Success Factors of SaaS Providers’ Business Models – An Exploratory Multiple-Case Study

Market studies have revealed major differences in the level of performance among providers of Software as a Service (SaaS). The literature’s understanding of the underlying success factors and thus, the reasons for this performance discrepancy is, however, still limited. The goal of this research paper is therefore to investigate the success factors of SaaS providers’ business models by conducting an exploratory multiple-case study. 21 expert interviews with representatives from 17 cloud providers serve as central method of data collection. The study’s result is a catalogue of 27 success factors. In particular, a SaaS service should be developed as a system comprising modular microservices in order to meet the desired requirements in terms of cost advantages, performance and scalability. Overall, established SaaS providers obtain a reference framework to compare, rethink and innovate their present business models. Companies that are planning to offer SaaS in future gain valuable insights which should directly feed into their business model design process.