End-User Cloud Data Storage Experiences, Challenges, and Security Perceptions of the Emerging Technologies Security Tools among Small Businesses

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore small business end-users' experiences and challenges with cloud data storage and security perceptions of cloud emerging technologies security tools. Cloud data storage security is critical to business success, as more small businesses are moving to cloud data storage. The gap identified in the literature was the perceptions and experiences of end-users' trust in cloud data storage. The central research question was: How do the perceptions and experiences of challenges with cloud data storage and security perceptions of cloud emerging technologies security tools affect the trust of small business end-users in cloud data storage? An exploratory generic qualitative study design was utilized to explore the cloud data storage experiences, challenges, and security perceptions of the emerging technologies' security tools among end-users of small businesses. The target population was 20 small business end-users from four different types of small businesses with at least one year of cloud experience within a South Atlantic state. The study findings addressed the experiences and challenges of small business end-users with cloud data storage and security perceptions of cloud emerging technologies security tools. The results found that all 20 end-users reported a lack of trust in data storage cloud security. The conclusion is that end-users questioned the protection of cloud storage data.