Post-adoption consequences of software-as-a-service on small and medium enterprises

Cloud computing, and particularly Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), has been widely adopted in Saudi Arabia, but how organisations are impacted and changed by the adoption needs greater understanding. The growing number of enterprises especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have adopted cloud services, i.e. SaaS creates an urgent need to understand the implication of SaaS adoption. As a result, the research looks beyond the adoption phase and investigates the post-adoption consequences and implications of Software-as-a-Service on small and medium enterprises.<br> <br>The research aims to develop a conceptual model of post-adoption consequences of SaaS on SMEs in Saudi Arabia. It mainly aims to (a) investigate how the adoption of SaaS changes the organisation's structure, (b) determine the implications of SaaS adoption on the organisation's processes.<br><br>To achieve the research's objectives the research used a mixed methodology. The first part of conducting the mixed method is a qualitative method of investigation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from different organisations. The study found three distinct stages of consequences that occur after the initial adoption. These were synthesised into a cohesive model.<br><br>The second stage of the methodology was a quantitative method of investigation. Based on the emerged model a survey was designed. The main purpose of the survey was to validate the qualitative outcomes and to generalise the findings. The model developed can help organisations to identify and consider the implications of Software-as-a-Service both before and after adoption.