Quality Analysis Approaches for Cloud Services - Towards a Framework along the Customer’s Activity Cycle

Abstract

This literature review synthesizes the existing research on approaches to the quality analysis of cloud services by investigating 27 relevant sources in detail. Furthermore, the sources are discussed alongside the three dimensions of service quality and the customer's activity cycle: the pre-purchase, purchase and postpurchase phases. This work reveals multiple quality analysis approaches that focus either on spe-cific quality aspects or on a specific step in the activity cycle. Only few approach-es could be identified that actively support customers throughout all phases of their quality analysis work and fully cover the dimensions of service quality. However, because approaches for specific dimensions or phases are far more de-tailed and offer a greater ability to be tailored to challenges in the cloud service ecosystem, we call for further research towards integrating them along the cus-tomer's perspective. Furthermore, empirical studies investigating the challenges faced by organizations in analyzing the quality of cloud services are required to enable the mapping of the long list of literature-based findings presented in this paper and most gnawing questions of organizations in the field.