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Cloud Adoption, Cloud Computing, Hybrid Cloud, International Information Systems,. Multinational Enterprises. 1. .... when the benefits outweigh the risks, Smith.
Journal of Global Information Management, 23(1), 1-23, January-March 2015 1

A Hybrid Cloud Model for Cloud Adoption by Multinational Enterprises Wu He, Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences,Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA Feng-Kwei Wang, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan

ABSTRACT As a new IT paradigm for users, cloud computing has the potential to transform the way that IT resources are utilized and consumed. Many multinational enterprises (MNEs) are interested in cloud computing but do not know how to adopt and implement cloud computing in their enterprise settings. In an effort to help MNEs understand cloud computing and develop successful enterprise adoption strategies for cloud computing, the authors propose a hybrid cloud model for MNEs and illustrate the utility of this model by using two case studies. Insights for adopting and implementing this model in international settings are provided as well. Keywords:

Cloud Adoption, Cloud Computing, Hybrid Cloud, International Information Systems, Multinational Enterprises

1. INTRODUCTION Cloud computing has recently attracted significant attention by academia, industry, the government, and the military. Many organizations are turning toward actual cloud adoption and deployment. The research firm IDC (2013) predicted that that the worldwide cloud services market will be worth more than $107 billion by 2017. Cloud computing is the Internet- (“cloud-”) based development and use of computer technology (Lin, Fu, Zhu, & Dasmalchi, 2009; Sultan, 2011). Cloud computing describes a new supplement, consumption,

and delivery model for IT services based on the Internet, and it typically involves the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources as a service over the Internet (Gruman 2009; Zhang, Cheng, & Boutaba, 2010). In general, cloud computing refers to a new IT paradigm for users (Voas & Zhang, 2009) who can access data whenever and wherever they want. Cloud computing has the potential to be the next major driver of business innovation, since it promises to enable new business models and services across almost all industries (IBM, 2009; Armbrust, 2010; He, Cernusca, & Abdous, 2011; Iyer & Henderson, 2012; Kuo,

DOI: 10.4018/jgim.2015010101 Copyright © 2015, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

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2011; Wang, He, & Wang, 2012; Weinhardt et al., 2012; Xu, Xu, & Basl, 2012; Yang & Tate, 2012). Although cloud computing is a popular topic in media and is gaining rapid adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large enterprises such as multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been relatively slow to adopt cloud computing (Staten, 2008; Loebbecke, Thomas, & Ullrich, 2012). A survey (F5 Networks, 2009) examining the adoption of cloud computing by enterprise IT managers reveals that more than 80 percent of respondents from large enterprises are interested in cloud computing deployment. Despite this strong interest, many MNEs do not have a good understanding about how to adopt and implement cloud computing in their international settings. Confusion still remains about exactly what cloud computing really means (F5 Networks, 2009; IBM, 2010; Madhavaiah, Bashir, & Shafi, 2012), when it is useful (Armbrust et al., 2010), and how to build the infrastructure behind the cloud (F5 Networks, 2009). Few studies have been conducted to examine the adoption and implementation of cloud computing for MNEs from both the international business perspective and the international information systems perspective. Despite the growing acceptance of cloud-based services in a wide range of industries, guidelines and strategies regarding the adoption and implementation of cloud computing for MNEs are still lacking. To help MNEs reduce their concerns and better adopt cloud computing, this paper examines the literature in the areas of international business, international information systems, and cloud computing to come up with an adoption model and associated guidelines. On one hand, theories developed in international business can be useful in providing guidance for strategic planning and analysis of information systems in international settings. On the other hand, technical solutions, strategies, and architectures in international information systems and cloud computing can offer directions for technology adoption and implementation in international settings. Important lessons can be learned by examining

the implementation of international information systems for MNEs. Particularly, in the past three years, many large technology-based companies such as IBM, Intel, HP, Dell, Infosys, Amazon, and Microsoft have announced their cloud computing strategies, architectures, and solutions for large enterprises in the form of white papers or technical documents. A review of these white papers and technical documents can help discover some insights that can lead to new strategies for the adoption of cloud computing in multinational settings. During the past decade, little research has been done on Internet-based information technologies for MNEs in international settings. According to Lehmann and Gallupe (2005), over the last 30 years, less than 1% of published IS studies are related to information systems in international settings. Thus, research on cloud computing in international settings is critically needed as cloud computing market continues to grow. Our paper proposes a cloud adoption model for MNEs and offers useful guidelines to help MNEs adopt and implement cloud-based services across country boundaries based on the literature review in purposefully selected areas. As exploratory research, this paper contributes to the literature of cloud computing and international information systems by extending our understanding of cloud adoption by MNEs in the international context. We hope to assist CIOs and IT managers of MNEs to integrate cloud computing as a part of their IT strategy planning. It is also our hope that this paper will induce more research on cloud adoption and implementation issues in an MNE environment.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW We conducted a review of the literature in three purposefully selected areas. Extensive time was spent on searching relevant articles using Google Scholar and several electronic databases. The following electronic databases were queried: ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, ISI Web of Knowledge, ScienceDirect (Elsevier), SpringerLink, Wiley online library,

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and SAGE Journals Online. We tried a number of keywords such as “cloud computing multinational”, “cloud services international”, “cloud computing adoption” in order to find articles relevant to our research. The initial search resulted in 1130 total hits. After skimming through most of the abstracts, we selected 76 articles that we believe are closely relevant to our research and read the full texts of these articles. The rest of this section presents the results of our literature review.

2.1. Cloud Computing Cloud computing includes three delivery models (Mell & Grance, 2009; Iyer & Henderson, 2010): 1. Software as a Service (SaaS). The consumer uses an application, but does not control the operating system, the hardware, or the network infrastructure on which the application is running. Salesforce.com and Google Apps are examples. 2. Platform as a Service (PaaS). The consumer uses a development environment provided by a cloud vendor to create new applications. The consumer has access to development tools such as a programming language and can build applications that run in the environment, but does not control the operating system, hardware, or network infrastructure on which the applications are running. The platform is typically an application development framework such as Microsoft Azure. 3. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The consumer uses “fundamental computing resources” such as processing power, storage, networking components, or middleware. The consumer can control the operating system, storage, deployed applications, and possibly networking components such as firewalls and load balancers, but not the cloud infrastructure beneath them. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Rackspace Cloud Server are examples.

