A Systematic Mapping Study on Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing emerges from the global economic crisis as an option to use computing resources from a more rational point of view. In other words, a cheaper way to have IT resources. However, issues as security and privacy, SLA (Service Layer Agreement), resource sharing, and billing has left open questions about the real gains of that model. This study aims to investigate state-of-the-art in Cloud Computing, identify gaps, challenges, synthesize available evidences both its use and development, and provides relevant information, clarifying open questions and common discussed issues about that model through literature. The good practices of systematic mapping study methodology were adopted in order to reach those objectives. Although Cloud Computing is based on a business model with over 50 years of existence, evidences found in this study indicate that Cloud Computing still presents limitations that prevent the full use of the proposal on-demand.