A Configurational Approach to CSP Selection and Rejection

Selecting the appropriate cloud service provider (CSP) is crucial for organizations, significantly impacting business performance and growth. However, the multitude of available providers can make this decision daunting. Existing studies focus on technical and operational CSP attributes but often overlook how these attributes should be configured, especially their interdependencies. To address this gap, we explore parsimonious configurations for CSP acceptance and rejection. Using a configurational approach and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we uncover complex nonlinear relationships among key attributes. The fsQCA provides the combinations of causal recipes associated with the acceptance and rejection of a CSP, supporting the conjunction, equifinality, and asymmetry perspectives. Our results reveal that no single attribute is pivotal; instead, four configurations predict CSP selection, while five foresee rejection. Notably, we identified configurations tailored for small vs. medium-sized enterprises. This study enriches both theory and practical approaches in CSP selection, offering new insights for choosing CSPs.