According to a study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Mell & Grance, 2009), cloud services can be deployed via four methods: 1. Public Cloud. In simple terms, public cloud services are characterized as being available to the general public or to a large industry group from a third party service provider via the Internet. Public clouds are run by third party companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and others. A public cloud does not mean that a user’s data is publically visible; public cloud vendors typically provide an access control mechanism for their users. 2. Private cloud. Private cloud means offering cloud computing on private networks. A private cloud is operated solely for an organization and can be designed and managed by an IT department within an organization or by a third-party cloud vendor. A private cloud may be hosted on- or off-premises (Iyer & Henderson, 2010). In a private cloud-based service, data and processes are managed within the organization without the restrictions of network bandwidth, security exposures, or the legal requirements that using public cloud services might entail. 3. Community Cloud. Using a community cloud, the cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and/or compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organization or by a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises. 4. Hybrid Cloud. A hybrid cloud is a combination of public, private, and/or community cloud that interoperates. In this model, users typically outsource non-business-critical information and processing to the public cloud, while keeping business-critical services and data in the private cloud.

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Some of the main benefits of cloud computing (Jaeger, Lin, & Grimes, 2008; Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2009; Armbrust et al., 2010; Molony & Kirchheimer, 2011; Iyer & Henderson, 2012) include reduced implementation and maintenance costs, increased mobility for a global workforce, flexible and scalable infrastructure, increased business focus, quick time to market, and IT department transformation. Although cloud computing promises many potential benefits, it is important to note that security, privacy, regulatory compliance, existing hardware/infrastructure, and many other factors affect the adoption of cloud computing in enterprises and, in turn, its outcomes (Berry & Reisman, 2012; Li et al., 2009; Lin & Chang, 2012; Venters & Whitley, 2012). A careful examination of various challenges and risks posed by cloud computing is needed (Armbrust et al., 2010; Wu, Lan, & Lee, 2011). Common concerns with clouds, particularly public clouds, include: 1. Security concerns (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2009). Is the data safe? Can we back it up and restore it easily? 2. Privacy concerns (Fromholz, 2000). There is a concern with the invasion of data (e.g., trade secrets) by cloud vendors or others (Feblowitz, 2011). How can we be sure that our data is private when it’s in the cloud? Can we control how our information may be used by the vendor? 3. Vendor lock-in/dependency concern (Armbrust et al., 2010). Vendor dependency or vendor changes (e.g., bankruptcies/ shutdowns/acquisitions and their consequences) must be considered including the ability to continue business operations if the vendor shuts down unexpectedly. How viable is a potential cloud service provider? How hard is it to move applications and data to another provider? 4. Concern about legal/regulatory/information policy consequences (Jaeger, Lin, & Grimes, 2008). The compliance standards that regulate data privacy and information security vary among different nations.

Some nations have localization requirements that compel firms which are storing and processing data for clients from a given country, to locate the data within that country (Berry & Reisman, 2012). For example, the European Union, which has very stringent data protection laws, places restrictions on the transfer of personal data from Europe to nations such as the U.S. (Fromholz, 2000); South Korea requires that financial institutions process data within South Korea unless clients provide written consent otherwise; the U.S. has a regulation called SOX 404 which specifies how long and in what manner data should be kept and used to ensure the security of financial information (Tadwalkar, 2010). Since technology adoption only happens when the benefits outweigh the risks, Smith (2010) suggests that the benefits of cloud computing will not be realized unless privacy rights are maintained, data security is strengthened, and questions about how data is governed or managed when it crosses national borders are settled. In addition to these common concerns, MNEs face the following issues in adopting cloud computing: a. First, MNEs typically have subsidiaries in different counties with various office sizes (small, medium, and large). These offices employ people with different cultures and languages and often have different missions and job function areas assigned by headquarters. Due to various reasons, these subsidiaries or offices often have to localize applications or systems created by their local employees and/or by local IT vendors. The differences among these subsidiaries or offices can lead to a wide variety of application or system requirements, data formats, and technology accessibility needs. As a result, an MNE will have complex cloud hosting needs and may require different scales of cloud solutions if an MNE decides to move its existing

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IT-related assets to the cloud. These differences can also make the application or system upgrades on the cloud more challenging (Singh, 2011). b. Second, MNEs tend to work with multiple IT vendors (local, regional, national, or international) to build customized or specialized applications. Many of these IT vendors also help MNEs to maintain and upgrade their applications, while some of the vendors are probably not ready for the cloud yet. Thus, it becomes risky for MNEs to move legacy applications (Feblowitz, 2011) to the cloud because their collaborating IT vendors may lack the capacity to maintain these applications in a cloud-based environment. Also, cloud service providers may not have a sufficient set of legacy skills and commitment to help MNEs maintain legacy applications. In fact, it is often difficult for cloud service providers to find people with the right skill set to maintain those legacy applications for MNEs. Furthermore, due to dynamic economic situations, fierce competition, and the drive for growth, many MNEs are increasingly involved in mergers and acquisitions, since they want to expand their business activities across the borders (Kumar, 2000). These MNEs often have accumulated experience and skills in integrating newly acquired systems with their existing systems in their own in-house data centers in traditional ways. They could face a huge challenge if they were to move these integrations to cloud-based environments because of their lack of experience and skills in cloud computing. c. Third, MNEs usually are more concerned about losing control over their assets on the cloud, which can greatly discourage MNEs from adopting cloud-based solutions (Armbrust et al., 2010). When applications are

managed by cloud vendors, changing application features may not be as easy as in past days when applications were controlled by an MNE’s own IT staff (Lin & Chen, 2012). Sometimes cloud vendors may not be able to promptly accommodate a service request when needed (Leavitt, 2009; Miller, 2008). The resulting delay may force them to incur additional costs. d. Fourth, the cost of learning is also a big concern for MNEs when they consider using the cloud. Cost of learning comes from learning new knowledge and skills in an organization (Lin & Chen, 2012). It would be a daunting task for an MNE to help a large number of its employees to acquire cloud computing skills in order to ensure the effective use of cloud solutions in the right manner. The learning curve of certain cloud-based enterprise applications can be steep for some employees. It may take significant time and money for the employees of MNEs to get used to cloud solutions before they can effectively use these solutions for their business needs. Those extra costs are also a potential concern for MNEs. MNEs typically operate in more than one country and often have to work with different cloud vendors. Whereas some nations only allow state-owned cloud providers to do international business at a higher price than the market average, some nations have bandwidth quality issues which make the use of cloud computing unrealistic within their boundaries (Berry & Reisman, 2012). In addition, MNEs may have to pay more to reach the expected level of services than initially anticipated. Since cloud vendors usually control the applications, and have a stronger bargaining power than cloud consumers, cloud vendors may increase prices, charge extra costs, or

