The Role of Management Support in Software-as-a-Service Adoption Decision: A Conceptual Model

The role of management support is crucial when companies embark on the adoption of emerging technologies such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The current paper investigates the role of management support in the SaaS adoption decision. It presents a multifaceted model explaining antecedents of the propensity to adopt SaaS with the central role played by management support. The proposed model is being verified drawing from the opinions of IT practitioners representing both SaaS adopters and providers. The adopted research approach is Partial-Least-Squares Structural Equations Modelling (PLS-SEM). The preliminary results obtained in the PLS-SEM analysis demonstrate that the presented model is promising, confirming that the propensity to adopt SaaS is significantly influenced by management support, which is shaped only by trust. At the same time, the findings also suggest the insignificant role of other potential antecedents of management support, thus suggesting ideas for further model verification and improvement