An Empirical Analysis of Antecedents to the Assimilation of Sensor Information Systems in Data Centers

This paper is concerned with studying the antecedents to and the assimilation of sensor information systems (SIS) in Data Centers. Using the Technology Organization and Environment Framework as a guide and drawing from the Natural resource based view and Diffusion of Innovation theories and five case studies, the paper builds a theoretical framework to investigate the factors that explain the assimilation (diversity and intensity) of SIS. The framework is tested based on data collected from a survey of 107 Data Centers. The findings show that the compatibility of SIS, knowledge of Data Centre managers, green data centre orientation and pressure from peers in the industry affect the assimilation of SIS to manage the facility, power and cooling and computing functions of Data Centers. Further the type of Data Centre, whether it is corporate or co-located or managed has a significant influence on both the level of the SIS assimilation as well as the antecedent factors that influence assimilation.