Abstract:

The advent of Cloud Computing had led organizations to realize that they are grossly underutilizing their capital investments in information technology to the tune of using only 10–30 percent of their computing power. Thus, for most enterprises, the questions of whether to move into the Cloud will be a matter of evaluating the pros and cons. According to Tenth Malaysian plan (2011-2015) the Malaysian government is preparing itself to devote new investments in the Information and Communication Technology(ICT)industry. The Plan expects that the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry will represent 10.2 percent of GDP – 0.4 percent up from an estimated 9.8 percent in 2009 – by 2015. More importantly, according to the plan, Cloud Computing services will be developed to provide critical software applications especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper reviews the literature on Cloud Computing and provides insights to the definition, characteristics, models and players. The paper also illustrates the potential benefits and risks associated with the adoption of Cloud Computing. The paper concludes before the Malaysian government push the Cloud Computing bandwagon around the various sectors, a comprehensive awareness and education programme is needed to ensure the full range of benefits identified can be realized.