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refuse to invest in legacy applications at a later date (Benlian & Hess, 2011). e. Fifth, the difference in legal jurisdictions can pose a variety of challenges for MNEs. For example, cloud vendors might have several data centers geographically located in multiple countries and they may migrate the data stored on the cloud according to various factors (e.g., load balancing, efficiency of network, maintenance, cost, and location of clients) without making their clients aware of the migration. Having cloud-based resources in different countries raises legal jurisdiction issues related to conflicting rules or regulations regarding privacy and confidentiality of data and raises security concerns such as data protection and security breaches. Whether a cloud application is considered legitimate is subject to where it is hosted (Vecchiola, Pandey, & Buyya, 2009). When a legal dispute arises, it becomes an issue as to which country’s jurisdiction is applicable to settle the dispute (Berry & Reisman, 2012; Perrons & Hems, 2013). As a result, many MNEs become hesitant to adopt cloud computing, asking the question “Do the cost savings, fast implementation, and other benefits outweigh the risks?” When an MNE perceives more risks than benefits, it most likely will not adopt cloud solutions. The benefits of the cloud can be perceived as strategically-oriented and economically-oriented, while the risks can include technical risks (such as performance risks), economic risks, strategic risks, security risks, and managerial risks (Benlian & Hess, 2011). MNEs often have different concerns and levels of risk tolerance. For example, a study (Wu, Lan, & Lee, 2011) found that a world leading manufacturer concerned more about strategic-oriented benefits than economic-oriented benefits and cared more about subjective risks than technical risks.

To mediate these concerns, some large cloud service providers have begun to offer servers and storage facilities in multiple legal jurisdictions (Perrons & Hems, 2013). For example, both Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure have servers physically located in the United States and Europe (Armbrust et al., 2009). Amazon came up with a new idea called “availability zones” that can identify the location of the data centers where cloud-based applications are hosted. Customers can review different availability zones and decide where they want to host their applications (Vecchiola, Pandey, & Buyya, 2009). Some countries and organizations are also working on the amendments of cloud regulations to reflect the new realities of cloud computing (Jaeger et al., 2008; Kaufman, 2009). Some leading cloud service providers have also suggested strategies for enterprise cloud adoption. Intel researchers have found that many technical and legal issues prevent broader enterprise adoption from external (public) clouds and thus have suggested that building an internal (private) cloud is a logical first step before attempting more widespread migration to an external (public) cloud (Li et al., 2009). They have also recommended applications suitable for external clouds including applications that do not provide a competitive advantage, that are not mission-critical, that are not tightly integrated with other important applications, and that do not contain sensitive information. Infosys researchers suggested a series of steps for cloud adoption including assessment, validation, preparation, and execution. The timeline for completing these steps ranges from one year to three years. They also concluded that organizations need to make changes in data compliance, procedures, and operations in order to effectively adopt cloud models. Dell Computer Corporation (2010) recommended that enterprises assess their business needs carefully before choosing an approach to cloud computing. The best option depends on factors such as infrastructure readiness, the regularity of demand, and up-front investment,

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versus immediate gratification, privacy, and security. The IBM Corporation has indicated that there is not a one-size-fits-all cloud adoption model for every organization (IBM, 2010). Their recommended strategies begin by considering how the cloud is relevant to the organization and which business areas should be considered. The second phase begins by identifying cloud services prioritization, cost benefit analysis, IT strategy and its architecture road map, and developing an organizational change strategy to help transition to a cloud model. The final phase is for building the strategic road map and identifying a cloud pilot. To summarize these cloud adoption strategies, there are two primary paths to cloud computing: evolutionary and revolutionary (Dell, 2010). In the revolutionary approach, organizations do not need to accommodate traditional enterprise applications and can build new cloud applications from the beginning. In the evolutionary approach, organizations begin with existing traditional enterprise applications and then migrate the applications incrementally toward cloud computing (Vatter, George, & Bartleson, 2011). Organizations can use both approaches in different situations. Each organization needs to choose its approach based on the applications it uses, its unique business requirements, and the benefits it wants to achieve. However, our review shows that most large and medium enterprises prefer the evolutionary approach due to the huge cost incurred and the complex nature of cloud computing adoption and implementation (Gartner, 2013; Trivedi, 2013; Wang & He, 2014). Thus, any cloud service providers should keep this approach in mind when providing cloud services to MNEs.

2.2. International Business Roche (1996) found that a few theories of international business have a direct relationship with information systems research. Particularly, headquarters-subsidiary coordination is the most often mentioned function of information technology in the multinational corporation

(Roche, 1996; Tossavainen, 2005). Coordination means the exchange of data, information, and knowledge between the geographically dispersed areas of a multinational corporation in order to communicate, collaborate, and synchronize management decisions and operational actions. However, there is not much research on the practice of exploiting IT for the coordination of globally managed firms (Barlett & Ghoshal, 1987; Tossavainen, 2005). For an MNE, headquarters-subsidiary coordination includes headquarter-to-subsidiary coordination and subsidiary- to-subsidiary coordination. There is no doubt that headquarters-subsidiary coordination is important to MNEs’ strategic planning for the adoption of cloud computing, because an MNE might need to set up multiple cloud data centers to meet the needs of subsidiaries in different geographic regions. Strategies for managing and coordinating different clouds used by a MNE certainly need further exploration. Internalization theory is also relevant to an MNE’s strategic planning for IT adoption (Roche, 1996). Internalization means that a firm grows by internalizing the economic transactions which were previously carried out on the open market. If the administrative costs of processing economic transactions become too great, the firm stops growing (Williamson, 1975). In reality, the headquarters and subsidiaries of many large MNEs have their own IT departments. These departments usually have managers who make IT policy; personnel who do planning/budgeting/vendor relations, develop IT systems, and provide help desk services; and a computer center with a mass storage system that handles data entry and large print jobs. Each year, MNEs spend a large part of their budget on developing and maintaining their IT services. Therefore, an MNE must look for better ways to tame IT budgets while at the same time providing agile IT services to various organizations within and outside the MNE. Research (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2009) shows that cloud computing can help enterprises dramatically reduce the costs of managing their technology infrastructure and

