# Continuance Use of Cloud Computing in Higher Education Institutions: A Conceptual Model
## 2 Background and Related Work  
As a term, CC is defined diversely in the literature. In this paper, the definition of CC used is comparable to NIST's [6], which regards CC as the set of aspects that are common across all CC services. Hence, from the perspective of this paper, CC relates to the applications and shared services involved in the surveyed institutions through subscription-based models, whereby shared data servers or application activities are accessed. In HEIs, CC has been identified as a transformative technological development [3]. This is because CC benefits from rapid IT implementation, especially for research, which compares favorably when considered against legacy software systems. Additionally, CC solutions can be exploited to assist in implementing socially oriented theories of learning, as well as cooperative learning [20]. CC resources can be used to create e-learning platforms, infrastructure, and educational services through the centralized provision of data storage, virtualization, and other facilities [21]. With these considerations in mind, CC, for certain HEIs, is essential, and many institutions rely on the technology to reduce costs, remain competitive, and satisfy learner and teacher requirements [22]. The accessibility and transparency of CC services mean that HEIs can utilize existing knowledge to their mutual benefit [23]. To examine CC use in HEIs, a systematic literature review (SLR) was undertaken. The following electronic databases were included in the literature search: Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, Scopus, ACM Digital Library, Emerald, and Springer [9]. Additionally, the following search terms were entered into each of these databases: (cloud OR \"cloud computing\") AND (adoption OR usage) AND (education OR teaching OR learning)). The literature search revealed that many studies had been published in this area, and that the rate of publication had been increasing for the past few years. IS researchers have tended to investigate CC use in HEIs from the perspective of individuals [7; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49] or from the perspective of organizations [50; 51; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 60; 61; 62; 63; 64; 65]. For the last three decades, many researchers have sought to evaluate the success of information systems (IS). Theoretical and practical contributions have been discussed, many of which indicate that the factors underpinning IS success are multidimensional. Furthermore, several studies have contributed to CC continuance use in highly different settings [14; 66; 67; 68; 69; 70; 71; 72; 73; 74; 75; 76]. Nonetheless, the factors that drive institutions to continue or end a CC subscription have yet to be clarified [14; 16; 66], specifically in HEIs [9]. Given that almost all CC service models rely on subscriptions [6], this is an unexpected finding. Therefore, the purpose of the current research was to assess the main factors that HEIs consider when deciding whether to continue their use of CC services. In Table 1, evidence pertaining to the continuance use of CC is synthesized. Life Cycle of an Information System  
This study belongs to the well-established stream of literature that has examined the phenomenon of \"technology adoption\", which was initially defined by [PERSON] [81] as a five-step process. Since then, a range of models has been developed to extend [PERSON] preliminary work [82; 83; 84]. According to some researchers, adoption is a multi-phase process rather than a binary decision [85; 86; 87; 88], and for some theoreticians, adoption occurs over seven rather than five stages [89; 90]. However, most researchers agree that technology adoption operates across the following five stages: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and continuance. Several researchers advocated a four-phase model, which involved initiation, adoption, decision, and implementation (e.g., [81; 91; 92]).