Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences | 2018

Cloud Computing in SMEs:

A Qualitative Approach to Identify and Evaluate Influential Factors
Gregor Friedrich-Baasner Marcus Fischer Axel Winkelmann
University of Wuerzburg University of Wuerzburg University of Wuerzburg
gregor.friedrich-baasner@uni- marcus.fischer@uni- axel.winkelmann@uni-
wuerzburg.de wuerzburg.de wuerzburg.de

Abstract survey within German companies shows that only 44

percent are currently using cloud services. But the
In the age of ubiquitous digitalization, there are interest in cloud service solutions is rising and for the
opportunities to relocate miscellaneous activities to the first time the amount of supporters overreached the
cloud, e.g. data storage, computing operations or even sceptics [13].
entire services. This has a massive impact on nearly all Due to this divergence between opportunities and
branches of industries as well as for private resentments, this study was designed to examine the
individuals. However, the reasons for adoption or factors influencing the acceptance and adoption of
cloud services.
rejection of these technologies are still
There are a variety of definitions of cloud sevices.
underrepresented in academic literature.
This paper based on the NIST definition of cloud
During the study at hand, qualitative expert
computing by Mell and Grance [20].
interviews are designed and conducted to elicit reasons
The usage of cloud services provides new
for the adoption of cloud services in German small and
opportunities for decisive competitive advantages,
medium-sized enterprises (SME).
especially for SMEs. For example, the billing method
The study presents a list of explored influencing
pay per use allows to calculate the costs considering
factors, ranked in order to their relevance. In addition
the resources that were actually used. The usually
to the ones abstracted from the literature, the study
accruing high initial investment could be circumvented
identifies five more factors with an influence on the
that way. Therefore, released capacities and resources
adoption of cloud services in the investigated area. The
can be utilized for the core business and the
result of the evaluation is that the security and
advancement of the enterprise. Through the rental of
handling of data have the highest significance for
external resources, new additional opportunities arise
German SMEs. Thus, trust, privacy and security are
that were previously not possible because of unfeasible
the most relevant influencing factors.
investments. Cloud services allow SMEs the usage of
resources formerly exclusively used by big companies
with own data centers [19]. Furthermore, Schneider
1. Introduction and Suyaev stated that there is a need of empirical
clarified reasons for cloud service adoption [30].
Adoption and diffusion are key success factors for The above mentioned situation motivated this
every innovation. The adaptors’ benefits are often research to investigate factors influencing the
assumed as a crucial fact for novel technologies and acceptance and adoption of cloud services within
their diffusion. In most cases, the diffusion of organizations. Furthermore, SMEs play a significant
innovations is a rather slow process [27]. This appears role in the economy. The European Union defined
to be true for the dissemination of cloud services several criteria for SMEs to be segmented as such. One
within the SME sector as well. Many different factors of the criteria is the size of the company which is
are usually influencing the adoption in both directions, limited by 250 employees. Another one is annual
accelerating and inhibiting [13]. These factors differ in turnover which must not exceed 50 million euro [7]. In
their origin, from the technology, over the organization 2015, 99.3 percent of German companies were
to some from the environmental background. categorized as SME. These companies took
Despite the obvious opportunities created through responsibility for around 60 percent of the entire
the usage of cloud services, the acceptance and German employment [32]. For these reasons, this
diffusion are low, especially among SMEs. A recent

