Determinants of switching intention to cloud computing in large enterprises

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate switching intention from traditional enterprise information systems (EISs) to private cloud EIS in large enterprises. The authors propose that the factors motivate and inhibit enterprises’ switching intention to private EIS by integrating technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework and two-factor theory. Design/methodology/approach: A research model draws from TOE framework and two-factor theory. Data were collected from 227 top managers and owners of the enterprises in China and used to analyze 11 hypotheses. Findings: The results show that the technological context (compatibility), organizational context (financial support) and environmental context (vendor support and industry pressure) significantly influence switching benefits while data security and costs significantly influence switching costs. Switching benefits and switching costs significantly influence switching intention. Originality/value: Past studies have focused mainly on the adoption of cloud computing. However, few studies have addressed the switching issues, especially in large enterprises. The findings are useful to understand switching issues from traditional EIS to private cloud EIS for both researchers and practitioners.