A bachelor’s thesis titled “VeeRa Users’ Attitudes Towards a Cloud-Based Software Solution and Security Issues”was successfully defended at the Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu.
Today, many organisations use supportive software tools to simplify budgeting processes, often delivered as cloud-based services. Such solutions enable more flexible work arrangements, while continuous data backup helps prevent data loss. At the same time, it has been noted that cloud-based solutions may present challenges, as resources for preventing security vulnerabilities can be limited.
The bachelor’s thesis examined VeeRa users’ attitudes towards the software’s cloud-based solution and aimed to identify potential issues associated with its use. To achieve this, a survey was conducted among users, with respondents including CFOs, budget planners, accountants, and managers of subordinate units and functional areas. The majority of participants came from Estonian local governments, but the sample also included other organisations that use VeeRa financial planning software in their daily work. The results showed that respondents consider a cloud-based solution important, as it ensures continuous data availability and provides greater flexibility in terms of working time and location.
Respondents with less than five years of budgeting experience had used only VeeRa for financial planning. In contrast, users with more than five years of budgeting experience reported significantly more varied experiences when working with VeeRa. This suggests that organisations are increasingly moving towards more convenient and faster financial planning solutions, such as VeeRa. The growing popularity of the software is also reflected in the steady increase in the number of users. 85.15% of respondents stated that VeeRa is easy to use, while 81.19% considered it convenient and well designed.
According to VeeRa users, the cloud-based solution offers three main advantages: the ability to use the software from any location (72.28% of respondents), continuous access to data (71.29%), and the ability to use the software at any time (70.3%). Based on these results, it can be concluded that VeeRa users value the flexibility of work arrangements enabled by cloud services above all.
Although VeeRa users are generally aware of the security risks associated with cloud-based solutions, they nevertheless consider the software to be secure.