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(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
research focuses on the acceptance and adoption of table 1 to provide an overview of the influencing
cloud services in SMEs. factors extracted from the relevant literature.
The objective of this paper is to identify and to The factors in table 1 are grouped in four
evaluate factors influencing the adoption of cloud categories, individual, organizational, technological
services. The already mentioned positive effects on and environmental. In accordance with the particular
entrepreneurial success through the integrated category, each corresponding factor was categorized to
application of cloud services provides SMEs the give a better oversight. The categories are derived from
chance to keep up with larger companies in a highly the technology-organizational-environmental frame-
competitive global market. work by Tornatzky and Fleischer [34]. In addition, the
The following research question (RQ) is assessed categories are extended by the impact on individuals
by this paper: obtained from Venkatesh and Davis [35].
RQ: Which factors are influencing German In the course of the literature analysis, 33 factors
SMEs in the decision to adopt or not adopt cloud were identified which were considered as relevant
services? regarding acceptance and adoption of cloud services.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The mapping of the factors (see Table 1) is based on
Section 2 provides an overview of the existing previous studies [11, 30].
studies in this area. Influencing factors for the Table 1: Cluster of influencing factors
Technological Organizational Environmental Individual
acceptance and adoption from these studies were
consolidated and evaluated within this chapter. The Deferral
Options
External Know-
How
Subjective
Norm
Trust
third section presents the research methodology used [11, 30] [11, 16, 30] [11, 30, 37]
[10, 15, 30]

to answer the posed research question. This chapter Asset Specify

Roles and
Responsibility
Industry
Characteristics
Perceived
Usefulness
is subdivided into an overview of the conducted [3, 11, 30]
[3, 11, 30] [1, 18, 30] [12, 30, 31]
expert interviews and the subsequent content Capital Costs Lock-in-Effect Privacy
Perceived
Ease of Use
analysis. Section 4 deals with the results of the [10, 11, 30] [11, 23, 30] [8, 10, 11]
[9, 29, 30]
content analysis and details on the empirical survey. Cost Reduction
Organization
Size
Competitive
Pressure
This is followed by a discussion of the identified [11, 24, 30]
[1, 11, 30] [12, 24, 30]
influence factors. The final conclusion, limitations Growth Options
Usage
Frequency
Social Influence
and remarks on future research are combined in [11, 21, 30]
[11, 30, 37]
[15, 28, 30]

chapter 6. Uniqueness Complexity

Energy
Efficiency
[11, 23] [9, 24, 30]
[21]
Effort
2. Related Work IT Flexibility
[11, 17, 30]
Expectation
Image
[23, 26, 30]
[2, 15]
Voluntariness
The systematic review of relevant literature Security
of Use
[3, 11, 30]
provides an overview of studies in a certain field and [9, 23, 30]
Strategic Service
identifies areas with potential for further investigation. Impact Monitoring
The literature review also provides an outline of [11, 22, 30] [21, 26, 30]
Technological
already investigated factors [36]. Availability
Compatibility
[9, 24, 30]
This study is based on a literature analysis [3, 26, 30]
Trialability
conducted according to the framework proposed by [1, 9, 17]
vom Brocke et al. [4]. Relative
In order to identify publications concerning the Advantage
[16, 24, 30]
research question, we used the database SCOPUS with Service
the keywords cloud, adoption and acceptance. There Controlling
[14, 17, 30]
are two wide ranged literature reviews [11, 30] on
The objective of the study at hand is to verify or
which the factors in table 1 and the conducted literature
falsify the factors identified in previous studies and, if
review in this paper is founded on.
necessary, to add new ones that have not been
Because of the already existing literature reviews
identified in other research so far. Hence, table 1 serves
[30] the paper on hand proceeds the search from 2015
as foundation for the following empirical examination.
till 2017 and identified additional 117 contributions.
Following a rigour full-text analysis, 29 of the articles
were identified as relevant. Furthermore, a forward and 3. Methodology
backward search results to 10 more high cited papers.
Examples of the total 39 relevant papers are shown in The goal of the study is to investigate factors
influencing the adoption of cloud services, specifically

