Adopters' trust in enterprise open source vendors: An empirical examination

Although significant research attention has been directed at understanding open source software (OSS) adoption, very little attention has been paid to understanding what leads potential adopters to trust enterprise open source vendors. This study identifies organizational trust factors in enterprise open source vendors, namely vendors' security, embracement of open standards, and support services. It also examines the impact of system trust on adopters' attitudes and intentions. The study draws upon a total of 192 questionnaires collected from enterprise IT and project managers. Our results show that trust factors have a positive effect on system trust. We also found system trust to be effective in increasing adopters' attitudes and intentions. Finally, our results provide several managerial implications for organizations as well as enterprise open source vendors.