Identification of a company's suitability for the adoption of cloud computing and modelling its corresponding Return on Investment

Internet has become pervasive in our daily life and cloud computing is the newest offering as service over the ubiquitous Web. Cloud computing has been considered as a much hyped phenomenon in the IT and business world promising to deliver a host of benefits. Companies need to look beyond this hype and seriously consider the real value of incorporating the Cloud in their own businesses. This paper is aimed at helping companies analyze several characteristics of their own business as well as pre-existing IT resources to identify their favorability in the migration to the Cloud Architecture. A general Return on Investment (ROI) model has also been developed here taking into consideration various intangible impacts of Cloud Computing, apart from the cost. The analysis presented herein provides a much broader perspective and insight into Cloud Computing to its prospective adopters. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.