Skip to main content
Log in

Green cloud computing adoption challenges and practices: a client’s perspective-based empirical investigation

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Cognition, Technology & Work Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Over the last decade, the widespread adoption of cloud computing has spawned a new branch of the computing industry known as green cloud computing. Cloud computing is improving, and data centers are increasing at regular frequencies to meet the demands of users. On the other hand, cloud providers pose major environmental risks because massive data centers use a large amount of energy and leave a carbon footprint. One possible solution to this issue is the use of green cloud computing. However, clients face significant difficulties in adopting green cloud computing. This study aims to understand the problems faced by client organizations while considering green cloud computing. In addition, this study aims to empirically identify the solution to the challenges faced by green cloud computing practitioners. A questionnaire survey approach was used to get insight into green cloud computing practitioners concerning the challenges they faced and their solutions. Data were obtained from sixty-nine professionals in green cloud computing. The results revealed that “lack of quality of service”, “lack of dynamic response”, and “lack of services to satisfy client’s requirements” are critical for green cloud computing. In addition, sixty-three practices for addressing the challenges in green cloud computing are also identified. The identified challenges and practices of green cloud computing will benefit the client organizations to update and revise their process to consider green cloud computing. In addition, it will also assist vendor organizations in developing, planning, and managing systems concerning client satisfaction.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmad A, Khan SU, Khan HU, Khan GM, Ilyas M (2021a) Challenges and practices identification via a systematic literature review in the adoption of green cloud computing: client’s side approach. IEEE Access 9:81828–81840

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad Z, Jehangiri AI, Ala’anzy MA, Othman M, Latip R, Zaman SKU, Umar AI (2021b) Scientific workflows management and scheduling in cloud computing: taxonomy, prospects, and challenges. IEEE Access 9:53491–53508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajmal MS, Iqbal Z, Khan FZ, Bilal M, Mehmood RM (2021) Cost-based energy efficient scheduling technique for dynamic voltage and frequency scaling system in cloud computing. Sustain Energy Technol Assess 45:101210

    Google Scholar 

  • Akbar MA, Mahmood S, Alsalman H, Razzaq A, Gumaei A, Riaz MT (2020a) Identification and prioritization of cloud based global software development best practices. IEEE Access 8:191242–191262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akbar MA, Alsalman H, Khan AA, Mahmood S, Meshram C, Gumaei AH, Riaz MT (2020b) Multicriteria decision making taxonomy of cloud-based global software development motivators. IEEE Access 8:185290–185310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akbar MA, Mahmood S, Meshram C, Alsanad A, Gumaei A, AlQahtani SA (2022a) Barriers of managing cloud outsource software development projects: a multivocal study. Multimeda Tools Appl 81(25):35571–35594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akbar MA, Khan AA, Mahmood S, Mishra A (2022b) SRCMIMM: the software requirements change management and implementation maturity model in the domain of global software development industry. Inf Technol Manag. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10799-022-00364-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alarifi A, Dubey K, Amoon M, Altameem T, Abd El-Samie FE, Altameem A, Sharma S, Nasr AA (2020) Energy-efficient hybrid framework for green cloud computing. IEEE Access 8:115356–115369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ali M, Khan SU, Vasilakos AV (2015) Security in cloud computing: Opportunities and challenges. Inf Sci 305:357–383

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Bharany S, Badotra S, Sharma S, Rani S, Alazab M, Jhaveri RH, Gadekallu TR (2022) Energy efficient fault tolerance techniques in green cloud computing: a systematic survey and taxonomy. Sustain Energy Technol Assess 53:102613

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen H, Zhu X, Guo H, Zhu J, Qin X, Wu J (2015) Towards energy-efficient scheduling for real-time tasks under uncertain cloud computing environment. J Syst Softw 99:20–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corbin J, Strauss A (2014) Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Creswell JW, Creswell JD (2017) Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications, Thousand Oaks

