Key factors in the internationalisation process of SMEs exporting business software as a service

Little is known about how SMEs export business Software as a Service. This article describes six case studies in which prevailing factors regarded as essential for the internationalization process of Software as a Service are identified: generic software, a domestic market base, technical internationalization and localization, entrepreneurial management, personal customer contact, and usage of specific market selection criteria such as high IT penetration and maturity levels and psychical proximity. These factors and their interplay do not fit in the established theoretical models of internationalization in the literature. A redefinition and refinement of internationalization theories specific to Software as a Service are needed.