Enterprises’ use of cloud computing services. Disparities and similarities in the European Union in 2021

Abstract

The continuous adaptation to the changes brought by new technologies in society and the rapid integration of intelligent tools in the business processes are essential for obtaining the competitive advantage in the market by offering companies the ability to move from operations to innovation. Cloud computing provides the companies the innovative technologies for connected and smart businesses. Although the Internet access of companies in the European Union is high (98% of companies), the average use of cloud computing in 2021 was only 41%. The purpose of the article is to evaluate and compare the use by enterprises in European Union countries of cloud computing services. The results indicate that within the 27 Countries of the European Union, the stages of use of cloud computing services in enterprises recorded significantly different levels from one state to another, both in 2020 and 2021. A negative fact is to maintain the gap between the states with the highest shares of companies using cloud computing services, Sweden and Finland (75%), and those with the lowest shares, Romania (14%) and Bulgaria (13%).

Keywords

• cloud computing
• digital strategy
• european union