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Dube P, Grabarnik G, Shwartz L (2012) Suits: how to make a global it service provider sustainable? IEEE Network Operations and Management Symposium, Maui, HI, USA, pp 1352–1359

  • Fang D, Liu X, Liu L, Yang H (2014) OCSO: Off-the-cloud service optimization for green efficient service resource utilization. J Cloud Comput 3(1):1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fielding NG, Lee NFRM, Lee RM (1998) Computer analysis and qualitative research. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Gai K, Qiu M, Zhao H, Tao L, Zong Z (2016) Dynamic energy-aware cloudlet-based mobile cloud computing model for green computing. J Netw Comput Appl 59:46–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser BG (1978) Theoretical sensitivity. Mill valley. Sociology Press, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Goyal Y, Arya MS, Nagpal S (2015) Energy efficient hybrid policy in green cloud computing. In: Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Green Computing and Internet of Things (ICGCIoT). IEEE, pp 1065–1069

  • Ismail AH, El-Bahnasawy NA, Hamed HF (2019) AGCM: active queue management-based green cloud model for mobile edge computing. Wirel Pers Commun 105(3):765–785

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joy N, Chandrasekaran K, Binu A (2015) A study on energy efficient cloud computing. In: Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Computing Research (ICCIC). IEEE, pp 1–6

  • Khan RA, Khan SU (2015) A survey based study on communication and coordination challenges in offshore software development outsourcing relationships from vendors’ perspective. In: Proceedings of the 4th international multi-topic conference (IMTIC), Mehran University

  • Khan RA, Khan SU (2018) A preliminary structure of software security assurance model. In: Proceedings of the 13th international conference on global software engineering, Gothenburg, Sweden, pp 137–140

  • Khan SU, Niazi M, Ahmad R (2012) Empirical investigation of success factors for offshore software development outsourcing vendors. IET Softw 6(1):1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan RU, Khan SU, Khan R, Ali S (2015) Motivators in green IT-outsourcing from vendor’s perspective: a systematic literature review. Proc Pak Acad Sci 52:345–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan RA, Wang J, Arif M, Khan SU, Idris MY (2016) An exploratory study of communication and coordination challenges in offshore software development outsourcing: results of systematic literature review and empirical study. Sci Int (Lahore) 28(5):4819–4836

  • Khan RA, Idris MY, Khan SU, Ilyas M, Ali S, Din AU, Murtaza G, Khan AW, Jan SU (2019) An evaluation framework for communication and coordination processes in offshore software development outsourcing relationship: using fuzzy methods. IEEE Access 7:112879–112906

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan RA, Khan SU, Ilyas M, Idris MY (2020) The state of the art on secure software engineering: a systematic mapping study. In Proceedings of the evaluation and assessment in software engineering, Trondheim, Norway, pp 487–492

  • Khan RA, Khan SU, Khan HU, Ilyas M (2021) Systematic mapping study on security approaches in secure software engineering. IEEE Access 9:19139–19160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan RA, Khan SU, Alzahrani M, Ilyas M (2022a) Security assurance model of software development for global software development vendors. IEEE Access 10:58458–58487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan RA, Khan SU, Ilyas M (2022b) Exploring security procedures in secure software engineering: a systematic mapping study. In: The international conference on evaluation and assessment in software engineering, Gothenburg, Sweden, pp 433–439

  • Khan RA, Khan SU, Khan HU, Ilyas M (2022c) Systematic literature review on security risks and its practices in secure software development. IEEE Access 10:5456–5481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larumbe F, Sanso B (2013) A tabu search algorithm for the location of data centers and software components in green cloud computing networks. IEEE Trans Cloud Comput 1(1):22–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lethbridge TC, Sim SE, Singer J (2005) Studying software engineers: data collection techniques for software field studies. Empir Softw Eng 10(3):311–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li J, Li B, Wo T, Hu C, Huai J, Liu L, Lam K (2012) CyberGuarder: a virtualization security assurance architecture for green cloud computing. Futur Gener Comput Syst 28(2):379–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lis A, Sudolska A, Pietryka I, Kozakiewicz A (2020) Cloud computing and energy efficiency: mapping the thematic structure of research. Energies 13(16):4117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panwar S, Rathi K (2015) A survey on green cloud computing. Int J Comput Appl 975:8887

