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Impact of
Impact of cloud computing as a cloud
digital technology on computing

SMEs sustainability
Basma Al-Mutawa and Muneer Mohammed Saeed Al Mubarak
College of Business and Finance, Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain
Received 28 September 2022
Revised 20 February 2023
Accepted 29 April 2023
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the adoption of cloud computing as a digital
technology by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and assess its impact on sustainability of such
enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach – A model was developed that featured factors influencing SMEs
sustainability. Primary quantitative data was gathered using a survey as an instrument. Total set of n = 387
responses were gathered using a convenience sampling method.
Findings – Findings reveal that cost reduction, ease of use, reliability and sharing and collaboration factors
have significant statistical impacts on SMEs sustainability, whereas privacy and security factor has no
significant statistical on SMEs sustainability.
Practical implications – The study poses significant implications on managers and SME development
authority to create an inductive environment for technological support for SMEs’ sustainability.
Originality/value – The study enhances SMEs’ performance and sustainability by upgrading their
existing information and communications technology as a digital infrastructure and benefiting from novel IT-
based cloud revolution. Several studies have provided an understanding of the use of cloud computing
services in SMEs but lack enough information about the challenges and impact on SMEs sustainability.
Keywords Cloud computing, SMEs, Sustainability, ICT, Digital, Infrastructure
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Cloud computing is considered as one of the best computing paradigms in the field of
information technology (IT) in recent years by replacing existing computing paradigm
which includes grid computing, parallel computing and distributive computing. The
additional aided benefits of cloud computing include its capability to allow users to scale up
and scale down with minimal engagement with third parties (Alam, 2020). Cloud computing
changed the form of business management, especially during the Covid 19 pandemic, where
many businesses relied on it in digital transformation. On the other hand, customers’
increased demand for products and electronic shopping imposed on these businesses this
transformation. This technology, which allows the owner of the organization to manage his
operations, accounts and customers relationships from anywhere or at any time, whether in
travel or at home, has greatly affected the continuity of the business. (Singh et al., 2021).
Cloud computing emerged with the growth of the internet. It became attractive for the
business to eliminate the extra cost for the users and allow them to use the resources better.
Despite the advancement in science and technology, cloud computing still has huge Competitiveness Review: An
International Business Journal
opportunities in the IT industry, with cloud computing technology currently in the early © Emerald Publishing Limited
1059-5422
stage of development (Zhang et al., 2010). Cloud computing plays a significant role between DOI 10.1108/CR-09-2022-0142
CR talent management and competitive advantage of the company. It helps managing human
resources and improves company’s performance. It also reduces costs and improves quality
and innovation (Abu-Darwish et al., 2022).
Ali (2020) stated that National Institute of Standards and Technology in USA which
provided five characteristics of cloud computing which includes on-demand self-service,
broad network access, rapid elasticity and automatic resource optimization which is widely
offered by various service models of cloud computing which includes Platform as a services
(PaaS), Software as a Services (SaaS) and Cloud Infrastructure as a services (CaaS). Country
wide popularity of cloud computing has not only enabled large organization to shift their
information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure on cloud computing but
has also attracted small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bahrain to shift their existing
ICT infrastructure on cloud services. Sarwat and Ammar (2022) findings on Bahrain SME’s
suggests that cloud computing offers more stable and customizable infrastructure for firms
to expand their business while achieving efficiency in their operations and adding capacity
of more value added services. SMEs play a vital role in economies since they are the
companies with the greatest capacity for job creation, carry out a high percentage of
manufacturing activities and constitute a basis for expanding industries (Manzoor et al.,
2021). Security and reliability directly effects user trust in cloud storage application,
whereas data location, back-up capability, data recovery transparency indirectly effects user
trust through mediating role of security.
Cloud computing adoption is the affordable choice for SMEs because of the greater
accessibility, flexibility and data security in disaster recovery, providing enough benefit for
the SMEs. In addition, it also provides the SMEs competitive advantage in terms of saving
money and provides more focus on the objective and the business process while using the
energy (Mohlameane and Ruxwana, 2014). SMEs can avail themselves of the opportunities
of cloud computing services, which allow them to compete in the ICT innovative market
environment by providing leverage in their business’s success. Some of the benefits of the
cloud computing services for the SMEs are the low cost and up to data software solutions,
access to the data anytime and anywhere, unlimited storage of the data and flexibility in
terms of placing business solutions, high level of security, data protection and the business
performance through using data management on cloud (Modisane and Jokonya, 2021).
This study suggests factors of cloud computing that should be considered to sustain and
enhance SMEs’ performance. Among many studies which have been conducted in cloud
computing services in SMEs, few have touched upon the importance of cloud computing in
SMEs sustainability. The remainder of this article is organized into five sections. First, we
review the literature to have in-depth understating on cloud computing and sustainability,
second, we develop conceptual model and put study hypotheses forward, third, we outline
research methodology along with reliability test to keep items ready for analysis, fourth, we
present the findings and discuss study research, and finally we put the concluding remarks
along with study implications, limitations and future research.

