Regulatory Compliance and Total Cost Influence on the Adoption of Cloud Technology: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

Cloud computing services have provided numerous benefits for both large and small businesses. However, limited knowledge exists about the factors that influence the adoption of cloud computing. As a result, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model 2 was employed as the theoretical framework to determine to what extent, if any, does total cost and cloud service providers’ regulatory compliance relate to intent to adopt cloud computing technology. A quantitative, nonexperimental design was applied to investigate cross-sectional survey data to determine the relationship between the variables. The target population comprised information technology managers, directors, analysts, and consultants in the United States. In addition, the population included individuals who were (a) 25 to 65 years old, (b) had three or more years of experience in information technology procurement decision-making, and (c) had experience in cloud computing technology acquisitions. A total of 91 participants, randomly selected from Qualtrics, responded to the survey instrument. A simple linear regression analysis permitted the examination of the data. The results indicated significant relationships exist between cloud service providers’ regulatory compliance and total cost on the intent of information technology decision-makers to adopt cloud computing. The findings indicated that total cost and cloud service providers’ regulatory compliance pose challenges for information technology decision-makers to adopt cloud computing in their businesses. Future research could examine cloud computing adoption across different regions from a global perspective and generalize the findings within an international context.