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IT services and thus is an attractive option for MNEs. In recent years, more and more enterprises have adopted cloud computing and some of them have outsourced part of their IT services to external cloud vendors in order to reduce IT operating costs (NBVP, 2013). Internalization theory helps explain this phenomenon. Another major factor that shapes an MNE’s operation is the level and intensity of global control versus local autonomy (Lehmann, 1997). Bartlett and Ghoshal (1989) have proposed the organizational strategy typology of the MNE and identified four different strategies adopted by MNEs: international, multidomestic, global, and transnational. Since the advent of the Internet and other new information technologies, traditional MNE strategies including international, multidomestic, global, and transnational are becoming blurred (Sambharya, Kumaraswamy, & Banerjee, 2005). Bartlett and Ghoshal (1989) examined the four strategies through key organizational characteristics and found the transnational strategy to be more suitable for meeting local responsiveness and global efficiency than the other strategies. As can be seen in Table 1, the transnational strategy requires subsidiaries in different nations to share knowledge and to contribute to integrated worldwide operation so as to help MNEs achieve both a high degree of local responsiveness and global efficiency. Currently, MNEs are being pressured to adopt the transnational strategy to compete successfully in the international arena because of the growing demand of global integration and local responsiveness by MNEs. Transnational organizations typically “think global and act local” (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1989) and balance tight global control in certain aspects with a policy of vigorously fostering local autonomy, particularly for the diffusion of innovation (Lehmann, 1997). Since cloud computing provides a way to deliver various services through the Internet, MNEs with cloud computing in place will be in a better position to achieve global integration and local responsiveness than ever before. Institution theory emphasizes the importance of host-country/MNE relations for MNEs to ensure organizational legitimacy (Roche,

1996). In order to survive, organizations must conform to the rules and belief systems prevailing in the environment (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). When planning to outsource its IT services to the clouds, an MNE must make sure that each of its subsidiaries will comply with restrictions imposed by the host government, such as the privacy regulation and the international data transfer regulation. For example, according to the European Union’s data protection law, an MNE has to ensure that its European customers and employees’ personal data are stored only on servers within countries in Europe Union. In addition, when an MNE moves its applications to the clouds, it also needs to ensure that the cloud applications will continue to interoperate properly (Leymann et al., 2011) with partner applications such as other applications within its supply chain system. Often, policies and routines have been developed by an MNE and its various partners as a result of specific needs and requirements in its supply chain. Thus, the transition to cloud computing must be carefully planned in order to maintain the interdependence of relationships with its partners.

2.3. International Information Systems The use of, and the impact of, international information systems (IS) are important issues for business operations today. “International information systems” refers to distributed information systems that are implemented at various sites within one enterprise in order to support similar business activities in highly diverse environments, which commonly cross country boundaries (Lehmann, 1994). Many MNEs have adopted international information systems to address the challenges faced by the global business environment. For example, some MNEs, such as Toyota and Walmart, have aligned enterprise resource planning systems with international business strategies in order to gain competitive advantages in multinational business operations (Davenport, 1998; Olson, Chae, & Sheu, 2005). However, research indicates that multinational enterprises which

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Table 1. Four MNE strategies and their characteristics; Combined and adapted from Bartlett & Ghoshal (1989) and Sambharya, Kumaraswamy, & Banerjee (2005) Characteristics

International Strategy

Multidomestic Strategy

Configuration of assets and capabilities

Sources of core competencies are centralized and others decentralized

Decentralized and nationally selfsufficient

Centralized and globally scaled

Dispersed interdependent, and specialized

Role of overseas operation

Adapting and leveraging parent company competencies

Sensing and exploiting local responsiveness

Implementing parent company competencies

Differentiated contributions by nation units to integrated worldwide operations

Development and diffusion of knowledge

Knowledge is developed at the center and transferred to overseas units

Knowledge is developed and retained within each unit

Knowledge is developed at the center and transferred to overseas units

Knowledge is developed jointly and shared worldwide

Organization structures

Functional structure; International division

Worldwide or geographical structure

Worldwide product structure

Worldwide matrix structure

Local responsiveness

Low

High

Low

High

Global efficiency

Low

Low

High

High

implement international information systems have faced particular challenges, since national differences, including political and economic factors, infrastructure capabilities, physical environments, and cultural issues, may affect the implementation and use of information systems for MNEs (Sannarnes, 2008). We found that many studies reported successful experiences, issues, and lessons learned through managing, designing, and developing ERP systems and other global applications in multinational settings. For example, Gunson and Blasis (2002) claimed that human and organizational factors are paramount when MNEs implement ERP systems. Palvia et al. (2002) presented a model that suggests that key global IS/IT management issues are influenced by both country-specific and firm-specific factors. Sheu et al.’s studies (2003, 2004) showed that language, politics, government regulations, management style, and

Global Strategy

Transnational Strategy

labor skills are important factors for the success of ERP projects in a global context. Furthermore, Guo and D’Ambra (2009) revealed the influence of national and organizational cultures on technology use in an MNE context. Significant differences were found between respondents from headquarters and from subsidiaries, in terms of their choices of communication media. Researchers also offered ideas that address the issues incumbent in the implementation of international information systems. Lehmann (1996) suggested that every international information system consist of 1) a ‘core’ of systems that is compulsory for all users and 2) ‘local’ systems which provide functionality specific to just one (or a group of) regional subsidiaries. He argued that such a two-dimensional architecture model is flexible enough to accommodate any form of global business strategy. Davenport (1998) argued that a federalist structure, in

