Impact of Energy Costs in Information and Technology Sector and Adopting Cloud Computing Technologies - Research Proposal Example

Research Method and Design Research Method and Design Purpose of the study This research proposal is primarily concerned with investigating the potential significance of adopting cloud computing to lower energy consumption in the contemporary data centers. In this regard, particular issues include the economics of data center power management as well as a comparative analysis of the traditional data center operations and the emerging cloud computing technologies with regard to their impacts on energy consumption. More broadly will be based on three key motivations: 1. To study the impacts of high energy costs in the information and technology sector as well as the significance of adopting cloud computing technologies in the management of data centers. 2. To investigate the underlying concept behind cloud computing and the relations between various data virtualization techniques and other emerging technologies. 3. To determine the potential benefits of moving data centers to the cloud both in small and large organizations. The research will also seek to explore the potential use of cloud computing in the reduction of carbon emissions. Lastly, the research will also involve investigate the associated risks of adopting the use of cloud data centers as well as some of the available remedies to such risks. Research questions Generally the three main research questions are designed to bring light on some of the greater issues associated with the adopting of cloud data centers. 1. What are the current implications of high energy costs in the information sector and what is the potential significance of using cloud computing technologies to lower energy consumption? 2. What is the concept behind cloud computing and data virtualization? 3. What are the likely benefits of moving data centers to the cloud? What are some of the associated risks and mitigation measures? Research design The design of the research will be based on the use of a number of qualitative research data collection methods such as interviews, literature review, surveys and personal observations. Generally the research will utilize matched participants design where by participants will be determined using their background information to ensure that they matched the terms of the research (Eysenck, 9). For example, the selection of the respondents will be achieved by mapping out individuals who are either directly or indirectly engaged in the information and communication technology sector. For example, the chosen respondents who will participate in the research will primarily be selected from social groups and individuals who are working or participating in the ICT industry and are therefore well informed of the recent technological developments such as cloud computing. Interviews and questionnaires will then be conducted to determine their individual experiences with both the traditional data centers and the emerging virtual private cloud servers. Before administering interviews or questionnaires for the research, pilot tests will first be carried out, validated and checked to determine the reliability of the research methodology and design (Creswell, 43). Lastly, the questionnaires and interview questions will be developed based on the how the collected data and responses will be analyzed as well as how they are related to the main research questions. Interviews A purposeful sampling strategy will be used to select 20 respondents are required to participate in the research. Some of the potential individuals that will be selected to participate in the research include computer entrepreneurs, business managers and members of private data centers as well as their friends and families. The selected participants will then be divided into four groups of five respondents each. This will make it easier to compare the experiences of various respondents in relation to the topic of study. To minimize potential research biasness, both structured and semi structured interviews will be administered to the chosen respondents. A pilot study will however have to be carried out first with small group of respondents to help determine some of the challenges likely to be met during the actual interviews. For example, the pilot study will provide an invaluable opportunity to assess and refine the overall research design. Generally the research will use an interview guide which is primarily designed to investigate the ICT background of the selected respondents, their experiences as well as their knowledge and use of various new data management technologies such as cloud computing in their respective places of work. Participants in the interviews will be given a brif verbal explanation of the overall purpose of the research, clarification of the interview questions as well as an assurance that their responses will be kept confidential. During the actual interviews, the focus will largely be on their knowledge of data center power management strategies as well their level of adopting new technologies to solve the problem of high energy consumption in the traditional data centers. This will include recording their opinions regarding the use of virtual clouds as alternative data centers and their attitudes towards change. The interviews will however be flexible enough to include a wide range of other issues that are likely to be brought up by the respondents. Literature review A comprehensive literature review of a few selected books, peer reviewed journals and internet publications on cloud computing and data center power management will form part of the research study. To complement the other data collection methods, the literature review will also provide considerable insights on the history of cloud computing, the concepts behind data virtualization as well as the potential risks associated with these technologies. The information obtained from these published