appendices are included.