“Implications of Cloud Computing On Non-Governmental Organizations” “…Issues Of Data Sharing And Security”.



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“Implications of Cloud Computing On Non-Governmental Organizations” “…Issues Of Data Sharing And Security”.



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Bakaweri Batowise Emmanuel

Non-governmental organizations operating within the Ghanaian community continue to play a pivotal role in addressing the disparity between rural and urban areas. The activities of these organizations are multifaceted and seen in the various projects or programs that they undertake. Globally the use of information technology tools and applications presents various added benefits to any organization that choose to apply and effectively utilize these tools. At a time when the global call for open data and collaboration between such organizations is highest, NGOs continue to deploy high capital expensive IT infrastructures to meet this purpose as well as the technological needs of their organizations. In addition to these high setup costs, organizations constantly have to monitor, repair and guard these computing systems from security and data breeches. Today cloud computing has been hyped as a feature technology that is being adopted by SMEs and larger corporate organizations as a major enabler of business functions. Although this new paradigm is considered to be in its developmental stages, the recorded benefits have invariable challenged the traditional aspects of computing services among enterprises. This study seeks to encourage the adoption and utilization of cloud technologies for business operations and data sharing among NGOs. More specifically, the study sought to investigate the levels of adoption and utilization of cloud services among various NGOs, benefits and risks that implementers of this technology are likely to encounter in its implementation as well as industry’s practices for mitigating these risks. The results of the study showed that although most individuals alluded to being familiar with the concept of cloud computing, the levels of adoption and utilization of the technology among the larger NGO community was found to be low. From perusal of literary sources, it was also established that cloud adopters spend less on IT architectures that suit their business needs through rapid and easy provisioning of these service, flexibility in scaling up or down IT resources, disaster recovery, data security as well as increased productivity through collaboration. Cloud computing’s risks pertinent to data security, confidentiality, availability; service level agreements, segregation and reliability were also recognized. In conclusion, the study recommends further sensitization and education about cloud computing’s benefits to encourage its adoption and use by NGOs. Likely adopters of this technology are also advised to ensure the development of good holistic service level agreements to prevent legal issues that may arise from implementing cloud and for a smooth cloud experience.

MSc. Management Information Systems

Ghana Technology University College

May 2017

Dr. Ezer Osie Yeboah-Boateng