Fears and Triggers: A Conceptual Study of Vendor-Supplied Maintenance   and Maintenance Deferral of Standard Package Software
  Enterprises rely more on Information Systems (IS) and software than ever before. However the issue of maintaining a vendor-supplied IS, in particular standard packaged software, has been poorly represented within academic literature. This paper presents a conceptual study that synthesises the current state of research concerning the deferral or execution of vendor-supplied maintenance by the purchasing organisation. Based on a systematic review process that adopts the purchasers viewpoint, a series of fears and triggers emerge and are captured from the literature. Fears are articulated as reasons for the purchasing organisation deferring the installation of vendor-supplied maintenance, whereas triggers are events that upset the equilibrium of the purchasing organisations IS or software and require the installation of the vendor-supplied maintenance to proceed. Although prevalent in literature, fears and triggers have not previously been recognised as an area of focus for academic research. 
Christopher Savage, Karlheinz Kautz and Rodney Clarke
cs.CY