2. Literature review
2.1 Cloud computing
Cloud computing technology is regarded as the most significant improvement after the
development and the emergence of the internet. Moreover, cloud computing gives birth to
numerous new business models. Cloud computing is the disruptive technology necessary for
SMEs’ sustainability (Alsafi and Fan, 2020). The concept of cloud computing was proposed
by an MIT professor John McCarthy in 1960 who stated that similar to other uses, such as
water and electricity, computing can also be sold as a use (Srivastava and Khan, 2018). The
concept of cloud computing emerged from the word “cloud”, which refers to the collection of Impact of
water molecules. Cloud computing is a collection of networks that enables users to use cloud
modalities boundlessly upon request instead of setting up their physical infrastructure for computing
the network. The third party provider manages and owns all the resources related to cloud
computing, such as software, servers, storage, networking and electricity, which are
necessary for providing the services. The organizations or users who opt for the services
from the third party must “plug into” the cloud (Ahmed et al., 2020).
Moreover, the users can access the cloud for services from anywhere. Hence, the users
can take the benefits of cloud computing without making heavy investments to acquire and
maintain cloud computing resources and convenience. This enables users to only pay for the
services they had used to shift the workload on the cloud instead of computers, reducing the
requisition of hardware and software required to manage data centers. Cloud computing
comprises three components which include client computers, distributed servers and data
centers. Hence, the users save the cost of maintaining the space needed for the cloud
computing setup and the cost associated with the administrative staff required to maintain
the database, network and system. Moreover, cloud computing services provide the user
flexibility and easiness to increase or decrease the use of cloud computing resources. The
users are allowed to purchase and alter their subscriptions at any time. For instance, a user
buys 5GBs space for the data and in the future wants to increase its cloud computing space
to 45 GBs; the service providers easily increase the user’s space on the cloud (Kim, 2009).

2.2 Organizational sustainability

Sustainability has emerged as a popular issue in academic and company boardrooms.
Organizational sustainability can be analyzed using a design approach which suggests that
organizational success depends upon the strategies and purpose which is aligned to its
structure and process. The sustainable organization concept suggests that organizations are
modifying its purpose and are formulating strategies which emphasize on its economic
success, social justice and ecological health as an integrated set of outcomes (Mohrman and
Worley, 2010). Over the last two decades there is an increasing interest in sustainability. In a
nutshell, organizations act in a sustainable way when they support three dimensions of
triple bottom line (TBL) which includes social, economic and environmental dimensions.
Concept of sustainability was first introduced by United Nations World Commission in 1987
where sustainability was defined as an economic model which allows meeting the need of
current generation without compromising on the need of future generation. However, the
concept of sustainability is a multidimensional concept where the economic dimension deals
with the organizational attitude to create value for their customers by balancing the cost and
revenue in the production and distribution of goods and services. Thus, the economic
dimension can be measured in terms of financial performance (Schaltegger et al., 2015). The
social dimension of TBL deals with the organizational attitude to preserve and develop
human social capital of communities within the organization to create value by
incorporating aspects of job satisfaction, quality of life, social integration, equality and
justice. Lastly, environmental dimension of emphasizes on compatibility between the trend
and renewal of resources of nature by manifesting attitude of consumption of natural
resources using recycling, reusing and adaption of new models for circular economy
(Braccini and Margherita, 2019). Developing a sustainability index was found to be effective
as it increases companies’ performance. Investors are inclined to invest in companies with
better sustainability practices that lead to market performance (Najaf et al., 2023).
CR 2.3 Adaption of cloud computing in small and medium enterprises
The Economic changes post-Covid and the rapid advancement in technology influenced
SMEs to adopt cloud computing technology to stay in the market. Those organizations that
adapt cloud computing technologies are operating in the business environment with a
different business model that helps them create and sustain a competitive edge (Marcysiak
and Pleskacz, 2021). The researchers from the past collectively agreed that cloud computing
is not regarded as a trend in the business environment. Rather it has become a tool that
assists the organization in sustaining a competitive advantage (Hassan, 2021). SMEs are
responsible for reducing and overcoming the gap in society by eradicating poverty. Hence, it
is critical and crucial for enterprises to select the right cloud computing model. The cloud
computing services have consisted of three models: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. The IaaS is the
applications related to the cloud computing infrastructure services, SaaS is the set of cloud
computing applications that provides the software as services, whereas PaaS is a wide range
of cloud computing applications that provides a platform as services (Myhre and Aalvik,
2020).
SMEs have experienced substantial difficulties and hurdles in realizing the benefits
reaped by cloud and its implications on SME performance. There is ever-growing evidence
that SMEs have not used it at the desired level of adoption. Cloud computing for managing
human resource management system has emerged as a growing phenomenon in SMEs.
SMEs are increasingly using cloud computing services to handle massive data sets and
improve human resource management practices by storing data at central location which is
cloud which enables firm to overcome challenges associated with decision-making,
efficiency, scalability and inefficiency in data processing.

