26th International Association for Management of Technology Conference - IAMOT 2017

The core research issue of the present study is to understand the adoption of cloud computing (CC) in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firms in India. A system dynamics-based, user and service provider factor interrelationship model is developed to help evaluate the adoption of cloud computing in the firm. Different relationships and linkages between the service provider and user, are identified to establish feedback loops that analyse the system over time. An exploratory-descriptive qualitative research design was used. Open-ended semi-structured questionnaire was developed and pilot-tested with industry experts. Questions were added on the recommendation of experts from pilot study, and the final questionnaire consisted 3 sections namely organizational and interviewee profile; adoption of IT; and adoption of CC. Employees from 13 organizations who have adopted CC (including both cloud service providers (CSPs) and cloud service users (CSUs)) were invited to participate in the study. The responses were transcribed and analyzed using open coding. Causal loop diagram (CLD) was developed using the analysis of qualitative study showing interrelationship among factors. Causal loop diagrams (CLD) can be read using two constructs – link and loop polarity. ‘Link polarity’ is presented by positive and negative symbols at the head of the arrows indicating a ‘causal link’. A positive symbol indicates that any change in the cause will create a movement in the same direction in the effect beyond what it would otherwise have been. Stock and flow diagrams (SFD) are used to capture the stock and flow structures of systems. The stock and flow model is based on the causal loop diagram where the variables selected are converted into stocks according to their relevant respective relationships and relevance to systems. Once the model is developed, all the adoption related factors and behavioural graphical relationships such as the resistance to change and the top management decision are neutralized by setting the growth factors to zero and all the values in the graphical input relationships to one. The purpose for the examination is to observe the behaviour of the model in equilibrium so that the inflow values are equal to the outflow values in the initial stage. The analysis of the cloud computing adoption model shows that revenue and clients’ demand are the key leverage point affecting adoption rate of the firm. Further, time to market and competitor pressure also play important role in influencing the rate of adoption. However, trading partner pressure and resistance to change have only minor effects on adoption rate.