Page 4682
in German SMEs. Hence, the factors identified in or have a say in strategic IT sourcing decisions. Based
chapter 2 need to be matched with appropriate data on these criteria, interviews were executed with the
collected from the target group. Furthermore, we aim fifteen participants shown in table 2. P1 to P3
to explore additional factors that might not have been represents the participants of the pretest which were
identified in previous studies. In order to not included in the results of the survey and I1 to I12
simultaneously gather data of confirmative and the interviewees.
exploratory character, we applied a qualitative Table 2. Sample overview
approach. Hence, the study on hand follows the Number Industry
Number of
established procedure of qualitative research as employees
proposed by Bryman and Bell [5]. Figure 1 shows the P1 Business Information Systems
six basic steps necessary to perform this kind of P2 Jurisprudence
analysis, whereas steps 1-3 relate to the data collection P3 Business Information Systems
process and steps 4-6 describe the data interpretation I1 IT development < 10
process. I2 IT service/healthcare < 10
I3 IT service < 50
I4 e-commerce < 10
I5 IT development/service < 50
I6 Law firm < 10
I7 IT development/service < 250
I8 Fintech < 10
I9 IT service < 250
I10 IT service < 50
I11 High-tech production < 250
I12 IT service/healthcare < 10
Afterwards, the data collection process ends with
the actual collection of relevant data in step 3. This
includes a clear documentation of the development of a
Figure 1. Main steps of qualitative research [5] target-aimed interview guide, the administrative work
of coordinating and performing appointments with
interviewees as well as the preparation of data [6]. The
3.1. Data collection process semi-structured interview guide focused on open
questions regarding drivers and barriers of cloud
As figure 1 shows, the data collection process starts adoption from different perspectives, e.g. technological
with the statement of an explicit research question. or juridical. Thus, the interviewee was not directed or
Within the scope of this paper, the research question limited in his answers in any way by having knowledge
has been stated before as follows: Which factors are of the list of already known influence factors. The
influencing German SMEs in the decision to adopt or guide was tested and slightly adjusted by performing
not adopt cloud services? three pretest interviews with academic and non-
In order to answer this question, appropriate data academic professionals in the field of IT. Twelve
from the target group need to be collected and analyzed expert interviews were conducted personally or by
regarding the influence of the factors derived from the phone in the main study, which took place from
publications examined in chapter 2 and the appearance September 2015 until January 2016. All interviews
of effects not identified so far. For the purpose of were recorded upon approval by the interviewee and
collecting the right data, a suitable collection method fully transcribed afterwards. Eventually, the call logs
needs to be chosen and the target group needs to be were sent to each participant for confirmation in order
defined precisely by selecting relevant subjects in step to ensure the content validity [5].
2. As for the collection method, expert interviews
proved to be the right instrument to gather data that can
be matched with the coding scheme derived from 3.2. Data interpretation process
existing factors on the one hand and examined
regarding unknown effects on the other hand [25]. The The data interpretation process contains three steps:
selection of experts was made by applying the the interpretation of data, the conceptual and
following criteria: interviewees had to (1) have theoretical work, and the composition of the results.
comprehensive knowledge of information technology First, the collected and transcribed data need to be
and cloud services in particular, (2) be employed by a analyzed and interpreted in order to gain actual
German SME using or providing cloud services, and information from the raw material. As for the study on
(3) be in a job position that allows to be responsible for hand, this means that the interview protocols needed to
be matched with the coding scheme derived from the

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results of the literature analysis shown in table 1.
Furthermore, the protocols had to be examined
particularly with regard to adoption criteria that have
not been captured by previous studies. For that
purpose, we performed a comprehensive content
analysis [25]. In order to ensure reliability, the
examination was undertaken by three researchers in a
double-blind process using the data analysis software
MAXQDA in release 12.1.3. Afterwards, the results
were matched and, if discrepancies occurred in respect
of the assignment between factors and text passages,
harmonized by majority voting.
In step 5, the results from the coding process need
to be further processed and used for theoretical and
conceptual work. We decided to apply the established
TOE-framework to further categorize the evaluated as
well as the anew identified influence factors [34].
Figure 2 shows the theoretical framework which
contains the three perspectives technology,
organization, and environment. In the study on hand,
the framework was extended by the perspective
individual in order to represent factors that could not
reasonably be assigned to the primary perspectives.

Figure 2. Theoretical framework [22]

In addition to the evaluation, exploration and
categorization of influence factors, a frequency
analysis was performed to better understand and
visualize the weightings of the factors in the field on
the basis of their denominations [38]. The results of
these analyzes are presented subsequently in chapter 4.
Eventually, step 6 of the procedure model for
qualitative analysis (see fig. 1) describes the structured
composition of the study results in the form of an
article or work report, which is represented by the
paper at hand.

