Stimuli influencing small business owner adoption of a software-as-a-service solution: A quantitative study

Cloud computing has moved beyond the early adoption phase and recent trends demonstrate encouraging adoption rates. This utility-based computing model offers significant IT flexibility and potential for cost savings for organizations of all sizes, but may be the most attractive to small businesses because of limited capital to fund required business expenses and the complex nature of enterprise IT solutions. Given the rising trend in adoption rates, this study sought to examine the relationship of determinants in small business owners' decision to adopt the office tools and productivity category of Software-as-a-Service based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). This study found the three predictor variables of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence explained 63% of the variation in behavioral intention. Further, the two predictor variables of behavioral intention and facilitating conditions were found to explain 59% of the variation in use behavior. This study provides an extension of UTAUT to small businesses vice user acceptance. The results of this study have the potential to provide the groundwork for further research in cloud computing adoption among small business owners including obtaining economies of scale by utilizing a virtual computing environment and other non-financial means of utilizing a pooled set of virtualized computing resources, which may not yet have come to fruition. Based upon the results cloud computing providers should explore the possibility of ensuring the environment meets the requirements of the small business and consider marketing their product specifically to the small business. Lastly, because behavioral intention was the strongest predictor representing use behavior, providers should attempt to influence potential small business owner behavioral intention, which should directly influence use behavior and increase market share. Small business owner should be better positioned to select a cloud computing provide with a product that best suits the small business's requirements. The most obvious research opportunity is to evaluate the significance the moderators of gender, age, and IT experience have upon the key determinants. Further, future research should be conducted to determine deviation of anticipated social influence result was an isolated event or if this particular topic deviates from the anticipated results of UTAUT.