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which different elements of the organization have their own versions of an ERP system linked together at a high level, seems appropriate for use by multinational enterprise systems. In this approach, regional units tailor their operations to local requirements and regulatory structure. Olson, Chae, and Sheu (2005) indicate that multinational ERP systems have a higher level of complexity so as to serve many more diverse needs. They further suggest that federalism would be useful for integrating locally unique ERP systems into an integrated whole since each subsidiary of a multinational firm faces unique requirements. However, they also warned that federalism requires expensive customization and additional costs. In summary, the literature related to international information systems helps us identify some characteristics, factors, and approaches that are critical to the successful implementation of any enterprise system in a global context. The success of an MNE depends on its ability to implement business strategies effectively at both the local and the global scale. Competition in the business environment requires an MNE to further enhance its capability for global efficiency and local responsiveness. To achieve these two objectives, MNEs need not only to adopt and integrate various information technologies and systems with innovative approaches but also to continuously fine-tune their technology strategies in order to become more locally responsive and globally efficient. In this regard, Finnegan and Longaigh (2002) suggest that modern MNEs should embrace a transnational strategy and should adopt new information technologies to take close control and coordination of their globally dispersed subsidiaries. On the other hand, institutional theory suggests that many difficult challenges exist for MNEs working to conduct business and to ensure organizational legitimacy in different nations. These stem from political uncertainty, varying regulations and laws, and cultural differences among the various partners of different nationalities in today’s complex global environment (Sambharya, Kumaraswamy, & Banerjee, 2005; Lin, Nagalingam,

Kuik, & Murata, 2012; Markus, Sia, & Soh, 2012; Kien, Soh, & Markus, 2013). As MNEs continue to expand their business in the global market, the increasing number of partners and customers from various countries and locations presents more roadblocks to achieving both local responsiveness and global efficiency. To address these challenges, more and more MNEs are pressured to adopt international information systems in order to better leverage transnational strategies (Sambharya, Kumaraswamy, & Banerjee, 2005). To reduce the total cost of achieving both global efficiency and local responsiveness, internalization theory also suggests that organizations should outsource non-mission-critical services when the costs of internalization outweigh the benefits. As a promising Internet-based technology, cloud computing enables MNEs to optimize their own resources, to focus on their core competencies through private clouds, to reduce their IT operating costs and to gain access to missing resources/competencies by leveraging public clouds. With the synthesis of reviewed theories and perspectives, we believe that the hybrid cloud model is most suitable for MNEs aiming at leveraging cloud computing to support their transnational strategies, both for global efficiency and for local responsiveness.

3. A HYBRID CLOUD MODEL FOR MNES MNEs typically face two types of business pressure: 1) demands for global cost reduction and integration and 2) demands for differentiation and local responsiveness (Roth & Morrison, 1990). In order to meet their various business requirements in a flexible way, we recommend that a hybrid cloud model is a better choice than a public or private cloud model to help MNEs achieve both global efficiency and local responsiveness (see Table 2). The results of the “Future of Cloud Computing” annual survey from 2011 to 2013 (NBVP, 2013) clearly show that the adoption of hybrid clouds by organizations has been

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Table 2. Comparison of private, public and hybrid clouds for MNEs Key Characteristics

Key Disadvantages

Suitable Applications

Public Cloud

Share of resources; Scalability; Cost saving

Security, Privacy & Compliance

Development & test environments; Computing intensive research applications; Non-mission-critical applications

Private Cloud

Close control and Security; Better compliance

Costs (MNEs still have to buy, build, and manage hardware and infrastructure)

Mission-critical applications; Sensitive data

Hybrid Cloud

Handling different IT situations and needs in different areas

Complexity

Customizable applications for different requirements in different areas

rising steadily. More and more organizations are embracing the hybrid cloud model. The survey also found that an increasing number of large enterprises try to reduce IT operating costs by leveraging the scale and flexibility of public clouds but are concerned about data security and about losing control over their own resources. The survey (NBVP, 2013) thus concluded that hybrid clouds will overtake both public clouds and private clouds in five years. Gartner Research predicts that half of the large enterprises will have hybrid cloud deployments by 2017 (Gartner, 2013). Based on the survey results and on our literature review, we believe that the hybrid cloud model is more feasible and practical for MNEs because MNEs typically have large IT investments with the option of deploying mission-critical applications and data on private clouds supported by their own data centers while outsourcing less mission-critical applications on public clouds to save costs. In addition, MNEs often have “different” system owners within their enterprises and there are complex inter-dependencies among the systems, the data that the systems process, the middleware used, and the platforms on which the systems run (Khajeh-Hosseini, Sommerville, & Sriram, 2010). Their information systems are also often developed and supported by people at different times in different regions and countries. Thus, it would be difficult and unrealistic for MNEs to

deploy all applications on public clouds. Perrons and Hems (2013) also suggest that hybrid cloud solutions are a clever way to reap the many benefits of the public cloud and the private cloud while allowing companies to hang onto their legacy systems. Tools such as OpenNebula and Nimbus are emerging to help organizations transform their existing infrastructures into a hybrid cloud (Sotomayor, Montero, Llorente, & Foster, 2009). New techniques have been developed to help multiple cloud service providers collaboratively store and maintain their client data on hybrid clouds (Zhu, Hu, Ahn, Han, & Chen, 2011; Fehling et al., 2011). Institutional theory suggests that each subsidiary of an MNE must conform to the laws and rules imposed by the host country (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). Thus, an MNE may have to build a private cloud in each foreign subsidiary to ensure compliance with local laws and rules. On the other hand, internalization theory holds that building everything internally can be so cost ineffective that there is a need to outsource some services to reduce the total cost (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2009). It may be wise for each subsidiary of an MNE to adopt public clouds for non-critical applications and services, while keeping core applications and sensitive data on private clouds. Based on the above literature review, we propose the hybrid cloud model for MNEs, as