4. Findings
In order to generate empirical evidence from the
qualitative data regarding the weightings of the
influence factors, we performed a frequency analysis
using a coding scheme derived from the factors
characterized in previous studies (see figure 3). Figure 3. Findings
Initially, we assigned each factor to one of the four
perspectives of the TOEI-framework (see table 1)

Page 4684
following the approach of Stieninger and Nedbal [33]. for example, somebody else can temporary replace him
Afterwards, this coding scheme composed of codes easily”.
(perspectives) and subcodes (factors) was incorporated Likewise, nine participants brought up cost
into the qualitative data analysis software MAXQDA. reductions as a decision criterion. “But cloud-based
Subsequently, three researchers independently does not automatically mean cheaper. […] After
examined the interview protocols matching the performing a cost-benefit calculation for three years,
respective expert statements with the subcodes of the we haven’t found a cloud-based system yet that would
coding scheme. The final results of this procedure are have been cheaper [than an on premise solution]”,
shown in figure 3, whereas the bars represent the interviewee (I5) stated. On the contrary, expert (I2)
number of experts who emphasized the influence of the points out that “you do not have to take care about how
particular factor on their decision to adopt or not adopt and where to set-up servers and who you have to pay
cloud services in their company. Detailed information to maintain them. Also, most cloud systems are free of
with references to selected interviewee statements for charge to a specific extent”.
each perspective are provided in the following Eight participants mention the strategic impact of
subchapters. As far as linguistically possible, quotes cloud services, e.g. regarding the increasing
were translated into English without any alterations. digitalization of processes in all industries. Hence, (I6)
states: “You want to be prepared. With all the
4.1. Technological perspective digitalization of processes in mind, it is incredible to
think of what is going to happen in the next years”.
The technological perspective contains ten The factor capital costs was mentioned by seven
influence factors, whereof the following eight could be participants. Expert (I10) noted that “you have to be
verified in the German SME sector: security, careful with pay-per-use. Until a certain break-even-
technological availability, IT flexibility, cost reduction, point, it makes sense to host your own infrastructure.
strategic impact, capital costs, growth options, and As for ourselves, it is currently better to work cloud-
deferral options. The factors asset specifity and based”.
uniqueness, which could be proved in previous studies, Four interviewees included growth options in their
were not emphasized by any of the experts in our decision process, mostly related to the “dynamics in
sample. terms of quick availability of resources, for example if
The factor security was mentioned by all interview the intensity of use increases unexpectedly” (I7).
partners (n = 12). In contrast to other examinations in Only two participants mentioned deferral options as
the field, experts from German SMEs do not only a relevant influence factor. Unlike lock-in effects (see
assess this criterion negatively. Interviewee (I4) states: 4.2), this criterion is mainly perceived as a positive
“The data security [of cloud-services] is much higher aspect using cloud systems: “The good thing is, I
than the data security of internal systems”. Expert (I3) usually get quick access to the solution and if it does
affirmed this picture: “Security concepts are a basic not fulfill my requirements I can terminate it just as
module and essential service for every cloud provider. quick” (I5).
I think cloud providers are already well prepared
because of the architecture itself and the privacy 4.2. Organizational perspective
requirements”. However, some experts still make
reservations regarding the security of cloud-based IT The organizational perspective contains thirteen
services: “If someone wants to compromise us […], he factors, whereof eleven could be detected in our data
is pretty likely to be able. And if [the system] is in the basis. Only trialability and service monitoring were not
cloud, he usually has access to different accounts mentioned by any of the experts. The remaining factors
immediately” (I7). – namely external know-how, effort expectation,
The second most frequently mentioned complexity, organization size, voluntariness of use,
technological factor is technological availability (n = roles and responsibilities, service controlling,
10). With regard to the the cloud-readiness in compatibility, relative advantage, lock-in effect, and
Germany, all interviewees agree that “the usage frequency – were emphasized by at least one of
infrastructure in Germany can and has to be the participants.
improved” (I3). From an organizational view, most of the decision
IT flexibility was emphasized by nine experts. makers (n = 8) in the sample valued the access to
Interviewee (I2) states: “I am thinking about the external know-how when adopting cloud services: “It
flexibility I have, because everybody has access to just makes sense to outsource specific jobs to
everything. That is a big advantage. If someone is sick professional, specialized companies” (I2). In the same
context, six experts emphasized the factor effort

