CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR ADOPTION OF CLOUD COMPUTING IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN KENYA

Authors

  • Charles Too Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Kenya
  • Emily Bomett Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Kenya
  • Catherine Kiprop Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Kenya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i10.3939

Keywords:

critical success factors, management support, technical support, user preparedness, adoption of cloud computing

Abstract

Cloud computing technology is a distributed computing approach whereby users access shared resources under various service models through the internet. It allows individual access to information technology resources through the internet upon demand. Cloud computing is an essentially growing terminology in the IT world and has become increasingly present in the life of institutions of higher learning. Institutions of higher learning consider cloud computing and construction of digital content platforms as a way of enhancing resource utilization and improvement of service delivery. The sudden and frenzied rush for cloud computing by universities has been aggravated by exponential growth in data traffic and the need for innovative learning such as e-learning and virtual classrooms amid COVID 19 pandemic (Kenya Education Network-KENET, 2021). Perhaps it is from that realization and the need to adhere to COVID 19 protocols that most public universities in Kenya have adopted cloud computing. In this study, we sought to find out the critical success factors for adoption of cloud computing in public universities in Kenya. The study set out three (3) objectives and consequently three (3) null hypotheses to guide it. Quantitative research design was adopted for this study. Similarly, International Business Machines-IBM (2011) model for cloud adoption offered theoretical guidance. At a confidence interval of 95%, an online sample size calculator was used to arrive at three hundred and sixty two (362) respondents out of six thousand two hundred (6200) target population. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique and an online list randomizer were used to select respondents in the selected universities to participate in the study. Multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses in this study based on empirical data obtained by a survey questionnaire of thirty nine (39) questions from the two (2) public universities. Multiple regression results showed significant positive effect of Management Support (β=.257), Technical Support (β=.353), and User Preparedness (β=.475) on adoption of cloud computing at p<.05. Regression results gave a coefficient of determination R2=.908 which means 90.8% of the variation in adoption of cloud computing can be explained by Management Support, Technical Support, and User Preparedness combined. Based on the coefficient of determination (R2), the three null hypotheses (H01, H02, & H03) were rejected at p<0.05. Regression analysis showed that Management Support, Technical Support and User Preparedness are critical success factors in cloud adoption in public universities in Kenya. This study provides new and relevant insights to literature on cloud adoption in higher education service in Kenya.

 

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Author Biographies

  • Charles Too, Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Kenya
    Charles Too is a Lecturer in the Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Kenya. The author has published articles in peer reviewed journals and has research interests on: Leadership in Education, Quality Management Systems in Education, Performance Contracts and Policy Issues in Education. He is a trained Quality Internal Auditor (ISO 9001:2015 standards). Charles has tremendous passion for Information Technology and is a resource person in applied statistics and data analysis in research.
  • Emily Bomett, Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Kenya
    Emily J. Bomett has been working as a senior lecturer with a PhD in the School of Education, Department of Education Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. She has written papers in journals which covers the following areas: gender participation, retention with particular interest in the boy child and the girl mother; leadership and management particularly in strategic management and planning: Information Technology. Her Professional expertise is in management, leadership and administration for educationists and institutional managers.
  • Catherine Kiprop, Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Kenya
    Catherine Kiprop is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Kenya. She has published widely in peer reviewed journals and currently serves as editor of two book projects. Her research interests include but are not limited to: school management and leadership, strategic management and gender issues.

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Published

2021-09-17

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 10 (2021)

Section

Articles

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