Fit in cloud sourcing arrangements: An ontological perspective

Abstract

Cloud sourcing seeks to leverage the vendor’s expertise to support a cost-effective, reliable platform to run a business. The standardized nature of these sourcing arrangements as well as their ecosystem structure impose a number of challenges to the decision-making at client side. In this study, we argue that, ahead other, the fit between the cloud ecosystem and the client organization is decisive. However, the concept of fit in this setting is highly complex, dynamic, and difficult to grasp, thus, tightening the need for a richer understanding of cloud ecosystems as a complex technological and organizational arrangement. Our analysis reveals dimensions of fit between a client and the cloud ecosystem and proposes a new conceptualization of the underlying IT artifact.