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expectancy. Thus, interviewee (I4) stated: “We do not subjective norm, industry characteristics, social impact
have the knowledge to operate such a server solution and privacy.
in-house, we did not acquire it and we did not even The factor privacy was the most mentioned from
want to”. Five participants additionally noted the the environmental perspective. All participants
manageable complexity of cloud systems, “especially confirmed its relevance. Interview partner (I7) stated:
in the early stage [of a company] since [the system] is “In principle, I think that the German mentality
configured within a few clicks and immediately ready- regarding privacy is reasonable. But if I am operating
to-use” (I12). with cloud services I will mainly leave the pure
The size of the organization also matters according German judicial area”. He further stated that he
to five of the interviewees. For example, (I11) noted considered the laws as “suitable to only a limited
that “a head of a medium-sized company acts totally extent, conducive but undifferentiated”.
different than a member of the supervisory board of a Industry characteristics and social impact were seen
multi-corporate enterprise who calculates by the as a relevant influence on the adoption decision by
quarter and not what is going on in five years”. seven interviewees each. Interviewee (I11) explained
Three experts mentioned the fundamental the influence of the industry characteristics as follows:
willingness to use this rather new kind of technology as “We produce some parts individually for one costumer.
an important aspect. Hence, interviewee (I8) made the This customer holds the exclusive user right. If I would
experience that “even in companies which intensively use cloud services for the computing or storage of
deal with the topic [of cloud solutions], there is a large data, I’d run the risk of losing that asset and know-how
resistance on the employee side to consistently and rather getting a contractual penalty due to the
incorporate novel technologies”. harsh policies from the customer”.
The same amount of participants (n = 3) mentioned An environmental aspect can be found in the factor
the change of roles and responsibilities, which is subjective norm, which was mentioned by half of the
described by participant (I8) as follows: “I think the participants. Interview partners see an obstacle in the
biggest opportunity as well as the biggest risk in that subjective mindset of potential users. A statement of
respect is to not only replace the software but also to interviewee (I3) describes the problem appropriate:
question why I do it. There is a big opportunity to work “[…] since we also have a lot of conservative
more effectively and improve cooperation”. customers, the on premise solution has a greater
Two interviewees noted unsolved problems demand than cloud services”.
regarding the service controlling when using cloud- Another factor of the environmental perspective is
based systems. Participant (I10) for example the competitive pressure. Interviewee (I8) sees
demanded, that “you have to be able to monitor and difficulties with international competitors due to
control who has access to your data, which means to certain conditions in Germany and mentioned it as
control traffic on deep layers [of the systems]”. follows: "[…] how shall we keep up with the
Likewise, two experts highlighted the enhanced international competitors, when we are not able to
compatibility of cloud-services, especially in utilize the same technology. The competitors gain
heterogeneous ecosystems: “The bottom line is that we competitive advantage”.
have to enable access to the applications to many The at least mentioned environmental factor is
different users, which is relatively easy to achieve in energy efficiency. Only the participant of company (I7)
the cloud. […] I do not have to install a client and it stated: “There are also improvements in a relatively
does not matter if I am currently using an Android or large number of areas due to omission of
Apple device or my Windows PC” (I8). environmental pollution and a more efficient usage of
The factors lock-in effect and usage frequency were energy because of the digitalization”.
each mentioned by one decision maker. Interviewee
(I10) stated, that “a problem is that the provider could 4.4. Individual perspective
go broke, which is a problem with Navision for
example. The system does not provide backup The individual perspective contains the factors
functionality. […] In that case, there is a lot of data perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and trust.
only stored by your provider and if he cannot continue Trust, which means “[…] the confidence in the
business, then you might have a problem”. provider to complete his job reliably, for example
regarding the processing of customer data” (I4), was
4.3. Environmental perspective emphasized by eleven of twelve interviewees.
Participant (I3) additionally referred to the recent safe
The environmental perspective contains the factors harbor sentence in the European Union: “The
energy efficiency, competitive pressure, image, trustworthiness of providers, especially from the US,

