Critical Success Factors for Software-as-a-Service Adoption

Cloud Computing and especially Software as a Service (SaaS) are gaining increased attention by researchers and practitioners alike. In spite of its obvious relevance and potentials for increasing IT flexibility and reducing costs, significant concerns still exist on the side of potential users. Against this background, the paper at hand aims to collect empirical evidence about the specific reasons why decision makers may still be reluctant towards SaaS solutions. Drawing from these results, a model is developed that synthesizes the main success factors (security, privacy, compliance, flexibility and SLAs) along five dimensions. The paper closes with an assessment of practical implications and challenges for future research.