Security Determinants in the Adoption of Big Data Solutions

Abstract

Big data has become one of the most talked about terminology across businesses and industries. The term big data is commonly described by its unique characteristics; Volume, Velocity, and Variety (3Vs). At present, many organizations have adopted big data solutions (BDS) in creating competitive advantage through data-driven decision-making. However, several factors were found to hinder the adoption of BDS. Among the hindering factors are the issues of security and privacy. Various security related factors may have an impact on organizations’ decision in BDS adoption, such as diverse perception on the level of complexity in securing big data environment, compatibility of organizations’ current security infrastructure with the requirements of BDS, organizational information security culture, and risks in outsourcing BDS, among others. These issues in turn, created research opportunities in identifying and understanding organizational point of view in security and privacy factors that are significant in BDS adoption. This research has explored the topic of security and privacy determinants in BDS adoption by organization through the lens of technological, organizational, and environmental (TOE) framework. This research adopted a sequential explanatory mixed-method approach that involved two-phases of data collection – a questionnaire survey followed by a case study on a single banking institution. The outcome from both phases of studies were then triangulated and this resulted in a revised conceptual framework of security determinants in BDS adoption named Sec-TOE. The framework illustrates five statistically significant factors that may positively or negatively affect organizational intention in BDS adoption, in addition to ten sub-themes of security considerations made by organizations during BDS adoption. The Sec-TOE framework provides a holistic viewpoint on security and privacy related issues in BDS adoption formed by theoretical perspective and empirical evidence.