Abstract
According to the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), there are over 23 million microenterprises in the U.S and that number translates to 87% of all businesses in the United States. While the majority of businesses around the world are small and microenterprises, they are the most vulnerable and are often run by people with limited resources, and skills to be able to avail the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies. When they do adopt Information Technology their potential to survive and grow increases as they are then able to participate in the global economy. The challenge for global development lies in enabling these small and microenterprises to first become aware of the available technologies and then to adopt the appropriate technology solution that fits their needs. Cloud computing offers an opportunity to support the growth and development of small and microenterprises by enabling low cost IT solutions delivered over the Internet to be made available to them so that they may adopt with little effort or skill. The contribution of this study is in facilitating the first step towards this goal by developing an online repository of cloud services that are categorized by common business needs. This online repository serves as a “one-stop” location for small and micro enterprise entrepreneurs looking for cost-effective options to meet their business goals and bring about improved administrative efficiencies.
