Fintech: Choosing a Cloud Services Provider

The CIO of Fintech, Inc. -a billing-and-payment processing service for the alcoholic beverages industry must choose a cloud services provider for a new application for Fintech's clients. The CIO sees this initiative as a useful first step to take before moving other resources and services into the cloud. His staff briefs him on three providers: Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Each provider offers services which fit Fintech's requirements, yet with important differences. The Fintech case addresses the perspective of a company purchasing cloud computing services, as opposed to a vendor selling cloud computing services. It offers the added benefit of describing an important specialist intermediary in the highly regulated and complex US alcoholic beverages industry. The case has been tested in MIS and IT Management classes in undergraduate, MBA, MS-IT and DBA programs. It introduces cloud concepts (SaaS, IaaS, PaaS), and provides an opportunity for students to consider technical, economic, operational and strategic factors when making mission-critical IT decisions such as moving an important application to the cloud. Students can also consider how to mitigate risks associated with particular providers. The instructor can use it to introduce students to pilot testing and issues in vendor selection and ongoing management. After considering strengths and weaknesses of each provider and the provider selection process, the instructor can ask students to recommend a provider and/or other steps Kwo should take before making a final decision.

• Cloud computing
• Enterprise computing
• IT management
• Emerging technologies