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depicted in Figure 1. This model illustrates that different clouds (pubic clouds and private clouds) in different legal jurisdictions can be integrated to support the IT infrastructure and business requirements of MNEs. Because different clouds need to be integrated as a whole under an enterprise architecture, enterprise service-oriented architectures (ESOA) should be applied to define service communication and interface in terms of protocols, shared data formats, and functionality, as well as to assemble loosely coupled services in both internal and external environments (Tang, 2011; Wang, He, & Wang, 2012). During the past decade, many enterprise systems have been created based on service-oriented architecture (Xu, 2011). As a special style of service-oriented architecture, ESOA are designed to help enterprises build service-oriented enterprise architectures for serving and integrating increasingly sophisticated business processes (Tang, 2011). ESOA typically include three layers: the connection layer, the communication layer, and the mediation layer (Tang, Dong, Zhao, & Zhang, 2010). These layers provide a variety of services to support cloud integration including service orientation, service level management (SLM), loose-coupled integration, interoperability, agility, performance, reliability, reusability, and extensibility (Tang, 2011). Disparate services across the enterprises can also be composed, integrated, or aggregated into high-level services for meeting more complex enterprise business requirements in clouds as needed (Tang, Dong, Zhao, & Zhang, 2010; Rimal, Jukan, Katsaros, & Goeleven, 2011). Different applications located either in public clouds or in private clouds can invoke services either by actions or events through well-defined service interfaces. To ensure cloud performance, the attributes and metrics of cloud quality of service (QoS) can be also defined in ESOA. Technologies such as Enterprise Services Bus (ESB), Web services, SOA-enabled middleware, global event listener, and load balancer are core elements of ESOA. Application-oriented adapters and protocols include Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), TCP/IP, IIOP, SMTP, and HTTP/HTTPs are

used to support message transmission, service conversion and routing, service invocation and dispatch, etc. Due to the advance of cloud computing, many cloud vendors such as IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have expanded the use of ESOA from on-premise to off-premise in order to support the cloud environment (Wang, He, & Wang, 2012). Examples of ESOA include Amazon cloud architecture, IBM SOA-based enterprise architecture, cloud computing open architecture (Zhang & Zhou, 2009), and extended hybrid ESOA (Tang, Dong, Zhao & Zhang, 2010). For example, Amazon cloud architecture is an instance of the combined architecture styles of ESOA and cloud computing (Tang, 2011). These cloud-based ESOA architectural styles are hybrid in nature and allow new services to be added to improve existing SOA services (Tang, Dong, Zhao, & Zhang, 2010; Rimal, Jukan, Katsaros, & Goeleven, 2010). Before MNEs adopt one of these ESOAs provided by cloud vendors to implement their hybrid clouds, we recommend that MNEs evaluate the different ESOA styles provided by major cloud vendors such as IBM, Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon, to learn how they have implemented the hybrid clouds to satisfy their business needs. This model illustrates a hybrid cloud example at a high level because there are many ways to deploy and implement a hybrid cloud. Since there is no widely accepted guideline for designing ESOA, the design approach has to consider enterprise characteristics and detailed business requirements (Wang, He, & Wang, 2012). Furthermore, since flexibility is essential to accommodate the different local needs and requirements of each subsidiary, there is no one right path or approach to use when implementing a hybrid cloud. MNEs are encouraged to customize and adopt variations of the hybrid cloud according to their own organizational structure, functional divisions, technology capabilities, and other factors. For example, an MNE may not need to set up a cloud data center for its regional headquarters, while a cloud data center is needed to serve its few foreign subsidiaries located in the same region (such as the European

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Figure 1. A hybrid cloud model for MNEs

Union). An MNE also has the option to select more than one public cloud service provider because the same provider may not be available in the specific countries where subsidiaries are located. In addition, an MNE can have the option to choose SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, or a combination to achieve a cloud design that meets the particular needs of its organizations. To ensure interoperability among clouds, an MNE should select cloud service providers that align with its enterprise architecture standards (Wang, He, & Wang, 2012). Cloud integration mechanisms are also needed to ensure that multiple clouds work together seamlessly and to federate data, applications, user identity, security, and other details in a transparent way without sacrificing performance and control (Jackson, 2009; Wang, Li, Wang, & Jones, 2012). A trust relationship should be established between private clouds, and between public clouds and private clouds. Furthermore, coordinating the operations of different clouds between headquarters and subsidiaries and among the subsidiaries them-

selves is indispensable to ensuring a seamless information flow within the enterprise. Overall, the final decision on the exact implementation of cloud computing infrastructure depends on the business requirements and processes of each MNE. It should be noted that our hybrid cloud model is somewhat different from other commercial hybrid cloud solutions, such as the “IBM Hybrid Cloud Solution”, which are mainly focused on the technical aspects of integrating, managing, and securing public and private clouds (IBM, 2013). Since privacy and the confidentiality of data depend on the location of its storage (Vecchiola, Pandey, & Buyya, 2009), our proposed model takes both legal jurisdiction and core/noncore applications into consideration. Because of concerns about the legal risks of adopting cloud computing and the uncertainty about the jurisdiction for Internet activities in geographically distributed clouds, the proposed model divides cloud data centers in different countries according to legal

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jurisdiction. Furthermore, core and non-core applications are recommended to be hosted in different clouds in a region with the same legal jurisdiction. Using our proposed model, MNEs should be better able to protect their data and to ensure organizational legitimacy when a dispute arises (Berry & Reisman, 2012; Perrons & Hems, 2013). Existing commercial hybrid cloud solutions such as the “IBM Hybrid Cloud Solution” do not place an emphasis on the legal aspect, since we don’t see any argument of the legal jurisdiction in their solutions. To this end, our proposed model does make a new contribution in terms of the design of hybrid models for MNEs. In summary, our literature review reveals that in most cases, MNEs will be better off with a hybrid cloud. Thus, we recommend that MNE managers consider adopting hybrid clouds as their first choice in terms of cloud adoption and implementation.

