How Fluffy is the Cloud?: Cloud Intelligence for a Not-for-profit Organisation

Purva Koparkar, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
Dale MacKrell, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia

Abstract

Business Intelligence (BI) is becoming more accessible and less expensive with fewer risks through various deployment options available in the Cloud. Cloud computing facilitates the acquisition of custom solutions for not-for-profit (NFP) organisations at affordable and scalable costs on a flexible pay-as-you-go basis. In this paper, we explore the key technical and organisational aspects of BI in the Cloud (Cloud Intelligence) deployment in an Australian NFP whose BI maturity is rising although still low. This organisation aspires to Cloud Intelligence for improved managerial decision making yet the issues surrounding the adoption of Cloud Intelligence are complex, especially where corporate and Cloud governance is concerned. From the findings of the case study, a conceptual framework has been developed and presented which offers a view of how governance could be deployed so that NFPs gain maximum leverage through their adoption of the Cloud.