Assessing cloud readiness:a case of Nairobi county government

Abstract

Cloud computing is an emerging technology that is being embraced by more and more organizations. It has been viewed as a way to increase the capacity or add capabilities dynamically without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. A qualitative approach was adopted for this study. In order to gather information on the subject matter, questionnaires were used. The responses were fed into a cloud readiness assessment tool and score generated based on the questions. The score ranked the cloud readiness status as average at 65.4%. This is ranked as average based on the Business Software Alliance Global Cloud Computing Scorecard. Improving hardware readiness was identified as an area needing improvement. This can be achieved by obtaining a higher degree of virtualization and by willing to upgrade the current hardware and software infrastructure. Connectivity readiness was also identified as needing improvement. The study also found out that faster broadband connection with redundant capabilities can improve the score.The assessment computed a potential value of 70.4% that Nairobi County government could gain from the functionalities and flexibility of the cloud.