Context
Cloud computing enables on-demand access to compute, storage, and platforms with pay-as-you-go pricing. It improves agility, reduces upfront costs, and supports elastic scaling for variable workloads.
MBA Final-Year Project
A data-driven study on why and how Indian SMEs adopt cloud services (with a focus on AWS), the benefits realized, timelines to ROI, and the road ahead.
The study evaluates cloud adoption among Indian SMEs using a descriptive research design, primary data, and statistical analysis (frequency, cross-tabs). It highlights adoption drivers, commonly used AWS services, user satisfaction, and realized benefits.
Cloud computing enables on-demand access to compute, storage, and platforms with pay-as-you-go pricing. It improves agility, reduces upfront costs, and supports elastic scaling for variable workloads.
The research centers on SMEs in India, emphasizing AWS services (EC2, S3, RDS, VPC, CloudFront) and their contribution to operational and strategic goals such as cost efficiency and faster deployment. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3
Non-probability convenience sampling across ICT roles.
Largest group reported 50–74% ROI post-adoption.
Clear, measurable goals guided the investigation.
Understand the reasons SMEs adopt cloud computing (cost, speed, scalability, availability).
Study the level of adoption & implementation of AWS among SMEs (service usage patterns).
Evaluate post-purchase outcomes such as satisfaction, benefits, and ROI timelines.
ICT professionals across roles (IT managers, software engineers, analysts, sysadmins).
Descriptive design with primary data via questionnaire; SPSS & Google Forms used.
Descriptive research using frequency charts and cross-tabulation to explore adoption patterns.
n = 49; convenience sampling across age bands 20–30, 31–40, and 40+.
Structured questionnaire; analysis in SPSS, collection via Google Forms.
What SMEs actually use and why it matters.
Many SMEs adopt AWS initially as a standalone application to satisfy a specific need, while a sizable group integrates it into a strategic effort over time.
Example: RDS users split between strategic and standalone use; S3 skewed standalone.
Concerns include data security, lock-in, outages, and latency for distant regions; success often depends on training, governance, and making cloud part of core processes—not an isolated tool.
What SMEs reported in practice.
Most respondents realized ROI between 6–11 or 12–17 months.
Largest group reported 50–74% ROI overall.
EC2 users reported ROI in the 50–99% band in the sample.
Where SMEs can go next.
Invest in training, standardized architectures, tagging & cost controls; treat cloud as core.
Leverage VPC, IAM boundaries, backup/DR, and multi-region patterns to mitigate risk.
Centralize data on S3 + managed analytics; enable ML use-cases for real-time insights.
Prioritize workloads with measurable KPIs; iterate from standalone wins to strategic rollouts.