Getting heads into the cloud: pre-adoption beliefs and attitudes regarding a cloud-based platform shift at a public university

• Published in: Journal of international technology and information management 2013-03, Vol.22 (3), p.1
• Main Author: Furner, Christopher P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitudes; Cloud computing; Colleges & universities; Computer literacy; Consumer attitudes; Influence; Information management; Information systems; Longitudinal studies; Perceptions; Quality of service; Researchers; Social interaction; Studies; Success; Technology Acceptance Model; Technology adoption; Technology application; Theory of planned behavior; Trust; Universities and colleges
• ISSN: 1543-5962; 1941-6679

This paper reports on the first phase of a 2-phase confirmation-disconfirmation study in which we conduct a pre-implementation survey of employees at a mid-sized university who are about to have their desktop computers replaced with cloud based systems. Specifically, we are interested in their pre-adoption attitudes toward the system and use intentions. We test a model that predicts pre-adoption attitudes based on individual characteristics including computer self-efficacy and perceptions of the IT department that will be implementing the cloud system (perceptions of trust and service quality). We find that perceptions of the IT department influence pre-adoption perceptions of control over the system, which influences perceived usefulness and pre-adoption use intentions. Findings are highlighted in terms of implications for research and practice, in particular, we stress the importance of the ability of IT departments to manage user's perceptions of trust and service quality to the success of IT initiatives.