2.4 Benefits of cloud computing for small and medium enterprises

2.4.1 Cost reduction. The weaknesses of conventional servers have been overcome by cloud
computing technology’s efficiency, speed and scalability provision. Widyastuti and
Irwansyah (2017) explored the challenges and the benefits of cloud computing technology
that could help the SMEs adopt the technology. They found that most valuable and
perceived benefit of the cloud computing technology by the top management of SMEs was
the cost-saving feature of cloud computing technology. Provided the different benefits
and the attractiveness of the cloud computing technology, the SMEs are still reluctant to
adopt the cloud computing technology. Ming et al. (2018) conducted a study to explore the
factor affecting the adoption of cloud computing technology. The results revealed that top
management’s support, cost-saving and technological readiness are the main factors that
influenced the adoption of cloud computing technology in Malaysia. Research studies have
provided little insight on the post-adoption effects of cloud computing technology in the case
of SMEs. Cloud computing technology fascinates SMEs because it is cost-effective (Hussin
et al., 2018).
Zhang et al. (2021) explored cloud computing technology from the vendor’s perspective.
The results indicate that the vendors are keen and providing their best to resolve the
security and privacy-related concerns of the customers. Moreover, cloud computing
capabilities were regarded as significant in predicting the sustainability of SMEs. Dinc
a
et al. (2019) conducted a study to identify factors that influence decisions related to adoption
of cloud computing technology in SMEs and revealed that perceived cost benefits related to
the cloud computing technology’s implementation help the firm make the cloud computing
adoption decisions. The solution based upon cloud computing technologies benefits the
organization in maintaining close contact with the existing customers and establishing
healthy and strong relationships with the new customers by investing the lowest possible
cost. Baker and Kaur (2020) investigated the extent to which SMEs were familiar with Impact of
benefits of cloud computing technology, such as the SaaS CRM. The findings revealed that cloud
only 10% of the firms were using cloud computing solutions, and that SMEs using the cloud
computing solution favored technology based on the perceived usefulness, ease of use and
computing
cost benefits (Baker and Kaur, 2020). Mikkonen and Khan (2016) studied cloud computing
service adoption in SMEs and revealed that cost-effectiveness, data security, reliability and
scalability of the organizational resource utilization, lowering the technology risk and
effective IT support have a significant role in the adoption of cloud computing. Sultan (2011)
examined SMEs in managing cloud computing while addressing the economic and
efficiency merit of cloud computing in SMEs. The study outcomes revealed that SMEs are
commercially successful in terms of cloud computing due to their cost structure and
flexibility in adoption.
2.4.2 Ease of use. In recent year, cloud computing has emerged as a significant and
noteworthy milestone of ICT. Kayode et al. (2018) examined the ease of use and the user-
friendliness of the cloud computing service and found that cloud computing services are
easy to use and integrate the work using cloud-based services, saving time and flexibility in
data loss. The revolution of the internet leads to significant changes in the conduct of SMEs.
Herzallah and Mukhtar (2016) conducted research to present a comprehensive analysis on
the significance of cloud computing’s role in the sustainability of SMEs. The study
examined the role of perceived trust and ease of use on the adoption of electronic commerce,
specifically cloud computing. The findings revealed that the ease of use, trust and reliability
associated with the technology have a positive influence on the manager’s behavioral
intentions to adopt the technology.
Pathan et al. (2017) explored the factors that influence the adoption of cloud computing
technology in SMEs. The results revealed that the relative advantages significantly affect
the adoption of cloud computing technology. Gamage (2019) conducted a study concerning
the factors influencing the adoption of cloud computing technologies in SMEs. The findings
revealed that relative advantages such as ease of use, reliability, collaboration, perceived
usefulness, competitive pressure, management’s support, training and education have
significant impacts on adoption of cloud computing technology. Mwavali (2021)
investigated the level of cloud computing adoption by exploring the factors that influence
the adoption of cloud computing in SMEs and found that the adoption of cloud computing
technology is low; however, SMEs were influenced by the cloud computing benefits and
advantages related to security, ease of use, cost-efficiency and reliability.
2.4.3 Reliability. Cloud computing is considered reliable, cost-effective and a source that
minimizes the efforts and increases organizational efficiency. The numerous cloud
computing benefits and advantages, such as expansion opportunities, helping the
businesses provide the solution to the customers, global trade, economic growth on the
operation and strategic level, make cloud computing technology reliable and significant for
the sustainability of the SMEs (Kandil et al., 2018). Concerning the case of SMEs, the pieces
of evidence from numerous past researchers regarded flexibility, reliability and low cost are
the most attractive features of cloud computing technology (Anomelechi et al., 2018).
Sengkhyavong (2019) explores the relationship between the adoption of cloud computing
technology and the perceived ease of use, usefulness, reliability, benefits and security and
found that the perceived benefits, perceived usefulness and the perceiver ease of use were
the significant predictors of the adoption of cloud computing technology. In contrast, the
perceived cost and the perceived reliability were the insignificant predictors of cloud
computing technology.
CR Sabahi (2011) studied cloud computing regarding reliability, serviceability and
availability by addressing the challenges of adopting cloud computing. The study used
different IT enterprises in optimizing the performance and the cost-effective manager
through the application of cloud computing. The study outcomes showed that reliability and
availability significantly impact cloud service adoption. Khayer et al. (2020) studied factors
influencing the adoption of cloud computing technology and highlighted the role of cloud
computing technology in improving the performance of SMEs. The study findings indicate
the relative advantages concerning reliability, cost-efficiency, convenience was the
significant predictor of the adoption of cloud computing technology. Moreover, the findings
of the study revealed that the adoption of cloud computing technology increased the service
quality, productivity, performance, reduced the IT cost, increased the efficiency related to
the operations and created new opportunities for the business.
Kandil et al. (2018) conducted a study to explore the significance of trust,
reliability, collaboration, management’s support and other relative advantages of
adopting cloud computing technology which indicated that the reliability and the
security of the cloud computing technology influenced the perception regarding the
usefulness of the cloud computing technology. Moreover, the relative advantages
were found to positively affect the adoption of cloud computing technology in SMEs.
Anomelechi et al. (2018) found that flexibility, security, reliability and cost reduction are
the prominent attributes of cloud computing technology for SMEs. Almarabeh and
Majdalawi (2019) regarded cloud computing as a revolution in the internet world and the
business world. Cloud computing provides optimal services with minimal cost; hence
this innovation is increasing the efficiency of the organizations. The study highlighted
some of the benefits and the challenges in adopting cloud computing technology. The
scalability, efficiency, sharing and collaboration, availability, easy management and use
cost reduction and reliability are some benefits of cloud computing technology whereas,
the trust, surety, privacy, data storage, service standard issues and connectivity are key
challenges of the cloud computing technology.
2.4.4 Sharing and collaboration. Myhre and Aalvik (2020) studies how realization of the
benefits obtained from cloud computing can help in the adoption of cloud computing
technology. The study findings revealed that challenges related to the adoption of cloud
computing technologies could be resolved by realizing the benefits of cloud computing.
Moreover, findings revealed accessibility, sharing, traceability and collaboration are among
the list of the major benefits of cloud computing. Priyadarshinee et al. (2017) examined the
factors that are regarded as critical in the adoption of cloud computing technology by SMEs.
The results revealed confidentiality, integrity, security and privacy, sharing, collaboration
and organizational risk are the factors that influence sustainability by affecting the adoption
of cloud computing technology in SMEs.
Ooi et al. (2018) studied cloud computing in the manufacturing companies addressing the
capacity of the SME in the usage of cloud service and regulating the IT usage in the
companies. The findings demonstrated that adoption of cloud computing results in effective
collaboration within the SMEs and increases productivity, agility and flexibility through
enhancing the IT capability. Zabalza et al. (2012) discussed the benefit of the computing
service for SMEs. The findings demonstrated that investment in the resource and usage of
cloud computing help SMEs share the resources and collaboration between the activities
through converting the fixed cost. Asiaei and Ab.Rahim (2019) investigated the relationship
between the technology, organizational and environmental context in adopting cloud
computing in SMEs. The findings demonstrated that data security and privacy, top
management supports, the readiness of the technology, innovativeness and competitive
pressure are the significant factors in cloud computing in SMEs. Kumar et al. (2017) Impact of
explored cloud computing suitability for SMEs and found that cloud computing help SMEs cloud
in terms of ease of use, information, automation, upgrading the IT, flexibility and control
over security and collaboration.
computing
2.4.5 Security and privacy. SMEs play a vital role in product development, providing
major employments globally being private employers in any country and facing several
challenges from the larger corporation in developing their workforce resource management
and access to the market. The cloud computing service with the cloud platform solution
becomes much important for the SME and is considered a strong driver in the growth of
SMEs. Cloud computing provides a competitive advantage for the SME against the
corporation because of their sustainability in the solutions recognized as an equalizer for the
SMEs in their digital adoption. The firms are concerned with the security and privacy in
implementing cloud computing technology. The security and privacy of the data could be
enhanced by setting the passwords, encryption and authentication standards for their data
(Anomelechi et al., 2018). Moreover, Saa et al. (2017) stated that SMEs could gain maximum
benefits from the cloud computing software as numerous security and privacy-related
concerns are not applicable in the case of SMEs.
Abdullah et al. (2020), studied the utilization of the cloud computing system for the
management of the Human Resource in SMEs. The study findings revealed that cost
reduction, efficiency, productivity, flexibility is the major advantage of the cloud computing
system. Furthermore, the authors from the past identified security and privacy as major
barriers to the cloud computing System. Skafi et al. (2020) found that complexity, security,
prior organizational knowledge related to the IT and organizational support, specifically the
support from the top management of the firm, positively influenced the adoption of the cloud
computing technology in SMEs. Nagahawatta et al. (2021) studied factors that create
hesitation among the SMEs in adopting cloud computing technology and found that factors
related to security were creating hesitation among the SMEs concerning the adoption of
cloud computing technology. Alsafi and Fan (2020) stated that privacy, security, data
control and cost are the potential barriers to adoption of the cloud computing technologies
by manufacturing SMEs.

