Is traditional, open-source, or on-demand first choice? Developing an AHP-based framework for the comparison of different software models in office suites selection

Until recently, organizations planning to acquire application software (AS) have had no choice but to adopt proprietary, on-premises software. With the advent of open-source and on-demand solutions, new models for developing and distributing software have entered the stage providing IS managers with more options in AS selection. On the basis of an Analytic Hierarchy Process model, we propose a framework including software package and implementation attributes on different hierarchy levels to examine how IS managers evaluate the relative fulfilment of key selection criteria by traditional, open-source, and on-demand office suites. By testing the framework with a random sample of 254 IS managers of 166 smaller and 88 mid-sized/larger firms, we validate its validity and usefulness in evaluating different software delivery models. Our empirical results show that open-source office suites were consistently perceived to be superior in meeting ease of customization (i.e., extensibility and adaptability) and cost criteria (i.e., acquisition and maintenance cost), whereas traditional software models were superior in fulfilling functionality, ease of use, and support requirements. On-demand office suites excelled in the fulfilment of time-to-value and data recoverability. We discuss further results of the comparison of the three software models, and derive practical and research implications for office suite selection. European Journal of Information Systems (2011) 20, 542-559. doi:10.1057/ejis.2011.14; published online 19 April 2011