A Cost-Saving and Innovative Best-Practices Green IT Framework for Small

Abstract

The notion of Green IT in a mirco, small or medium sized company (SME) is not well explored in current literature. The Green IT guidelines or the recommended activities outlined in literature are often more applicable to large organisations that have extensive resources to implement these Green initiatives. The purpose of this study was to develop a Green IT framework suitable for SMEs. In the process, the study sought to understand the levels of awareness of Green IT that currently exists among SMEs and find out about the current adoption rates of Green IT among SMEs. The study sought to also address potential barriers to and benefits of Green IT. Data was collected using three methods: observation, interviews and questionnaires. The study demonstrated that as of August 2009, the level of awareness among SMEs regarding Green IT is low. Just over half of the SMEs surveyed, admit to not knowing, what practices belong to the Green IT category. SMEs in general are slow to adopt Green IT practices particularly when compared to their larger counterparts. SMEs are failing miserably to pick the `low-hanging fruit¿, such limiting paper use and using power management tools. The level of knowledge a firm possesses about Green IT is directly proportional to the rate at which it will accept and embrace new Green IT techniques. The study proposes a seven-step framework, a list of recommendations that can guide and direct SMEs through the implementation of a Green IT project and so addresses the gap identified in the literature.