3. Conceptual model and research hypotheses

The study investigates the factors concerning cloud computing adaption’ diffusion in the
SMEs to apply the post-positivism research paradigm to understand the polarity of
epistemological stances projected to succeed in positivism without any needful objective
knowledge (Frey, 2018). This study has adopted a “quantitative research approach” as it
provides objectivity in uncovering the collected data, deducting the theories, explaining the
ideas and concepts and evaluating the findings in a certain way. The past literature
establishes that way for the selection of variables and development of hypotheses of the
present study. This study has used “Positivism Research Philosophy”, providing factual
knowledge through observations, measurement and certain beliefs and values. For this
purpose, an adapted model was developed piecing together most important factors in the
field of cloud computing that influence SMEs sustainability as shown in Figure 1.

3.1 Cost reduction in cloud computing

Cloud computing is a collection of networks that enables users to use modalities boundlessly
upon request instead of setting up their physical infrastructure for the network. It enables
users to only pay for the services they had used to shift the workload to the cloud instead of
the computer, reducing the requisition of hardware and software required to manage data
CR Cost Reducon H1

H2
Ease of Use

H3
SMEs
Reliability Sustainability
H4

Sharing &
Collaboraon H5

Security &
Privacy
Figure 1.
Conceptual model
Source: Figure by authors

centers. The most valuable and perceived benefit of the cloud computing technology by top
management of SMEs is cost-saving (Dinc
a et al., 2019). The cost-effectiveness feature of
cloud computing technology fascinates SMEs in adopting this technology. Numerous
studies provided empirical evidence that cost reduction was the major benefit of cloud
computing technology that increased SMEs’ efficiency and sustainability (Hussin et al.,
2018). Cloud computing is considered reliable, cost-effective and a source that minimizes the
efforts and increases organizational efficiency. Rayner et al. (2018) revealed that
technological readiness, top management support and cost-saving are the main elements
impacting cloud computing adoption. Dinc
a et al. (2019) found that the perceived and most
valuable benefit of cloud computing by the leading management of SMEs was the cost-
reduction element of cloud computing. Accordingly, the hypothesis from the findings is
postulated as follows:

H1. There is a significant statistical relationship between cost reduction aided by cloud
computing and SME sustainability.

3.2 Ease of use

Ease of use and the user-friendliness of cloud computing influence the decisions regarding
the adoption of cloud computing. The past literature has provided a holistic impression of
cloud computing technology as these services are easy to use. Moreover, the organizations
and the users integrate their work using cloud-based services. Hence, cloud computing helps
in saving time and has provided great flexibility to the users. Reviewing the past literature
revealed that SMEs were influenced by the cloud computing benefits and advantages
related to security, ease of use, cost-efficiency and reliability. Moreover, the related factors
influencing the adoption of cloud computing by the SMEs revealed that ease of use, trust
and reliability associated with the technology positively influences the manager and the top
executives’ intentions to adopt the technology. Furthermore, the managers and IT
professionals use cloud computing to increase their employees’ performances; cloud
computing provides ease and is reliable. Ali and Mehreen (2018) found that ease of use
related to the technology has a significantly positive impact on the behavioral intentions of
managers regarding the adoption of cloud computing technology. Najeb and Fahma (2020)
found that the perception of ease of use and perceived usefulness greatly affects cloud
computing adoption. Accordingly, from the above findings, the hypothesis can be Impact of
postulated as follows: cloud
H2. There is a significant statistical relationship between ease of use aided by cloud computing
computing and SME sustainability.

