Understanding Platform Loyalty in the Cloud: A Configurational View on ISV´s Costs and Benefits

Abstract

Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) providers are increasingly engaged in nurturing vibrant ecosystems of independent software vendors (ISVs) by offering standardized services. However, cloud ecosystems have also been known for its fluctuation and high rates of desertion. A currently under-researched explanation for this low traction and high rates of fluctuation may lie in the fact that ISVs face considerable costs when joining and acting on a specific platform. If these costs are too high, they can rapidly outweigh the additional value generated by the ecosystem. This study therefore explains the role of different configurations of cost-inducing factors and resource benefits in influencing an ISV´s platform loyalty. By using a configurational approach based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FsQCA), we display complex interactional effects of cost and benefits as causal conditions on ISVs’ intention to stay in the ecosystem and thus provide valuable insights for both practice as well as theory on platform ecosystems