Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Information Technology (D.I.T.)

School

Information Systems and Technology

Advisor

Donald A. Carpenter

Abstract

AbstractThe advent of distributed cloud computing and the exponential growth and demands of the internet of things and big data have strained traditional network technologies' capabilities and have given rise to software-defined networking's (SDN's) revolutionary approach. Some information technology (IT) cloud services leaders who do not intend to adopt SDN technology may be unable to meet increasing performance and flexibility demands and may risk financial loss compared to those who adopt SDN technology. Grounded in the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between IT cloud system integrators' perceptions of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and their intention to use SDN technology. The participants (n = 167) were cloud system integrators who were at least 18 years old with a minimum of three months' experience and used SDN technology in the United States. Data were collected using the UTAUT authors' validated survey instrument. The multiple regression findings were significant, F(4, 162) = 40.44, p < .001, R2 = .50. In the final model, social influence (ß = .236, t = 2.662, p < .01) and facilitating conditions (ß = .327, t = 5.018, p < .001) were statistically significant; performance expectancy and effort expectancy were not statistically significant. A recommendation is for IT managers to champion SDN adoption by ensuring the availability of support resources and promoting its use in the organization's goals. The implications for positive social change include the potential to enhance cloud security, quality of experience, and improved reliability, strengthening safety control systems.

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