3.3 Reliability
Previous studies suggest that reliability is an antecedent of cloud computing, having
significant practical implications for organizations. Sengkhyavong’s (2019) found that
reliability is a strongly correlated and significant predictor of cloud computing adaption
amongst SMEs. Sabahi’s (2011) suggest that cloud application services like SaaS provide
reliable solutions to firms by streamlining their IT infrastructure, providing several value-
added benefits. Khayer et al. (2020) investigated the role of reliability in cloud computing,
which suggests that the reliability of cloud computing has a direct and indirect relationship
with service quality, productivity, performance and reduction in IT cost increasing the
efficiency amongst SMEs. In a nutshell, evidence from previous studies validates the
importance of reliability. Thus, the study aims to investigate its role in SME sustainability.
Khayer et al. (2020) claimed that the perceived ease, benefits and usefulness significantly
impacted cloud computing adoption. At the same time, perceived reliability was an
insignificant predictor of the adoption of cloud computing technology. The availability and
reliability significantly influence the adoption of cloud computing technology in SMEs.
Accordingly, from these findings, the hypothesis can be formulated as:

H3. There is a significant statistical relationship between reliability aided by cloud

computing and SME sustainability.

3.4 Sharing and collaboration

The past literature has demonstrated that the investment of the users (SMEs) in cloud
computing helps them share the resources and collaboration between the activities.
Numerous researchers stated that traceability, accessibility, sharing, confidentiality,
integrity, security and collaboration are among the major benefits of cloud computing that
fascinate the SMEs to adopt the technology (Elebute, 2018). Cloud computing technology is
considered a demand of the 21st century. It helps increase performance, service quality,
productivity, efficiency and reduced IT cost. The organization became more focused on the
operations and created new opportunities for the growth and sustainability of the business;
hence, cloud computing was deemed reliable by the professionals. The prominent features of
cloud computing are flexibility, security, reliability and cost reduction. In a nutshell,
evidence from previous studies suggests sharing and collaboration to be the essential aspect
of cloud computing applications across SMEs. According to Lu et al. (2021), collaboration
and sharing are significant elements that greatly impact the sustainability of cloud
computing technology in SMEs. Narwane et al. (2019) claimed that sharing and
collaboration are vital drivers that impact SMEs’ adoption cloud of things (CoT).
Accordingly, the hypothesis from previous findings can be formulated as:

H4. There is a significant statistical relationship between sharing and collaboration

aided by cloud computing and SME sustainability.
CR 3.5 Security and privacy
Concerning the security and privacy of the data, the literature has presented the two
opinions or schools of thought. The first school of thought advocates that the users’ data is
secured with the cloud computing services providers and the privacy of the users will never
be breached by the cloud computing services providers. The second school of thought states
that as the user’s data is with the cloud computing service providers, the user’s data cannot
be secured in cloud computing. However, the researchers stated that SMEs could benefit
from the cloud computing technology, as many of the security and privacy issues were not
applied to the SMEs. Many past researchers regarded security and privacy as major barriers
to cloud computing technologies. SMEs’ security and privacy-related concerns make them
hesitant to adopt cloud computing technology. According to the study by Lutfi et al. (2022),
privacy, security and complexity positively impact cloud computing adoption in the
sustainability of SMEs. Another study by Skafi et al. (2020) indicated that technological
security and safety and other organizational factors are positively associated with adopting
cloud computing technological services. Accordingly, the previous studies formulate the
hypothesis as follows:

H5. There is a significant statistical relationship between security and privacy aided by
cloud computing and SME sustainability.

4. Method
The research approach is a plan and a procedure based upon a specific assumption
suggesting a precise method for data collection, analysis and interpretation. The research
approach can be categorized into two types: inductive and deductive. The distinction
between the two categories includes the reasoning as the inductive approach aims to
generate a theory while the deductive approach aims to test an existing theory. The
proposed study uses the existing theory of technology, organization and environment,
technology acceptance model and diffusion theory (DT) which suggests that the proposed
study uses a deductive approach. Using a deductive approach, primary data is usually
gathered using a mono methodological survey. There are three main methodological
choices: the quantitative research approach, the qualitative research approach and the
mixed research approach.
The instrumentation of the study is necessary for collecting data and measuring the
dependent and independent variables for the later analysis of the data in the study. The
instrumentation of this study consists of a survey questionnaire with 30 items for the six
variables. The questionnaire was based on Likert Scale, ratings from 1 to 5 showing
strongly disagreed, disagreed, neutral, agreed and strongly agreed. The instrument
developed for the survey is self-generated or adapted and modified from the previous
studies by various scholars (see Appendix).
Target populations are the set of people or groups having similar characteristics and
identified as the intended population of the study from whom data will be collected. The
target population of this study were SMEs in Bahrain. The targeted SMEs in different
sectors of Bahrain are IT, financial and banking, hospitality, retail and wholesale, food and
beverages and the construction sector. Thirty percent of the GDP and 75% of the
employment in Bahrain is provided by the SMEs operating in Bahrain. According to the
statistics, 6,435 small and medium-sized firms collectively operate in Bahrain (Statista,
2022). This study used a quantitative data collecting method for collecting primary data
from the n = 400 respondents with the inclusion criteria of users of any cloud computing
platforms (i.e. IaaS, PaaS and SaaS) in SMEs in Bahrain using a convenient sampling
method. Research consent letter was distributed to organization along with the request to Impact of
provide official e-mail address of key organizational members so they can be reached via e- cloud
mail to fill the electronic survey conducted by the author. The primary quantitative data
were collected using a survey questionnaire designed on Google Form and shared with the n
computing
= 400 participants using various cloud-related multipurpose platforms in SMEs across
Bahrain. Moreover, this study kept the respondent’s confidentiality by ensuring the privacy
of their questionnaire outcomes and will not be shared with a third party. Total set of 391
questionnaires were distributed amongst the sample respondents of employees working in
various SMEs across Bahrain, out of which four responses were discarded as they reported
missing information reaching to total response rate of 98%.
The reliability analysis was performed to investigate whether the instrument of the
present study was reliable and had consistency. The coefficient of reliability is termed
Cronbach’s alpha; the value of Cronbach’s alpha is used to interpret whether the study
instrument is reliable. The value of Cronbach’s alpha ranged between 0 and 1. The a value
closer to 1 indicates that the instrument is highly relatable, whereas the value of a closer to 0
indicates the poor reliability of the instrument (Post, 2016). Table 1 summarizes the
Cronbach’s alpha value for each variable of the present study. For all the variables of the
present study, the value of Cronbach’s alpha was found higher than 0.7 which is the lenient
cut off value for internal consistency. Hence, the instrument of the present study is deemed
highly reliable.

