ERP as Software-as-a-Service: Factors Depicting Large Enterprises Cloud Adoption

Cloud computing has shifted the paradigm from developing enterprise software to acquiring it as a service. While supportive information systems have rapidly transformed to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, mission-critical ERP's largely remain in more conventional operation models. Especially with SAP ERP systems utilized by large enterprises, adoption to public cloud-based SaaS ERP has been slow and on-premise ERP is still thriving. Based on a multicase study interviewing six large enterprises, we identified four elementary factors which affect cloud adoption for mission-critical ERP's. The findings indicate that service quality and costs are the most significant factors influencing SaaS adoption, while technical limitations and cloud characteristics are also identified as key factors.