Investigating the Effect of Cloud Computing Adoption on Improving the Digital Competitiveness Index-An Empirical Study: Case of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Cloud computing technology is changing how enterprises use, store, and offer information, applications, and workloads. It provides the computing resources over the web where efficiency, cost-effectiveness and scalability are the main advantages of cloud computing adoption. On the other hand, digital transformation is becoming more vital in businesses as users demand more IT services and more competitive digital environments. Cloud computing offers flexible IT resources that make business model transformation fast and more cost-effective. Therefore, cloud computing is considered a key factor in digital transformation. In order to achieve such digital transformation, enterprises should shift much of their computing infrastructure from their own data centers to those operated by private or public cloud providers. This research focuses on cloud computing roles in achieving the digital transformation in Saudi Arabia. The current status of digital transformation in Saudi Arabia will be explored, then the key factors affecting such transformation will be studied. The findings of this research are obtained through two primary sources, which are online questionnaire and practical application via the simulation environment. The conclusion of this paper will enlighten how migrating data centers into cloud will affect and speed up digital transformation.