5. Analysis, findings and discussion

5.1 Correlation analysis
The correlation coefficient (r) value is used to determine the intensity and the nature of
association that existed between variables. The researcher Post (2016) provided the
guidelines for analyzing the value of r. If the correlation coefficient value is closer to 1, a
strong correlation exists between the variables. Suppose the value of the correlation
coefficient is closer to 0. In that case, the correlation between the variables is regarded as
weak. In contrast, if the value of r lies between the range of 0.3 to 0.7, the correlation between
the variable is considered moderate. Concerning the present research, the results from the
correlation analysis indicated that significant and positive correlation between all the
variables of the present study. Cost reduction reported moderate reliability with SME
sustainability with the correlation coefficient of r = 0.49. Ease of use reported moderate
reliability with SME sustainability with the correlation coefficient of r = 0.46. Reliability
reported moderate reliability with SME sustainability with the correlation coefficient
of r = 0.49. Sharing and collaboration reported moderate reliability with SME sustainability

Reliability analysis
Variable Cronbach’s alpha No. of items Interpretation

Cost reduction 0.743 5 Highly reliable

Ease of use 0.802 5 Highly reliable
Reliability 0.747 5 Highly reliable
Sharing and collaborations 0.865 5 Highly reliable
Security and privacy 0.853 5 Highly reliable
SME sustainability 0.769 5 Highly reliable
Overall reliability 0.912 30 Highly reliable
Table 1.
Source: Table by authors. Reliability test
CR with the correlation coefficient of r = 0.45 and lastly, security and privacy reported moderate
reliability with SME sustainability with the correlation coefficient of r = 0.45 (Table 2).

5.2 Regression analysis

The regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between the
sustainability of SMEs and different factors of cloud computing, such as sharing and
collaboration, security and privacy, ease of use, reliability and cost reduction. The results
demonstrated in the model summary Table 3 revealed a coefficient of determination
R2 = 0.52, indicating that 52% of the variance in the sustainability of SMEs is explained
using drivers of cloud computing which includes cost reduction, ease of use, reliability,
sharing and collaboration and security and privacy.
The results demonstrated in the coefficient table shows that cost reduction with the
p value of 0.00 less than 0.05 which is significance level of interval is a significant predictor
of SME sustainability with the Beta value of 0.274. Table 4 shows that ease of use with the
p value of 0.00 less than 0.05 which is significance level of interval is a significant predictor
of SME sustainability with the Beta value of 0.293. Reliability with the p value of 0.00 less
than 0.05 which is significance level of interval is a significant predictor of SME
sustainability with the Beta value of 0.210. Sharing and collaboration with the p value of
0.01 less than 0.05 which is significance level of interval is a significant predictor of
SME sustainability with the Beta value of 0.115. Lastly, security and privacy are a with the
p value of 0.11 greater than 0.05 which is significance level of interval is not a significant
predictor of SME sustainability.

Correlations
SME Cost Ease of Sharing and Security and
sustainability reduction use Reliability collaboration privacy

Pearson SME sustainability 1.000

correlation Cost reduction 0.494 1.000
Ease of use 0.460 0.042 1.000
Reliability 0.496 0.434 0.152 1.000
Sharing and 0.451 0.386 0.397 0.156 1.000
collaboration
Security and 0.452 0.507 0.142 0.550 0.330 1.000
Table 2. privacy
Pearson 1 tailed
correlation Source: Table by authors

Model summary
Change statistics
Adjusted Std. error of R square Sig. F
Model R R square R square the estimate change F change df1 df2 change

1 0.721a 0.520 0.514 0.22824 0.520 82.527 5 381 0.000

Table 3. a
Note: Predictors: (Constant), SP_mEAN, EOU_mEAN, SC_mEAN, REL_mEAN, CR_mEAN
Model summary Source: Table by authors
 Coefficientsa
Impact of
Unstandardized Standardized cloud
coefficients coefficients Correlations computing
Zero-
Model B Std. error Beta t Sig. order Partial Part

(Constant) 0.225 0.187 1.204 0.229

Cost reduction 0.274 0.045 0.272 6.091 0.000 0.494 0.298 0.216
Ease of Use 0.293 0.034 0.341 8.603 0.000 0.460 0.403 0.305
Reliability 0.210 0.035 0.262 5.927 0.000 0.496 0.291 0.210
Sharing and
collaboration 0.115 0.034 0.145 3.371 0.001 0.451 0.170 0.120
1 Security and privacy 0.060 0.038 0.073 1.584 0.114 0.452 0.081 0.056 Table 4.
Note: aDependent variable: SME sustainability Coefficient table of
Source: Table by authors regression