    Google Scholar 

  • Pragya MMG (2015) Analysis of energy efficient scheduling algorithms in green cloud computing. Int J Adv Res Comput Eng Technol (IJARCET) 4(5):1–180

  • Rahman M, Gao J, Tsai WT (2013) Energy saving in mobile cloud computing. In: Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE international conference on cloud engineering (IC2E). IEEE, pp.285–291

  • Rawas S, Itani W, Zaart A, Zekri A (2015) Towards greener services in cloud computing: research and future directives. In: Proceedings of the 2015 international conference on applied research in computer science and engineering (ICAR). IEEE, pp 1–8

  • Rawat S, Kumar P, Sagar S, Singh I, Garg K (2017) An analytical evaluation of challenges in Green cloud computing. In: Proceedings of the 2017 International conference on infocom technologies and unmanned systems (trends and future directions) (ICTUS). IEEE, pp 351–355

  • Rubyga G, SathiaBhama PR (2016) A survey of computing strategies for green cloud. In: Proceedings of the 2016 second international conference on science technology engineering and management (ICONSTEM). IEEE, pp 141–145

  • Runeson P, Höst M (2009) Guidelines for conducting and reporting case study research in software engineering. Empir Softw Eng 14(2):131–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shinde V, Kadu D, Painjane S (2015) Study on green cloud computing and environmental feasibility. Int J Sci Res Dev 3(9):865–867

  • Shuja J, Gani A, Shamshirband S, Ahmad RW, Bilal K (2016) Sustainable cloud data centers: a survey of enabling techniques and technologies. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 62:195–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skourletopoulos G, Mavromoustakis CX, Mastorakis G, Batalla JM, Song H, Sahalos JN, Pallis E (2018) Elasticity debt analytics exploitation for green mobile cloud computing: an equilibrium model. IEEE Trans Green Commun Netw 3(1):122–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Šmite D, Wohlin C, Aurum A, Jabangwe R, Numminen E (2013) Offshore insourcing in software development: structuring the decision-making process. J Syst Softw 86(4):1054–1067

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sriram G (2022) Green cloud computing: an approach towards sustainability. Int Res J Modernization Eng Technol Sci 4(1):1263–1268

    Google Scholar 

  • Wajid U, Pernici B, Francis G (2013) Energy efficient and CO2 aware cloud computing: requirements and case study. In: Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE international conference on systems, man, and cybernetics. IEEE, pp 121–126

  • Xu Y, Abnoosian K (2022) A new metaheuristic-based method for solving the virtual machines migration problem in the green cloud computing. Concurr Comput Pract Exp 34(3):e6579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin RK (2009) Case study research: design and methods. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant 2022R1G1A1003531, 2022R1A4A3018824, RS-2023-00230593 and Institute of Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP) grant ITP-2023-2020-0-01741, RS-2022-00155885 funded by the Korea government (MSIT).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

AA conducted SLR and the RAK and SUK reviewed all its steps. HSA and AAA randomly review all the extracted data from the SLR process. In the second step, AA conducted an empirical study. The RAK and YL conduct the pilot study. AAA and YL synthesis and validate the data accordingly.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Rafiq Ahmad Khan or Youngmoon Lee.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix 1: Empirical investigation of green cloud computing challenges faced by client organization

Appendix 1: Empirical investigation of green cloud computing challenges faced by client organization

figure a
figure b
figure c

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ahmad, A., Khan, R.A., Khan, S.U. et al. Green cloud computing adoption challenges and practices: a client’s perspective-based empirical investigation. Cogn Tech Work 25, 427–446 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-023-00734-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-023-00734-6

Keywords

Navigation