4. CASE STUDIES Due to a lack of access to MNEs that have implemented hybrid clouds, we had to rely on secondary data for our case studies. We decided to conduct a search on the Internet to find possible cases that support the feasibility and applicability of the hybrid cloud model. During the search, our model was also revised several times, based on the findings from the cases we studied. The search served two simultaneous purposes: we took away some good ideas from the cases used to develop our model, and the cases were used to validate the usefulness of our model in the real world. The search confirmed that research regarding how MNEs implement their clouds is scarce, since cloud computing by MNEs is still in its infancy. Our extensive search only found fragmented and dispersed discussions regarding MNEs’ implementation of hybrid clouds, from outlets such as white papers, technical reports, news articles, and corporate websites. As a result, we made an effort to consolidate relevant discussions from different data sources to develop two descriptive

case studies. Below are two hybrid cloud cases related to cloud adoption by MNEs:

4.1. Shell As one of the largest oil companies in the world, Royal Dutch Shell is a multinational oil and gas company with operations in over 90 countries. Shell has over 101,000 employees worldwide and around 44,000 service stations. In 2011, Shell had 14,500 servers and 430 data centers and main equipment rooms, including 11 global/ regional data centers. Shell IT staff supported more than 6000 business applications (Crotts, 2011). Shell was working to create a hybrid cloud model in which some applications ran in public clouds and others in on-premises private clouds. Shell’s key cloud concerns included security, global regulations, and service integration. In 2010, Shell Oil Company, the United States-based subsidiary, began to build a cloud infrastructure using Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC). Today, the company’s inhouse server infrastructure is 60% virtual. The other 40% is made up of physical servers because the company’s legacy applications can’t be supported on a virtual infrastructure. Shell used an evolutionary approach to implement cloud computing. Specifically, they first identified internal and external obstacles for implementing cloud computing. Internal obstacles included its traditional IT organization, balancing risks, and educating the corporation’s employees about cloud computing. External obstacles associated with cloud computing included its low maturity, evolving standards, and lack of interoperability (Crotts, 2011). Shell made efforts to reduce these obstacles and to cultivate innovation internally for cloud adoption within its enterprise. Shell also established guidelines for preserving cloud benefits, managing workloads, and choosing and evaluating clouds. As to the procedures, Shell set up testing environments first to test applications and then deployed tested applications on production servers. For example, Shell implemented a tailored SharePoint program for all employees to collaborate worldwide in a hybrid cloud environment. Currently, Shell

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is working on deploying more development platforms, such as ERP and .Net platforms, on the cloud. Jay Crotts, Shell’s vice president of IT Services, summarized four significant advantages that Shell acquired from its use of the hybrid cloud – speed, agility, cost, and scale (Crotts, 2011). To overcome issues related to its implementation of the hybrid cloud, Crotts advised that not everything should be “virtualized” and that enterprises need to “fail fast and fail small” in order to learn the tactics for implementing hybrid clouds. He recommended that enterprises evaluate clouds carefully, including cloud capacity and workload, to use “the right cloud for the right task”, and to give serious consideration to standardization, service integration, and innovation (Murray, 2011; Crotts, 2011). Shell, since then, has been successful in using the hybrid cloud to increase business value and to achieve competitive advantage in the oil market (Murray, 2011).

4.2. Boeing Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and is a leading global manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space, and security systems. As a Fortune 500 corporation, Boeing operates in more than 70 countries. In 2008, Boeing began its efforts to implement an enterprise-wide hybrid cloud computing environment in order to improve process and energy efficiency. Currently, Boeing has over 8,000 virtualized servers internally. As part of its enterprise cloud computing strategy, Boeing classified its data into two categories: low sensitivity data and high sensitivity data. The majority of the data owned by Boeing belongs in the high sensitivity category. Low sensitivity data and applications are being moving to secure public clouds. For example, Boeing’s marketing team hosted the “Boeing 737 Explained” tool, a high-resolution, interactive, and annotated photographic presentation of the Boeing 737, on the Microsoft Windows Azure public cloud (Microsoft, 2011). Boeing’s experience confirmed that using public clouds to deal with

spiky and dynamic loads can reduce the cost of purchasing servers. On the other hand, highly sensitive data and business-critical applications are still hosted on Boeing’s private clouds, which typically have better security control mechanism and better performance in handling predictable loads. The hybrid cloud environment helped Boeing to improve the efficiency of business processes, reduced its IT investment, and saved the company time in getting new servers for its needed services (Verdantix, 2011). David Nelson, the Chief Strategist for Cloud Computing at Boeing, indicates that Boeing will continue to use a hybrid cloud model for getting the best of both public clouds and private clouds, and that the cloud will augment Boeing’s data center instead of replacing its data centers (Nelson, 2011).

5. GUIDELINES FOR HYBRID CLOUD IMPLEMENTATION FOR MNES The above two case studies serve to validate the usefulness of our proposed hybrid cloud model for MNEs. To further help MNEs understand the complexity of adopting and implementing cloud computing in a global context, we provide some insights based on our review of the available literature. Since every industry or enterprise has its own considerations and accompanying goals, these insights are general in nature and do not offer a set of specific instructions (what to do or how to do it) in terms of cloud adoption by MNEs. Every MNE should take the necessary time and effort to plan the cloud computing strategic framework that will work best for its own business requirements. What is best for a specific MNE will depend on the needs of its organization’s structure, regularity of demand, investment level, security, privacy, information policy, and other requirements. Nevertheless, we believe that these insights provide a good strategic guidance for the CIOs and IT managers of MNEs as they consider integrating cloud computing as part of their IT strategic planning to gain a competitive edge.

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First, MNEs should focus on transforming existing IT environments to internal private clouds. Since many MNEs have already invested in their own IT infrastructures and applications over the years, MNEs should resolve the issues of transforming existing IT applications to internal private clouds (Li et al., 2009). Without placing this focus first, MNEs cannot reap the benefits of cloud computing through leveraging existing infrastructure effectively. Furthermore, an enterprise path to the private cloud will most likely begin simply with a pilot deployment before moving to a more complex deployment (IBM, 2010). For example, an enterprise can enter cloud computing by building an exploratory cloud first. Once the IT personnel develop cloud delivery skills and experience, they can add more requirements to build department clouds and enterprise clouds (IBM, 2010). A recommended approach is to use a phased implementation strategy to realize the evolution of cloud computing (Bakshi, 2009). Implementation of cloud computing may take several years, depending on the capabilities of each MNE. By evolving cloud services gradually, each MNE can see the benefits and can get buy-in throughout the organization. Second, MNEs should categorize applications and data based on sensitivity and importance. To take advantage of the cost saving benefit of using public clouds, MNEs will need to identify and categorize mission-critical applications and business-sensitive data which can reside on private clouds generally with better security and privacy protection (Marston, Li, Bandyopadhyay, Zhang, & Ghalsasi, 2011). A recent report from Tata Consultancy Services (2012) found that neither U.S. nor European companies were willing to put core applications on public clouds. On the other hand, supporting and non-core applications (such as email services and online collaboration tools) can be outsourced to the public cloud as much as possible (Motahari-Nezhad, Stephenson, & Singhal, 2009). The hybrid approach brings together the best of both worlds by using both public and private clouds.