sources will particularly be used to reinforce the findings obtained from the interviews, questionnaires and personal observation. Questionnaires As part of the data collection techniques used in the research, a set of closed and open ended questionnaires shall be administered to 45 selected respondents who will divided into two classes. Just like the interviews, the research questionnaires will be composed in a way that investigate the ICT background of the selected respondents, their experiences as well as their knowledge and use of various new data management technologies such as cloud computing in their respective places of work. A draft of 20 closed questions with clear rating points such as agree, disagree will be used not only as an instrument to improve the reliability of the research but also as a way of quantifying the collected data. The procedure of administering the questionnaire to the selected respondents will include sending questionnaire forms via emails to respondents such as data center entrepreneurs, ICT experts, students and managers of large business organizations that have adopted cloud technologies in their data storage and management. Although the respondents will remain anonymous, a unique code on the top of each questionnaire page will be used to identify each of the responses during their analysis. Each questionnaire will also contain a brief explanation of the purpose of the research and a guarantee that the confidentiality of the respondents will not be breached. The Respondents will be expected to fill and complete the questionnaires within a period of one week. Data analysis The analysis of the collected data will involve making them more manageable by organizing them into categories before the data are interpreted to determine their relevance to the research study. The large data collected through the methods such as interviews and questionnaires will be analyzed and validated using statistical means. On the other hand, computer aids will be used to help in the management and analysis of the large samples of interview and questionnaire transcript. Generally data analysis will be performed both manually as well as through the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) will be used to provide powerful facilities for cross referencing and analysis of the collected excerpts. During the manual analysis of data, the first task after collecting data will be to extract the relevant from information corresponding to the research questions (Koskinen, 78). For example, all the interview and questionnaire responses will be compared and contrasted with the research questions to help classify them into categories. Inductive analysis will then be used to identify data patterns from the leading data sets as well as establish critical links that will help in the formation of tentative hypotheses. Ethical considerations The major ethical issues that will be involved in the proposed research study include maintaining the confidentiality and anonymity of the responses obtained from the participants both during the analysis and presentation of the results. Additionally the participation of the respondents will be made absolutely voluntary. In order to encourage a high response rate from the participants, the research will use multiple contacts per potential participant. For example, emails will be sent a few days before the actual questionnaire are sent to verify the email addresses of the respondents as well as inform them of the importance of their participation in the research. A few days after sending questionnaires, respondents who have not yet submitted their responses will be reminded to send their responses. Justification of the proposed research method and designs Although the proposed research method and design has some limitations such as potential biasness and human error, it is generally more desirable to the research study because it studies both the experiences of the participants and the environmental variables related to the research questions (Trochim, 58). Qualitative research methods are particularly important when used in this kind of research because they provide a more detailed investigation into the research problem as compared to the other research method and designs. For example, the selected method will provide an effective way of answering the research questions, the factors involved and more importantly the significance of the research study in the particular field of study. This is particularly because the chosen respondents who will participate in the research will primarily be selected from social groups and individuals who are working or participating in the ICT industry and are therefore well informed of the recent technological developments such as cloud computing (Laurel, 102). Consequently the research results obtained will help understand the advantages as well as the limitations of grid and cloud computing with regard to data center energy consumption. Finally, according to Golafshani(14), it is important to note that since this kind of research method and design focuses on the use of small groups, it is relatively less expensive than other research methods which require large participant groups and expansive measurement tools. Works Cited Creswell, John. W.  Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches .Thousand Oaks:  Sage Publications.2009.Print. Eysenck, Michael W. Psychology: An international perspective. New York: Psychology Press. 2004. Web. November, 19. 2012. Golafshani, Norman K.  Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research.  The Qualitative Report, 8.4(2003):597-607.Print. Trochim, Donnelly J.  The research methods knowledge base  (3rd ed.). Mason: Cengage.2008.Print.   Koskinen, I, Zimmerman. Design Research Through Practice: From the Lab, Field, and Showroom, Waltham: Morgan Kaufmann.2011.Print. Laurel, Blandell. Design Research: Methods and Perspectives. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.2003.Print. Read More