Software as a Service adoption: implications on IT workers and organisation structure

Abstract

Software as a Service (SaaS) is based on IT capabilities in a utility model that enhances the reliability and scalability at relatively low costs as compared to on-premise IT systems. Consequently, organisations may decide to adopt SaaS based on these potential benefits. However, these benefits may have some implications on the roles of IT workers and organisational structure of IT department. There is a lack of research conducted on the implications of SaaS on organisational structure and associated human resource management. Thus, this research-in-progress seeks to fill this gap by examining how SaaS adoption may change IT workers’ roles and tasks, and structure of IT department. Drawing on adaptive structuration theory, a modified framework is proposed to support the change dynamics from SaaS adoption. We explored sources of structures from advanced IT and the ways in which organisational and human interactions have an impact on how SaaS is appropriated and institutionalised into business processes, and brings about changes in an organisation. This study contributes to the theory by explaining the way emergent and new structures are formulated at the macro and group level of the organisation structure. Implications for researchers and practitioners are provided