English abstract
Higher Educational Institutions worldwide have become highly dependent on Information Systems for their IT provision and service delivery. Thus, the crucial necessity for educational resources like hardware, software, study materials, teaching tools, teaching documentations etc, constantly arises. The objective of this research is to find alternatives and replace the computing machines and other peripherals that are not optimally used, by adopting Cloud Computing
This research studies the current status of adopting Cloud Computing in Higher
Educational Institutions in the Sultanate of Oman. It investigates the current state by distributing online questionnaires to Faculty in IT fields and employees who are working in ICT. Additionally, this research proposed a Higher Education Hybrid Cloud framework as a model for delivery to all Higher Educational Institutions in Oman to provide flexible means for accessing educational resources anywhere and anytime on demand. The model facilitates the innovative teaching pedagogies, enables more effective knowledge transfer and encourages lifelong learning The research finding shows that adopting Cloud Computing in Higher Educational Institutions in the Sultanate of Oman is a better solution for learning progression and service delivery requirements. Accordingly, when the proposed Higher Education Hybrid Cloud (HEHC) framework is implemented, different users from different academic institutions can access the services provided by Cloud Providers online which moves the user from being attached to a single machine to the internet.
