Cloud Computing - Factors that affect an adoption of cloud computing in traditional Swedish banks

Sammanfattning: Cloud computing, a current IT trend, is becoming more integrated in companies’ strategies and also increasingly important for firms. Thus, many organizations have or are considering implementing cloud services. Banks, however, tend to not adopt cloud computing at the same pace as other industries. Therefore, it is of interest to increase the understanding of which factors that obstruct or foster an adoption of cloud computing in the banking industry in Sweden. These factors have been examined from a bank and external perspective, through interviews with IT personnel from the four big banks in Sweden, external IT consultants, authorities (Finansinspektionen and Datainspektionen) and Svenska Bankföreningen. The empirical findings have been analyzed in accordance with Tornatzky and Fleischer’s (1990) TOE framework - technology, organization and external task environment. There were eleven key factors found in this study, which are the following: 1) Integration, Lack of competence, Sensitive information, Heritage, Employee resistance, Miscommunication, Size and structure, Common heritage, Standard agreements, New actors and Regulations. 2) All the factors, except New actors, were shown to obstruct and delay an adoption of cloud computing for traditional banks in Sweden. 3) It was found that all these key factors interlink with each other in some sense.