5.3 Discussion and hypotheses testing

The following Table 5 shows the results of hypotheses testing that have been found,
followed by discussion:
 H1 is accepted which suggested significant statistical relationship between cost
reduction and SME sustainability in Bahrain. The correlation analysis finding
provided evidence for the moderate and positive association. Moreover, the results
from the multiple regression analysis also provided empirical evidence supporting
the cost reduction benefit of cloud computing and its influence in predicting
the sustainability of SMEs in Bahrain. The findings of the present study are
aligned with the past literature that has provided the empirical evidence for the
cost reduction benefit of predicting the sustainability of SMEs (Sultan, 2011; Hussin
et al., 2018; Dinc
a et al., 2019; El-Sayed, 2020; Baker and Kaur, 2020). Cloud
computing provides major benefits in terms of saving the cost of their users for
acquiring and maintaining the cloud computing resources such as system, staff,
network, database and electricity. Hence, the users, which are the firms, can focus

Correlation p- Beta
Study hypothesis coefficient Value value Interpretation

H1: There is a significant statistical relationship between cost 0.494 0.000 0.225 Accepted
reduction aided by cloud computing and SME sustainability
H2: There is a significant statistical relationship between ease of 0.460 0.000 0.274 Accepted
use aided by cloud computing and SME sustainability
H3: There is a significant statistical relationship between 0.496 0.000 0.293 Accepted
reliability aided by cloud computing and SME sustainability
H4: There is a significant statistical relationship between sharing 0.451 0.001 0.210 Accepted
and collaboration aided by cloud computing and SME
sustainability
H5: There is a significant statistical relationship between 0.452 0.114 0.115 Rejected
security and privacy aided by cloud computing and SME
sustainability Table 5.
Hypotheses testing
Source: Table by authors (table by authors)
CR on the firm’s development and sustainability. Furthermore, the flexibility of SMEs
toward cloud computing helped them become commercially and establish a cost-
effective structure.
 H2 is accepted which suggested significant statistical relationship between ease of
use and SME sustainability in Bahrain. The correlation analysis finding provided
evidence for the moderate and positive linear association. Moreover, the results from
the multiple regression analysis also provided empirical evidence supporting the
ease of use aided by cloud computing in predicting the sustainability of SMEs in
Bahrain. Findings of the study validates previously gathered empirical evidence
from (Kayode et al., 2018; Pathan et al., 2017; Hababeh et al., 2018; Gamage, 2019;
Mwavali, 2021).
 H3 is accepted which suggested significant statistical relationship between
reliability and SME sustainability in Bahrain. The finding from correlation analysis
indicated that it provided evidence for the strong and positive association;
Moreover, the results from the multiple regression analysis also provided empirical
evidence supporting the reliability of cloud computing and its impact on the
sustainability of SMEs. The empirical evidence found in the current study is aligned
with the past literature where the researchers emphasized the reliability function of
the cloud computing and the benefits of the reliability provided by the cloud
computing for the sustainability of SMEs (Kandil et al., 2018; Anomelechi et al.,
2018). Cloud computing technology is considered a demand of the 21st century; it
helps increase performance, service quality, productivity and efficiency and reduces
IT costs. The organization became more focused on the operations and created new
opportunities for the growth and sustainability of the business; hence, cloud
computing was deemed reliable by the professionals. The prominent features of
cloud computing are flexibility, security, reliability and cost reduction.
 H4 is accepted which suggested significant statistical relationship between sharing
and collaboration and SME sustainability in Bahrain. The correlation and multiple
regression analyses were performed to find the statistical association between the
Sharing and Collaboration and SMEs’ sustainability. The correlation analysis
provided evidence for a positive and moderate association. However, the Multi
Regression Analysis results support the presence of a relationship between the
Sharing and Collaboration and the Sustainability of SMEs. The findings of the
present study related to the sharing and collaboration function of cloud computing
and its impact on the sustainability of SMEs are not supported by the previous
studies as the past researchers rigorously supported the role of cloud computing
technology in developing a shared and collaborative environment in the
organization (Kumar et al., 2017; Myhre and Aalvik, 2020).
 H5 is rejected which suggested significant statistical relationship between security
and privacy and SME sustainability in Bahrain. The results derived from the
correlation analysis indicated that a moderate and direct relationship existed
between the Security and Privacy of cloud computing and SME sustainability.
Furthermore, the evidence is drawn from the multiple regression analysis does not
compliment the findings of the correlation analysis. It revealed the security and
privacy benefit of cloud computing is not a significant predictor of the sustainability
of SMEs in Bahrain. The past literature presents the opinion of the numerous
academic researchers and the professionals who perceive that the data stored in
clouds are more secure and the users of the cloud computing services are provided
 with the utmost privacy (Rupra and Omamo,2020). The security and privacy of the Impact of
user’s data are regarded as a major concern of the cloud computing technology cloud
users and affect the SMEs intentions to adopt the cloud computing technology.
Many cloud computing service providers are skeptical and never provide their
computing
users’ data to anyone at any cost (Apple, 2021).

6. Conclusion
This study investigates the extent in which cloud computing is used by SMEs and assess its
impact on sustainability of such enterprises. SMEs play an essential role in economic
development of countries in not only providing employment opportunities for the masses
but also results in increase in the productivity. Evidence from Bahrain SMEs suggests that
SMEs are looking for efficiency, facilitation of labor flexibility and improvement in
communication, as a result they resort for emerging technologies in pursuit of competitive
advantage. Many SMEs in Bahrain are still reluctant to apply this new technology because
of its pricing model where high switching cost is perceived as a major hurdle to its
implementation. Cloud computing is a developing technology that can revolutionize the
delivery and application of IT. The companies can successfully adopt cloud computing by
increasing cloud computing service advantages. The research on the adoption of cloud
computing in SMEs is very little, and the evidence indicates that the adaption of cloud
computing is very slow. A research gap is also found in investigating the implementation of
cloud computing in SMEs.
Evidence from the multiple regression analysis reveals that cost reduction has
significant statistical relationship with the value of r = 0.494, p value = 0.00 and b = 0.225
which suggests that H1 has been accepted. Evidence from the multiple regression analysis
reveals that ease of use aided by cloud computing has significant statistical relationship
with the value of r = 0.460, p value = 0.00 and b = 0.274 which suggests that H2 has been
accepted. Evidence from the multiple regression analysis reveals that reliability aided by
cloud computing has significant statistical relationship with the value of r = 0.496, p value =
0.00 and b = 0.293 which suggests that H3 has been accepted. Evidence from the multiple
regression analysis reveals that sharing and collaboration aided by cloud computing has
significant statistical relationship with the value of r = 0.451, p value = 0.00 and b = 0.210
which suggests that H4 has been accepted. Lastly, H5 has been rejected as findings show
that security and privacy have no statistically significant relationship with SMEs
sustainability. It has been concluded that using such cloud computing techniques could
increase performance and improve sustainability of SMEs.

