Investigating Factors Influencing the Adoption of IT Cloud Computing Platforms in Higher Education: Case of Sub-Saharan Africa With IT Professionals

Abstract

Cloud computing has become an emerging IT platform for productive services and efficient use of innovation in higher education. The purpose of this research study is to investigate the factors that influence the adoption of cloud computing in Sub-Saharan Africa under Ethiopian higher education. These factors professed to influence the adoption of cloud computing built on the integrated framework of technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, diffusion of innovation (DoI) theory, and sociocultural theory. In-depth interviews have been taken with the University of Gondar key professionals in Ethiopia to accomplish this research study. The results show that the organisational factors are more influential factors than the technological, environmental, and sociocultural factors to the adoption of cloud computing (CC) in the Ethiopian higher education (EHE) sector. This qualitative study aids researchers and practitioners in the field of IT technology cloud to employ these key factors suggestive to cloud computing adoption in the higher educational institutions.