A Reference Guide to Cloud Computing Dimensions: Infrastructure as a Service Classification Framework

Recently, a growing development and use of Cloud computing services has been observed generally and also in the area of government. Despite initial positive results, it is challenging in theory and practice to find an appropriate provider matching the individual requirements of a company or a government. Moreover, the number of new entrants as well as non-transparent service offers, which sometimes differ significantly, make it difficult to migrate into the Cloud. Due to the lack of adequate possibilities to compare and classify Cloud providers we are presenting in this paper a provider independent classification framework for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) which can be used in e-Government. For this purpose, the target dimensions for Cloud Computing from a customer perspective were defined, based on expert interviews and an international literature review. The relevance of the target dimensions was evaluated with an additional survey conducted among IT managers. Extended by a provider market analysis the classification framework was designed and finally checked for applicability and can be used to create concrete cloud procurement processes, refine Cloud strategies or develop migration requirements for governments.