Cloud Computing Adoption in Saudi Industrial Enterprises: Role of SAP Platforms in Vision 2030 Digital Transformation

Cloud computing has become a strategic mechanism through which Saudi industrial enterprises modernize resource planning, process integration, supply-chain visibility, asset performance, and executive decision support under Vision 2030. Yet adoption is not simply an infrastructure migration. For industrial firms that operate refineries, utilities, petrochemical plants, manufacturing lines, logistics networks, and public-private mega-project supply chains, cloud adoption is inseparable from enterprise resource planning, data governance, cybersecurity, localization, and organizational readiness. This review paper synthesizes recent literature and policy evidence from 2020 to 2025 to examine how SAP platforms contribute to cloud computing adoption in Saudi industrial enterprises. The paper develops a review-based conceptual framework linking cloud determinants, SAP platform capabilities, industrial performance outcomes, and Vision 2030 alignment. It argues that SAP S/4HANA Cloud, RISE with SAP, SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Ariba, SuccessFactors, and SAP integration services can act as a controlled modernization layer where firms need real-time operations, finance transparency, procurement compliance, predictive maintenance, and scalable analytics. The review also finds that adoption success depends on data residency, integration discipline, cyber controls, executive sponsorship, skills, business-process standardization, and phased hybrid-cloud architecture. The paper contributes a Saudi-specific adoption pathway and governance matrix for researchers and practitioners evaluating cloud ERP modernization in regulated industrial settings.