An Analysis on the Adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS) by the students of the State Universities in the North and Eastern Part of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Software as Service (SaaS) as an option of cloud computing has been in use as one of the most advanced technology innovations by many users and organizations. Due to its scalability and network-based operation, SaaS provides many advantages for students and teachers in the universities for academic purpose without costly investment on IT infrastructure and expertise. The research aims at analyzing the adoption of SaaS using a theoretical framework by the students in the state universities located in the North and Eastern part of Sri Lanka and the PLS-SEM was used as the analytical tool for this study. The theoretical framework was developed based on the original Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) [1]. The data were obtained from 300 undergraduates of three state universities using a structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed utilizing the Smart PLS 3.2.7 with consistent PLS algorithm (PLSc). The results revealed that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived enjoyment directly influenced the SaaS adoption. It was also identified that there was specific indirect effect with the inclusion of perceived enjoyment as a mediating variable to SaaS adoption and it had significant effect and the research contributes to knowledge in the areas of Information Technology adoption studies.