6.1 Theoretical implications

Findings of the study poses significant implications for development of theoretical
framework for SME’s looking for automation of business process and workforce in pursuit
to achieve competitive advantages. Antecedents of benefits offered by cloud computing in
the form of cost reduction, reliability, sharing and collaboration provides rationale for the
implementation of cloud services within the enterprise IT infrastructure and reap benefits
impeding from efficiency and effectiveness.

6.2 Managerial implications

Findings poses significant implications for managers to maximize the experiences of cloud
computing users and its uses. Compatibility can be increased, and inefficiencies and errors
can be declined by considering the technology task’s suitability. Moreover, the policymakers
CR should identify the variations in services and business models in the cloud, the variations in
the cloud services consumers and cloud financial system complexities. Cloud strategies
should be effective to implement holistic picture of firm infrastructure, regulatory and legal
issues, economic, supply chain, human resources and financial management within the
enterprise. Managers must provide resources at their disposal to their organizations to deal
with issues like software and hardware integration. Managers must put funds at disposal
for investment in IT infrastructure prerequisite to reap benefits associated with cloud
computing.

6.3 Limitations and future research

Despite, the study achieved its objectives, it is subject to certain limitations in terms of
sampling technique, methodological choices and timeframe. The study lacks qualitative
data as it has mainly used quantitative research methods to achieve research outcomes. In-
depth insight from IT managers in the form of interviews can provide significant insight on
cloud computing use in SMEs. This study can incorporate more explanatory variables
related to cloud computing to improve predictability of SME sustainability. Future
researchers can take modular approach to investigate the benefits reaped by SMEs in terms
of various cloud-based solutions which includes PaaS, SaaS and CaaS.

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Appendix Impact of
cloud
Variable Statements Items Source computing
Cost reduction 1. Cloud computing requires reduced system administration 5 (Ebbers, 2018)
and operation costs in cloud infrastructure with fewer physical
servers
2. Cloud computing results in labour savings in service request
management and fulfilment from automation and
standardization
3. Cloud computing eliminates the traditional data center and
maintenance costs of data warehousing
4. Pay per use model of Cloud computing provides scalable
growth to SMEs
5. Cloud Computing reduces idle and waiting time; increases
flexibility in the testing plan
Ease of use 1. Using cloud computing, there is strong ease of use and the 5 (Mas’adeh, 2016);
ability to share information with others (Pankowska et al.,
2. The procedure of using cloud computing is understandable 2020)
3. It is easy for me to learn using cloud computing
4. It is easy to make use of cloud computing
5. I feel comfortable because I can freely use cloud resources as I
need
Reliability 1. In case of any incompatibility issue, we ask the cloud service 5 (Mas’adeh, 2016)
provider to recommend integrated services and (Kayode et al.,
2. Cloud services are compatible with the existing technological 2018); (Pankowska
architecture of our company et al., 2020)
3. There is no difficulty importing applications/ data from cloud
services
4. There is no difficulty exporting applications/ data to cloud
services
5. Using cloud computing improves my work efficiency and my
effectiveness
Sharing and 1. I believe that cloud computing is essential for facilitating 5 (Mas’adeh, 2016)
collaboration trade systems with our partners and
2. I believe that cloud computing increases our performance by (Kayode et al., 2018)
facilitating trade systems with our partners
3. Using cloud computing, we can access share resources placed
on the cloud
4. Cloud computing promotes collaboration and teamwork
within my organization
5. it is easy to collaborate with cross-functional teams using
cloud computing
Security and 1. I am sure the data stored in the cloud is private 5 (Pankowska et al.,
privacy 2. I believe that no one can view my information or data stored 2020)
in the cloud without my consent
3. I believe my information or data in the cloud will not be
manipulated or altered
4. Cloud computing service providers take adequate backup that
can be used to recover data
5. Cloud data is less likely to be affected by malware and
ransomware as the service providers have replaced security
protocols Table A1.
(continued) Study measures
CR
Variable Statements Items Source

Sustainability 1. The functionality built in the cloud system meets all the 5 (Gangwar et al.,
of SMEs organizational process requirements 2015)
2. Cloud system is well designed to meet the future business
needs of our company
3. Using cloud computing enables me to accomplish my
organizational task more quickly
4. Using cloud computing allows me to increase business
productivity
5. Using cloud computing allows me to manage business
Table A1. operations in an efficient way

About the authors

Basma Al-Mutawa is a practitioner in the field of business (MBA, Ahlia University). Her main
research interests are cloud computing, social media and sustainability.
Muneer Mohammed Saeed Al Mubarak is a Full Professor of Management and Marketing
(PhD, University of Leeds; MBA, Durham University). His main research interests are in the
areas of digital marketing, AI, CRM, SMEs, sustainability, corporate social responsibility,
corporate governance, relationship marketing, competitive advantage and entrepreneurship.
Muneer Mohammed Saeed Al Mubarak is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
malmubarak@ahlia.edu.bh

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