Understanding Socio-Technical Impacts Arising from Software-as-a-Service Usage in Companies: A Mixed Method Analysis on Individual Level Data

Measuring factors influencing quality of software-as-a-service

Various industrial and business sectors use Software-as-a-Service due to its fast services. However, Software-as-a-Service providers face various challenges in providing high-quality services while simultaneously managing vast multi-tenant infrastructure models and increasingly complex user requirements. To address these problems, we identified those factors that affect the quality of Software-as-a-Service from the perspective of provider–user relationship and investigated how service providers can objectively improve user satisfaction. In a case study, we evaluated the perceived service quality of an information system in the public sector based on user satisfaction with the quality of external outsourcing service in terms of assurance, empathy, responsiveness, reliability, and communication. We identified new sub factors (commitment, skills, effectiveness, change management, business processes, and motivation) and proposed action steps that can guide best practices in ensuring Software-as-a-Service quality. These factors are greatly influenced by the communication between providers and users.

Development of a Change Management Instrument for the Implementation of Technologies

The manufacturing industry is increasingly being dominated by information and communication technology, leading to the development of cyber-physical systems. Most existing frameworks on the assessment of such technological advancements see the technology as a solitary system. However, research has shown that other environmental factors like organizational processes or human factors are also affected. Drawing on the sociotechnical systems approach, future technologies could be evaluated using scenarios of digitized work. These scenarios can help classify new technologies and uncover their advantages and constraints in order to provide guidance for the digital development of organizations. We developed an instrument for evaluating scenarios of digitized work on the relevant dimensions ‘technology’, ‘human’ and ‘organization’ and conducted a quantitative study applying this instrument on three different scenarios (N = 24 subject matter experts). Results show that our instrument is capable of measuring technological, human and organizational aspects of technology implementations and detecting differences in the scenarios under investigation. The instrument’s practical value is significant as it enables the user to compare and quantify scenarios and helps companies to decide which technology they should implement.