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has suffered due to the safe harbor decision. That is The second least mentioned new factor is
why especially German companies […] have to gain standardization. It consists of different aspects, such as
the customer’s trust”. consistent general conditions, interfaces and
Eight participants mentioned the perceived interoperability. The least stated factor of the new
usefulness of cloud-services as an adoption criterion, factor perspective is transparency (service). One
especially related to cloud-based application software participant sees it as relevant influence for the
(SaaS) and increased mobility: “Because I can work adoption. Interviewee (I3) stated: “It has to be clearly
from everywhere, which means I am not bound to one evident for the user, who is participating in the data
specific workspace and able to communicate much processing in which way”.
faster with my co-workers” (I2).
Perceived ease of use eventually was brought up by 5. Discussion
three interviewees. By ease of use, the experts mostly
referred to a good functionality and an easy setup The following chapter contains a classification of
process: “I think it has to be easy. When we set up the results derived through the empirical survey.
cloud-services for customers, they expect an Apple-like Moreover, the new factors are arranged in the used and
system. You plug it in, click three times OK and it advanced TOE framework.
works” (I6). In figure 3, a subdivision of influence factors is
made according to their importance.
4.5. New factors Aspects mentioned from less than 25 percent of the
interviewees can be assessed as hardly relevant, which
During the evaluation of the interviews, it became includes seventeen influencing factors. Four factors
obvious that the literature review in section 2 does not were not mentioned by any interview partner and
cover all factors influencing the adoption of cloud hence have no influence on the adoption in the
services. In addition to the factors in table 1, the underlying sample. The other thirteen factors were
interviews revealed five new factors: transparency each mentioned from only one to three interviewees.
(service), standardization, business model, lack of This includes the factors transparency (service) and
know-how and transparency (security). These factors standardization which were not obtained in former
will be shown by selected mentions in the following studies.
and further evaluated in the discussion. The factors mentioned by 25 to 75 percent of
Most of the decision makers (n = 10) in the sample interviewees are accordingly estimated to have relevant
value the transparency of the security. Interview impact on the acceptance and adoption of cloud
partner (I10), for example, mentioned the location of services by the investigated SMEs. This category
the data processing and storage and stated: “The includes fourteen factors mentioned by four to eight
hindrances, or what can be seen as disadvantageous, interviewees.
are the data retention. Where is critical data One was stated in four interviews. Three factors in
geographically stored? What is with data backups? All each case were mentioned by five, six and eight
of this is pretty important”. Interviewees mainly said interviewees. Four more factors can be extracted
that they prefer more transparency concerning security because they were mentioned in seven interviews each.
and data issues. In this context, it is noteworthy that the new factors
The second most mentioned new factor is the lack business model and lack of know-how are to be
of know-how. It is considered to have a negative attributed to these categories of relevance. The first one
correlation to the adoption of cloud services. was identified in six interviews. The second new factor
Participant (I5) stated that: “If I am a SME with a lack in this category was even identified in seven
of knowledge concerning cloud services, I would interviews. It clearly shows that the newly discovered
rather see it as a danger then an opportunity”. That factors have a certain relevance for the influence
implicates that a better understanding of cloud services whether to adopt cloud services or not.
would improve the adoption, which was stated by more Influencing factors with a high relevance for the
than half of the interviewees. adoption of cloud services are those mentioned in more
The business model is another newly identified than 75 percent of the conversations with SMEs. This
factor. Interviewee (I1) recognized that the pricing involves factors stated nine times or more in different
model pay per use is not always suitable for interviews. The new factor transparency (security)
microenterprises because of the unpredictable usage includes this category and was seen as an influencing
rate. Another participant (I5) sees a potential factor by ten interviewees which confirms its
improvement in a decentral allocation of cloud service importance.
providers to enhance the adoption.

