Success factors of open‐source enterprise information systems development

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the success factors of open‐source software in the enterprise level. It expands the application of the information systems (IS) success model in the literature to enterprise information systems (EIS). The paper presents a simplified open‐source EIS success model by removing several constructs in the existing open‐source software models.Design/methodology/approachTo test the research model, a survey questionnaire was developed based on previous studies dealing with IS success models and adapting them to the open‐source EIS context. The research instrument contained 30 items that represent seven constructs in the research model. Data were collected from 250 open‐source enterprise software end‐users. Due to its confirmatory nature, this study applied the structural equation model.FindingsThe results of the study indicate that only community service quality has a positive direct effect on open‐source EIS use, while information quality, EIS quality, and user satisfaction do not. Open‐source EIS quality has a direct positive effect on user satisfaction, which in turn has a positive effect on individual net benefits, which also positively affects organizational net benefits.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focused on the open‐source EIS users' perspective. Future studies could expand the scope by covering a broader open‐source EIS aspect such as motivation of its use, development processes, social dynamics in the development group, diffusion process, and the like. A longitudinal study could provide a more concrete trend of open‐source EIS use by organizations. The small sample size of this study is also a limitation.Practical implicationsThe present research provides a practical evidence of relationships in the open‐source EIS application model. The developers in on‐line open‐source communities need to take the success factors identified in this study into account when developing open‐source EIS.Originality/valueThere is a paucity of empirical studies in open‐source EIS applications. The paper expends the traditional IS success model to the open‐source EIS context by collecting and analyzing data from 150 real‐world open‐source EIS users.