A revised framework for the governance and management of green IT

Sustainability is not an option; it has become a primordial necessity in our nearest future and in the base of the growth of our society in all aspects and areas. Information Technology (IT) is playing a leading role in the field of sustainability. Organizations around the world realize the importance of Green IT and the great benefits it generates at an ecological, social, and economic level. That is why more and more organizations advocate for a sustainable environment in and by IT and demand standards and guidelines in this regard. However, this transformation towards the Green IT is not simple, it is a profound change that must be approached in stages, and the first one is the level of governance and management. For this reason, after developing, applying, and validating a first version (obtaining a series of lessons learned and points of improvement), we have carried out the development of the second version of a “Governance and Management Frameworkfor Green IT”. With this revised framework, we intend to offer a more complete and solid guide that helps organizations to gradually implement, evaluate, and improve all those aspects and characteristics of governance and management that are the basis of the processes, practices, and activities of Green IT. The results obtained after validating the revised framework demonstrate a stronger validity, usefulness, and applicability, offering a solid guide to organizations in their efforts to gradually implement, evaluate, and improve Green IT.