Local Cloud Computing Service Adoption in Nigeria: Challenges and Solutions

Cloud momentum seems unstoppable in Nigeria, as businesses and organizations in the country see less and less advantage in the slog of maintaining their infrastructure. The shift to the cloud in today's COVID-19 driven world has created an opportunity for investments to improve local cloud computing services. However, there are key challenges that must be addressed by the local cloud service providers in the country in order not to lose out to the foreign cloud service providers. This paper assessed the challenges to local cloud computing services adoption among sixty-seven (67) businesses and organizations in Nigeria. The research employed a non-probability purposive sampling approach. The surveyed data were obtained through an online form which was distributed via Linkedln. Descriptive and inferential analysis was used in analyzing the collected data via IBM SPSS software. Findings from the research showed the key challenges to include inadequate awareness of local cloud service vendors, poor innovation and local content, inadequate cloud infrastructure, local cloud vendor interoperability issue, national insecurity, shortages in skilled personnel, Service Level Agreement (SLA), security strategies, privacy, compliance terms, and requirements issues. Thus, adequate local cloud service offerings, skilled personnel, and the IT infrastructural backbone of the country have to be well established to increase the trust in local cloud computing, open up Nigeria to offshore markets while driving economic competitiveness and growth.