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 The individual factor trust is the third most stated. are admittedly only limited classifiable within the
Two factors were unanimously mentioned by all TOEI-framework, and if so, only based on the
interviewees. Therefore, security and privacy are the statement of each individual interview partner.
most stated. As a consequence, these factors obtained The investigation of the factor’s relevance, taking
from the literature turn out to have the highest the pretest interviews into account, has revealed a
influence in the study on hand. They can be seen as the notable outcome. The pretest was conducted with
main driver or major obstacle for the adoption of cloud scientific personal with a practical focus. Hence, the
based solutions and services for the examined statements of the pretest can be seen as scientific point
enterprises in the investigated area. of view. The interviewees in the main survey are from
Another result of this study, beneath the companies and can be seen as practical wise point of
classification of relevance of the influencing factors view.
extracted from the literature, is the identification of During the investigation of the interviews, a
five new factors. These are, in a descending order of significant divergence was discovered between
relevance, transparency (service), standardization, statements from the science side in the pretest and
business model, lack of know-how and transparency opinions from the practice in some cases.
(security). Subsequently, we attempt to categorize On one hand, there are factors ranked with a high
these new factors in the formerly used TOEI- relevance from the scientific point of view. Factors,
framework. such as transparency (service) and the lock-in-effect
The transparency (service) defies a classification to were mentioned by all pretest interviewees, but
a particular category. Due to the interviewees, the attracted only little to no attention by the practical side.
factor consists aspects of the technological category, Based on the foregoing it can be interpreted that the
e.g. regarding the inspection of the procedure of data above mentioned factors are elaborated with a more
processing, as well as the organizational category, e.g. complex mindset as it is common in the practice. It can
since service providers themselves shall act be reasonably assumed that the science is more
transparent. advanced in the area of innovation than the practice.
However, the standardization can unequivocally be Hence, factors like the lock-in-effect are assumed to
assigned to the technological category. have a potential future impact on the influence of the
The third new factor, in turn, is not relatable to one cloud service adoption.
particular category. It is a mélange of individual On the other hand, there are factors characterized
aspects, such as trust on one side and also vice versa. They have a high relevance for the practical
environmental aspects, e.g. social influences or point of view but not for the scientific. This applies,
subjective norms. e.g. for effort expectations mentioned by half of the
Although the business model results from the interview partners from the main survey and from none
technology, but it is classified as organizational. It is an of the pretest interviewees. This is even more
organizational decision how to market a product and significant with the factor transparency (security). The
how to operate a value chain with it. ratio between scientific and practical mention in this
The fifth new influencing factor, the lack of know- case is zero to ten. However, this shows the
how, is firstly composed of aspects of the discrepancy between the both perceptions. This result
organizational factor complexity and on the other hand can be explained by the fact that companies have a
of aspects of the individual factors perceived ease of deeper insight to certain processes due to the daily use
use and perceived usefulness. The technological of cloud services. Moreover, the reality and theory of
factors, such as strategic impact and technological cloud services are not always identical. The fact that
availability, also need to be considered the factor transparency (security), for example, is based
The transparency (security) is a conglomerate of on individual requirements of those surveyed can be a
factors from all categories. It combines the individual reason that the above mentioned factor is not equally
trust, the organizational service monitoring, the represented in both perceptions.
environmental privacy and the technological factor In case of the three most mentioned influencing
security. The mention of transparency (security) by ten factors, both views agree on security and privacy.
of twelve interviewees underlines its importance and Those were likewise stated by all fifteen interviewees.
relevance as influencing factor for the adoption of There is a small deviation in the factor trust, which was
cloud services. not mentioned by one interviewee from a company,
To summarize, it can be affirmed that the new concededly all remaining stated it unanimously. This
influencing factors partially build on factors form the additionally emphasizes the relevance of the three most
literature, expand them or move them towards a stated influencing factors for the acceptance and
different direction. Factors like transparency (security) adoption of cloud services in the examined area.

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