Third, MNEs should carefully evaluate and select cloud service vendors/providers. The choice of IT vendors/providers is a key factor in determining the success of many IT projects (Han & Lee, 2012). MNEs can evaluate and select cloud service providers using multiple criteria such as cloud platform maturity, technology alignment, operational alignment, and geographic alignment (Thethi, 2009). Leong (2009) suggests that while cost, operational stability, and the ability to scale are important factors when choosing a cloud service provider, each organization should consider how well a particular cloud solution suits its organization’s application architecture, how well it provides the level of customer support needed by the organization, and how well it meets the organization’s service level, security, privacy, and compliance needs. Especially, Leong and Chamberlin (2010) suggest that organizations look for a cloud service provider who can provide costeffective architecture and high-quality customer experience. They also propose weightings for specific evaluation criteria including the ability to execute and the completeness of vision. Since there are a variety of cloud service providers in the cloud market, each MNE should carefully evaluate the capabilities of these cloud service providers, including strengths and weaknesses, based on the above four criteria and on its own specific criteria. The purpose of this evaluation is to choose the cloud service providers that can provide a cloud design that will meet each MNE’s business needs and requirements. Not every cloud design is right for every company or in every country. Therefore, MNEs should demand that their cloud service provider provide the customization of services and features to meet the specific regulations or laws of each jurisdiction. For instance, in order to satisfy the European Union’s data protection law, an MNE could request that a cloud service provider ensure that the personal data of its European customers and employees be stored only on servers within Europe. As another instance, an MNE can request that cloud service providers include the geographic location of cloud servers as a parameter of its service level agreement

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because the physical location of a cloud may be regulated by jurisdiction. Fourth, MNEs should adopt a holistic approach. Cloud adoption will certainly cause a change for IT resources management structure and governance in MNEs (Markus, Sia & Soh, 2012) and will inevitably have profound effects on both the performance of organizations and the individuals (particularly the IT staff) at work. Therefore, an MNE should proactively develop and refine an overall “cloud strategy” (Marston, Li, Bandyopadhyay, Zhang, & Ghalsasi, 2011) with a holistic view. This holistic approach should take business, process, technology, organization, and people factors all together into perspective, and not just focus on moving the application x, y, or z (Gunson & Blasis, 2002) to clouds. MNEs also need to implement organization-wide IS policies across a diverse cloud computing services from multiple vendors (Marston, Li, Bandyopadhyay, Zhang, & Ghalsasi, 2011). Top management support, careful planning, and the education of all stakeholders are necessary to identify the best cloud design for meeting the business requirements and for overcoming the resistance to change, in terms of cloud adoption and implementation.

6. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH Cloud computing is changing the way that IT resources are utilized and consumed (Armbrust et al., 2010; Li, Xu, Wang, & Wang, 2012). MNEs cannot afford to bypass this new IT paradigm. In order to provide better business services at a lower cost and to stay ahead of the competition, MNEs should constantly innovate and optimize their IT infrastructures. Cloud computing makes it possible to monitor subsidiary and remote activities on a much greater scale than ever before. However, widespread enterprise adoption of cloud computing is contingent upon solving technical problems and non-technical (security, privacy, regulation, etc) issues. It is nearly inevitable that MNEs will include cloud computing as a part of their IT

strategic planning, even though cloud benefits also come with costs. Based on our literature review, we believe that MNEs will be better off by adopting a hybrid cloud model, such as the one we proposed in Figure 1, and by taking a holistic but evolutionary approach. In this way, we believe that MNEs will be able to reap the benefits of both public and private clouds while addressing challenges and concerns regarding security, privacy, and regulation compliance, as technology advances and as business practices progress. Our literature review shows that there is little prior research to guide decision making by MNE management regarding the adoption of cloud models and strategies. Many MNE managers ask: should we choose a public cloud, a private cloud, or a hybrid cloud? This paper attempts to answer this question through a review of the relevant literature. As a result, the hybrid cloud model is recommended, and implementation guidelines are provided to support decision making regarding cloud adoption. Further research is needed to collect more empirical evidence of cloud adoption and implementation by MNEs and to roll out detailed enterprise cloud computing architectures and coordination mechanisms for MNEs (Wang, He, & Wang, 2012). Efforts are also needed for an MNE’s headquarters and its subsidiaries to collaborate on cloud computing standardization strategies and activities during the implementation process, so that various software and hardware systems can interact with one another efficiently. The development of standards for interfaces, protocols, and services is necessary to enable multiple clouds to work as a single entity (Li et al., 2009; Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2009; Zhang, Cheng, & Boutaba, 2010) with global partners. Cloud standardization is essential to help an MNE communicate with its partners more effectively over the cloud. Future research would benefit from an exploration of the impact of cloud adoption on the organizational structure, business strategy, information policy, and operation of an MNE. Economic models that include an efficiency and effectiveness analysis of cloud computing

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for MNEs are also crucial for the future success of cloud computing. Research on the enforcement and liability of cloud service contracts/ agreements from an international perspective when service failures occur is also an interesting research area.

Crotts, J. (2011). Getting more mileage out of Hybrid CloudJay. Retrieved October 13, 2013 at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/showcase/ details.aspx?uuid=22e237f8-c735-4692-b8de687e5367e177

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Wu He received the B.S. degree in Computer Science from DongHua University, China, in 1998, and the Ph.D. degree in Information Science from the University of Missouri, USA, in 2006. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Information Technology at Old Dominion University. His research interests include Data Mining, Cyber Security, Social Media, and Knowledge Management. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, International Journal of Information Management, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Internet Research, Information Technology and Management, Expert Systems with Applications, etc. Feng-Kwei Wang is a distinguished professor at Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. Before moving back to Taiwan in September 2004, he held a faculty position at University of Missouri – Columbia. During his industrial tenure of 8 years in Taiwan, he served as the group general manager of the Madenform International Group, a health management company, and the executive director of ITRI College, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Dr. Wang is interested in the applications of multimedia and network technologies to enhance human learning and business performance. His primary teaching areas at Chinese Culture University include technology innovation and leadership development.

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