[AISWorld] Final CfP for the track "Cloud Computing and Services in Global Settings" at ECIS 2013

[Inge van de Weerd]

CALL FOR PAPERS

Track "Cloud Computing and Services in Global Settings"
(https://sites.google.com/site/ecis2013nl/the-conference/tracks-and-keynotes/track-cloud-computing-and-services-in-global-settings)

at the 21th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2013)
June 5-8, 2013, Utrecht University, Netherlands

 *** Deadline for paper submission: December 7th, 2012 ***

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THEME AND TOPICS

More and more companies use cloud computing solutions for their business
applications and its impact is indisputable. Several predictions
indicate that cloud computing will grow in the following years: IDC
predicts that by 2013 10% of all IT purchases will be cloud computing
related; Gartner predicts that in end of 2016, more than 50% of Global
1000 companies will have stored customer-sensitive data in the public
cloud; and KPMG reports that 81% of all businesses are either planning,
starting or already working with cloud computing implementations.
Although the estimates differ, the main trend is undeniable: the use of
cloud computing solutions is quickly gaining ground.

The shift towards the cloud has enormous impact on how companies utilize
software. We can make an analogy with electricity here: in the
nineteenth century, factories had to build their own dedicated power
generator capabilities in order to get their machines running. Nowadays,
many firms have to make large up-front investments for their IT
applications and infrastructure. Just as electricity utilities removed
the entry barriers for industries, cloud computing removes entry
barriers for companies that use IT. Computing is now offered as utility.

Despite many advantages of cloud computing, such as low entry barriers,
more scalability, faster implementation times and more business agility,
there are also challenges, such as managing organizational change,
adapting (IT) governance processes, trusting third parties with secure
data, making strategic sourcing decisions, and dealing with new pricing
and licensing models.

As a specific focus, we address globalization and internationalization
aspects: cloud computing, service-oriented architectures and
corresponding concepts are by nature distributed and in most cases
global. The research focus of these concepts has primarily been on
technology solutions. However, the organizational and human aspects,
especially with regard global challenges to these technologies, are more
and more explored. Outsourcing and offshoring solutions have been
discussed frequently, in both research and in industry. As more and more
organizations apply outsourcing and offshoring practices, new ways have
to be found to compete in this rapidly changing environment. Key topics
in this field are the organization of offshore processes, work and
support of global (virtual) teams as well as specific aspects such as
trust, or coordination across time zones.

To be successful in a global service infrastructure from a human
perspective, stakeholders need to be enabled to successfully deploy and
adapt services as well as coordinate and communicate with related
organizations on a global level. This includes new key competencies for
individuals and organizations, such as intercultural management /
communication. Moreover, organizations and individuals need support to
acquire and continuously enhance those skills. Furthermore, other
technological innovations, cultural awareness and competencies are key
success factors for the future.
 This track wishes to explore these challenges and other issues relating
to the adoption and use of cloud computing solutions in organizations,
and its influence on process organization and design. The scope includes
Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), as well as
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Cloud computing adoption, diffusion and implementation
- Business impact of changing to cloud solutions
- Cloud computing and organizational change
- Cloud computing, organizational learning and absorptive capacity
- Consequences of cloud computing for the IT profession
- Licensing, pricing, monitoring and billing in cloud computing
- Cloud computing economics
- Cloud sourcing, make or buy decision processes
- Risks and benefits of using cloud computing
- Trust, security and reliability in cloud computing
- Audits and certification processes and standards in cloud computing
- Changing IT usage patterns
- Cloud computing and start-ups
- Cloud computing and IT governance
- Service visualization
- Cloud federations, service marketplaces and ecosystems
- Cloud computing in developing countries
- Cloud computing and sustainability

TRACK CHAIRS
Jan M. Pawlowski, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, jan.pawlowski at jyu.fi
Inge van de Weerd, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
i.vande.weerd at vu.nl
Alexander Benlian, TU Darmstadt, Germany, benlian at winf.tu-darmstadt.de

ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Erran Carmel, Kogod School of Business, American University, USA
Ole Hanseth, University of Oslo, Norway
Thomas Hess, LMU Munich, Germany
Slinger Jansen, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Marios Koufaris, Zicklin School of Business of Baruch College, CUNY, USA
Karl Lang, Zicklin School of Business of Baruch College, CUNY, USA
Karl Michael Popp, SAP, Germany
Nabil Sultan, Liverpool Hope University, United Kingdom
Ryad Titah, HEC Montréal, Canada
Pasi Tyrväinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Thomas Widjaja, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany


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