At the Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, a bachelor’s thesis titled “Attitudes of VeeRa (1.0) Users Towards Cloud-Based Solutions and Security Issues” was successfully defended.
Today, many organizations use software tools to simplify budgeting, which offer their services primarily on a cloud basis. This solution allows for more flexible work organization and continuous backup prevents data loss. However, it has been found that cloud-based solutions may come with issues due to the lack of resources to prevent security vulnerabilities. The bachelor’s thesis examined the attitudes of VeeRa users towards cloud-based solutions and aimed to identify possible problems associated with it.
To achieve this, a questionnaire was conducted among users, with the sample consisting mainly of financial managers, budget planners, accountants, and heads of departments and sectors from local governments in Estonia, as well as other organizations using VeeRa financial planning software in their daily operations.
It was found that respondents consider the cloud-based solution important because it provides constant access to data and greater flexibility regarding location and staff. Respondents with less than five years (inclusive) of budgeting experience have only used VeeRa software for financial planning. However, users with more than five years of budgeting experience had a significantly different experience working with VeeRa software. This suggested that organizations are increasingly moving towards a more convenient and faster solution offered by VeeRa.
The growing popularity of the software is also indicated by the continuous increase in the number of users. 85.15% of respondents stated that VeeRa software is easy to use, and 81.19% found it to be convenient and well-designed. According to VeeRa users, the three main advantages of the cloud-based solution are: the ability to use the software anywhere (72.28% of all respondents), constant access to data (71.29% of all respondents), and the ability to use the software at any time (70.3% of all respondents). Based on this, it can be concluded that VeeRa users value the flexibility in work organization the most in cloud services.
Although VeeRa users are generally aware of the security risks associated with the cloud-based solution, they still consider the software secure.