DEPLOYMENT OF CLOUD COMPUTING IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Globalisation is a phenomenon that is reflected in all spheres of social life. Information technologies have a key role in globalisation. Thanks to them is possible to divide labour on a global scale, monitoring and use of comparative advantages (for the raw materials, cheap labour sources, effective demand) in their – that offer advantageous conditions. The technologies, which are predicting significant future growth in cloud computing. Cloud computing is a set of information and communication technologies in which IT resources are delivered in the form of services to external users via the Internet. The aim of this paper is to describe the use of cloud computing in Czech companies and compare its deployment to other countries. Characteristics of the use of cloud computing in Czech enterprises are based on surveys conducted by local and international agencies and on their own research. Their own research was conducted in the autumn of 2013. There were 200 respondents from small and medium-sized enterprises across all sectors of CZ – NACE. Enterprises were asked about their knowledge of the chosen technologies, the rate of utilisation, the expected benefits of these technologies, or if they are interested in its deployment in the future. As revealed from the results of this survey, many managers and business owners do not know the term cloud computing and do not know which specific services and benefits can be expected. Managers also do not feel the necessity to change the state of the IT department, so currently there IS only a small proportion of companies that plan to implement cloud computing. Implementation of cloud computing is supported ON a national and international level, savings and benefits from the deployment of this technology are also evident. In this context, lack of knowledge of this concept and low deployment of cloud computing in Czech enterprises is a negative phenomenon.