Human operator trust in autonomic functionalities

Motivation - To shed light on the conceptions of human network operators about autonomic functionalities and the determinants of trust regarding future autonomic networks. Research approach - An interview study with 33 human operators at non-managerial level was performed. The interview consisted of 19 questions related to various aspects of autonomic functionalities. Findings/Design - Several components of trust and distrust for autonomic functionalities were found. Distrust based on assumed failure of the functionalities was the most prominent negative feature. The possibility to concentrate on more demanding tasks was the most surprising positive feature. Research limitations/Implications - Only 33 human operators from two telecom companies participated in the study, which limits the possible generalisation of the findings. Originality/Value - The research makes a contribution to the scarce amount of publications on human aspect in telecommunication domain. Take away message - Trust-related factors can be used for identifying and extracting general requirements for future tools from the user point of view.