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Evaluating efficiency of cloud service providers in era of digital technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Majid Azadi

    (Aston University)

  • Mehdi Toloo

    (University of Surrey
    Technical University of Ostrava
    Czech Republic, Sultan Qaboos University)

  • Fahimeh Ramezani

    (University of Technology Sydney)

  • Reza Farzipoor Saen

    (Sultan Qaboos University)

  • Farookh Khadeer Hussain

    (University of Technology Sydney)

  • Hajar Farnoudkia

    (Baskent University)

Abstract

The rapid growth of advanced technologies such as cloud computing in the Industry 4.0 era has provided numerous advantages. Cloud computing is one of the most significant technologies of Industry 4.0 for sustainable development. Numerous providers have developed various new services, which have become a crucial ingredient of information systems in many organizations. One of the challenges for cloud computing customers is evaluating potential providers. To date, considerable research has been undertaken to solve the problem of evaluating the efficiency of cloud service providers (CSPs). However, no study addresses the efficiency of providers in the context of an entire supply chain, where multiple services interact to achieve a business objective or goal. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a powerful method for efficiency measurement problems. However, the current models ignore undesirable outputs, integer-valued, and stochastic data which can lead to inaccurate results. As such, the primary objective of this paper is to design a decision support system that accurately evaluates the efficiency of multiple CSPs in a supply chain. The current study incorporates undesirable outputs, integer-valued, and stochastic data in a network DEA model for the efficiency measurement of service providers. The results from a case study illustrate the applicability of our new system. The results also show how taking undesirable outputs, integer-valued, and stochastic data into account changes the efficiency of service providers. The system is also able to provide the optimal composition of CSPs to suit a customer’s priorities and requirements.

Suggested Citation

  • Majid Azadi & Mehdi Toloo & Fahimeh Ramezani & Reza Farzipoor Saen & Farookh Khadeer Hussain & Hajar Farnoudkia, 2024. "Evaluating efficiency of cloud service providers in era of digital technologies," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 342(2), pages 1049-1078, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:annopr:v:342:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10479-023-05257-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10479-023-05257-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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