Factors Influencing the Adoption of Infrastructure as a Service by South African Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Many South African Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) cannot afford to establish formal IT departments to support their daily technological needs. Cloud computing adoption is considered one of the digital enablers that can offer SMEs a chance to bridge the gap in resources with larger organisational competitors. Although cloud computing research is gaining traction, there is still a need to understand the adoption behaviour among Small Medium Enterprises in developing countries. This study aims to confirm and understand prior researched factors influencing IaaS adoption. A deductive, quantitative research method was followed. The findings indicate a positive adoption uptake of cloud computing services like IaaS by South African SMEs with at least 9 antecedents identified to explain the variance in adoption levels. The main driver is the twenty-four-hour accessibility of cloud computing regardless of geolocation and the main inhibitor is found to be offshore data residency. Furthermore, client data protection and sensitivity are negatively related to the adoption decision making to adopt IaaS.