Qualitative Study of the End User's Perception of Software as a Service (SaaS) in the Cloud

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software application delivery model hosted and deployed by a software vendor and used by customers over the internet (Liu, 2010). SaaS is an emerging technology that many end users today are resistant to use. The issue is due to various concerns about the new technology. As with any new technology, there are benefits and challenges. The key is getting through the challenges and reaping the benefits. The purpose of this study is to determine the end user's perception of SaaS in the cloud. The Researcher used Qualitative study to answer the research questions. The intent is to use a qualitative research as a methodology to provide responses to whether end users will utilize SaaS more in the future. The qualitative study was also used to determine what drives end users to utilize SaaS and what makes end users resist SaaS. Is the security the main reason end users do not want to use SaaS? The information in the literature review suggests that safety is a reason for the hesitation. It also suggests that a reduced workload is a reason for utilizing SaaS. However, is that still true today or are their other reasons or concerns as the technology develops? An initial, short survey followed by a series of interview questions in the qualitative study used in answering the research questions. The survey and interview questions also provided a better insight of the user's perception to SaaS in the cloud and predicted the utilization of SaaS in the future.