Applying the Technology Acceptance Model to Cloud Computing Adoption in Developing Countries: Lessons from Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Cameroon

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), developed by Davis in 1989, remains one of the most widely used frameworks for explaining technology adoption, yet it was developed in Western contexts and for the technologies of three decades ago. This paper reviews the literature on cloud computing features, service models (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), and deployment models (private, public, hybrid, community), and on factors influencing cloud adoption in SMEs, and tests TAM's fit for Cameroon. Drawing on a qualitative grounded theory study of nine participants in three Cameroonian SMEs, the paper shows that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use powerfully shaped adoption, while competitive pressure, organizational innovativeness, government policy, vendor trust, infrastructure, and security concerns, factors outside the original TAM, were also decisive. The paper argues for using TAM as a structuring guide extended with contextual constructs when studying cloud adoption in developing countries.