Fears and Triggers: A Conceptual Study of Vendor-Supplied Maintenance and Maintenance Deferral of Standard Package Software

TL;DR

This paper provides a conceptual analysis of the fears and triggers influencing organizations' decisions to defer or proceed with vendor-supplied maintenance for standard software, highlighting an underexplored research area.

Contribution

It introduces the concepts of fears and triggers as key factors affecting maintenance decisions, synthesizing existing literature from the purchaser's perspective.

Findings

Identifies common fears leading to maintenance deferral

Highlights triggers prompting maintenance installation

Synthesizes literature on maintenance decision factors

Abstract

Enterprises rely more on Information Systems (IS) and software than ever before. However the issue of maintaining a vendor-supplied IS, in particular standard packaged software, has been poorly represented within academic literature. This paper presents a conceptual study that synthesises the current state of research concerning the deferral or execution of vendor-supplied maintenance by the purchasing organisation. Based on a systematic review process that adopts the purchasers viewpoint, a series of fears and triggers emerge and are captured from the literature. Fears are articulated as reasons for the purchasing organisation deferring the installation of vendor-supplied maintenance, whereas triggers are events that upset the equilibrium of the purchasing organisations IS or software and require the installation of the vendor-supplied maintenance to proceed. Although prevalent in literature, fears and triggers have not previously been recognised as an area of focus for academic research.