Electronic learning (e-learning) adoption has always been a challenge for developing countries which is often stunted by the facilitating conditions as well as the resistance of both the professionals and students. Two-step research methodology is applied in private Universities of Northern Iraq by utilizing a hypothesized model of technology acceptance model (TAM). First, the readiness factors were investigated through University staff by analysing 516 participants. As the second research objective, the intention of students is explored with 256 valid respondents in these Universities. Data were obtained from seven private Universities’ staff and students via a paper based quantitative survey. Respondents were selected based on the convenience sampling method, where researchers visited Universities during the semester with permission of their administration bodies. The findings reveal that the lowest value was for human resource readiness factor. Cultural acceptance, both from education providers’ and students’ perspective, is quite crucial in order to have a sustainable e-learning applications. From a technical point of view, our findings also confirm the importance of the technological readiness and the main TAM constructs of perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU). Therefore, management of the Universities need to ensure that selected systems adequately address these issues.