Past Issues

Studies in Informatics and Control
Vol. 30, No. 1, 2021

A Multicriteria Framework for Cloud Service Providers Selection Based on the Matter Element Extension Method

Constanţa Zoie RADULESCU, Marius RADULESCU, Radu BONCEA, Ionut PETRE, Ionut-Eugen SANDU, Mihail DUMITRACHE
Abstract

Market availability of multiple cloud services with similar characteristics, various pricing structures, and different Quality of Service (QoS) criteria make the selection of a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) a difficult task for decision makers that want to move their business to the cloud. CSP selection is a complex multicriteria problem. Many of the QoS criteria that must be considered in this problem are both quantitative and qualitative criteria. This fact determines the inclusion in the decision process of the uncertainty due to the subjectivism of the qualitative criteria evaluation. The present paper proposes a new multicriteria framework based on the Matter Element Extension (MEE) method to solve the problem of ranking a set of CSPs and the selection of the CSP that best meets the requirements of an organization. MEE method is ideal to solve multicriteria problems by formalizing the decision process. It can be enhanced by combining it with weighting methods. The multicriteria framework based on MEE method is implemented in a case study. A sensitivity analysis is performed by varying the endpoints of the extended intervals for criteria. The solutions and the CSP ranks obtained are analysed.

Keywords

Multicriteria framework, Cloud Services Providers, Matter Element Extension method, Ranking, Classic and extended intervals, Sensitivity analysis.

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