Software acquisition by start-up companies
Abstract: Software acquisition is very important for any type of company nowadays, including start-up companies. This study examined which software applications are acquired by start-ups, in what ways, with what motivations, and for what purposes they are used. The study was done by first conducting a survey amongst 50 start-up companies in the Netherlands and Sweden and by then doing four follow-up interviews with companies that also participated in the survey. Results showed that start-ups mostly acquire software for communication purposes, and that start-ups mainly use Freeware and Single Licensed software. Most of the time decisions about software acquisition are being made by the CEO, sometimes with help of colleagues, friends or other informal contacts. Popular applications include, amongst others, software packages as Google Apps and Microsoft Office. Reasons behind choosing for a specific software application were mainly ease of use, familiarity, requirement fit, reliability, flexibility and gradual scaling. Reasons to use free software options were mainly budget-related, however, reliability and quality were perceived to be really important, especially when it comes to customer-serving applications. Start-up companies therefore said to be willing to pay for these applications if reliability is higher in that case.
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