Green ICT Maturity Model for Czech SMEs

Transcription

1 Green ICT Maturity Model for Czech SMEs Alena Buchalcevova Faculty of Informatics and Statistics, University of Economics, Prague Abstract: This paper presents a design of a Green ICT maturity model that is aimed at maturity assessment of a Green ICT capability in SMEs that figure as users of ICT services. Based on a literature review and internet search, six maturity models in the Green ICT area were detected and further analysed. Since these maturity models do not suit maturity assessment in non-ict SMEs, a new Green ICT maturity model for SMEs was developed. This paper introduces the process of model development, description of the resulted model and evaluation of the model. Key words: Green ICT, Sustainability, Maturity model, SME, Praxis, Improvement 1. Introduction Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have evolved into an inherent part of current society and a driver of enhanced living conditions and opportunities around the globe. Nevertheless, ICTs affect the environment from two different perspectives. On one side, they cause environmental problems at each stage of their lifecycle from manufacturing to usage and disposal. On the other side, they can be used to address the environmental problems in other areas, e.g. carbon footprint calculation, deployment of computerized models for increasing energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. According to Hart (1997), Green ICT often refers to meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It involves pollution prevention at the end of a product s use, product stewardship to minimize the environmental footprint during use, utilization of clean technologies to reduce the share of polluting materials and development of environmentally friendly competencies. OECD in its report Greener and smarter (Mickoleit, 2010) defines Greener ICT as ICT with a better environmental performance than the previous generations (direct impacts) as well as the technology utilized to improve environmental performance throughout the economy and society (enabling and systemic impacts). From this perspective, Green ICT is divided into two groups: Green of ICT such practices that aim to reduce direct impacts of ICTs on the environment, i.e. the impacts caused by manufacturing, usage and disposal of ICTs and Green by ICT such practices where ICT serves as an instrument to mitigate the impacts of other sectors on the environment. Recent changes in the environment, economy and technology substantially drive an adoption of Green ICT practices across the world, as stated in the surveys (Fujitsu, 2010; Rowe, 2011). According to Chitra (2011), among the main factors that escalate an interest in Green ICT are primarily a rapid growth of Internet, increasing cooling requirements, increasing energy costs and restrictions on energy supply access, lower server utilization rates and ICT impacts on the environment. San Murugesan (2010) adds also growing consumer interest in green solutions and practices, higher expectations by the public on enterprises environmental responsibilities, and the emergence of stricter environmental compliance requirements. According to Loeser, Erek, Schmidt, Zarnekow, & Kolbe (2011), Green ICT endorses acquiring of a competitive advantage not only by cost savings (through direct usage of Green ICT or an improved utilization efficiency of other business resources), but also through a possibility to differentiate from the competition. The aim of this paper is to present the design of the Green ICT maturity model and its subsequent use for Green ICT maturity assessment in Czech SMEs that utilize ICTs (not provide ICT services). Following first the introduction of Green ICT and design methodology, the target group is defined and existing maturity models in the Green ICT area are analysed. Then, in the third section, the design of the Green ICT maturity model is presented. In the fourth section, the results of maturity assessment are analyzed. Lastly, a conclusion and future work are discussed. 24 JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1

2 GREEN ICT MATURITY MODEL FOR CZECH SMES 2. Methodology The design of the Green ICT maturity model is based on the procedure of the maturity models design defined by Becker, Knackstedt, & Pöppelbuss (2009). According to Becker et al. (2009), maturity models may be understood as artefacts which serve to solve the problems of determining a company s status quo of its capabilities and deriving measures for improvement there from. It can therefore be assumed that the development of maturity models falls within the application area for the guidelines developed by Hevner et al. (2004). Becker et al. (2009) proposes a procedure model that distinguishes eight phases in the development of maturity models. First, phase of the procedure model represents the Problem definition phase in which both the targeted domain and the target group of the maturity model are determined. At the same time the problem relevance, i.e. the actual demand for the maturity model, must be clearly demonstrated. Following step lies in comparing existing maturity models (the Comparison of existing maturity models phase) which is a requisite for a reasoned determination of the design strategy. The most important basic strategies are: the completely new model design or enhancement of an existing model; the combination of several models into a new one; as well as the transfer of structures or contents from existing models to new application domains. The central phase of the procedure model represents the Iterative maturity model development phase. First of all, the architecture of the maturity model is built. Then, the individual dimensions and their attributes must be devised to flesh out the model architecture. Subsequently, the result must be tested for comprehensiveness, consistency, and problem adequacy. Further, the Conception of transfer and evaluation phase follows the development of the maturity model. Lastly, the Implementation of the transfer media phase consists in making the maturity model accessible in the planned manner for all previously defined user groups (Becker et al., 2009). 3. Design of the Green ICT Maturity Model for SMEs In this section, the design of the Green ICT maturity model is presented. This model is aimed at maturity assessment of the Green ICT capability in SMEs that figure as users of ICT services. The design was carried out in compliance with the methodology described in the previous section. 3.1 Problem Definition Green ICT is a widely adopted initiative among most of the large companies worldwide. On the contrary, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are constraint in several ways from shifting to Green ICT adoption, even though they could greatly benefit from adopting Green ICT practices (Marmaridis & Unhelkar, 2011). As the number of Small and Medium Enterprises in the European Union is absolutely prevailing, they represent an important force in the Green ICT movement. Furthermore, the EU document A Green Knowledge Society strongly emphasizes the role of SMEs (Forge, Blackman, Bohlin, & Cave, 2009). Moreover, SMEs enjoy a significant support for their ICT innovation investments provided by the European Social Funds. Based on the facts stated above, we decided to focus exclusively on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in our research. We conducted a preliminary survey focused on Green ICT practices usage in non-it SMEs in the Czech Republic (Buchalcevova & Gala, 2013) and found out that there is a great potential for an improvement. As a first step of the improvement, it is necessary to assess a current level of Green ICT usage. To meet such a purpose, we settled on using the Green ICT maturity model for maturity assessment of the Green ICT capability in SMEs that figure as users of ICT services. Based on a literature review and internet search, several maturity models were detected in the Green ICT area. Following section covers the analysis of these maturity models. 3.2 Analysis of Existing Maturity Models Maturity models have their roots in quality management, i.e. Crosby s Quality Management Maturity Grid (Crosby, 1979). The best-known maturity model is the CMM for software (Paulk, Weber, Garcia, Chrissis, & Bush, 1995). In addition, other software engineering maturity models have been developed and further proposed for a range of other problem areas. Some of them are mentioned in Jokela, Siponen, Hirasawa, & Earthy (2006). Regarding the Green ICT area, a source search was elaborated and the following models were analysed: JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1 25

3 ALENA BUCHALCEVOVA G-readiness framework that was developed at the RMIT and described in Molla et al. (2011) and Molla & Cooper (2009). Green ICT Capability Maturity Model that was created by the Connection Research and the RMIT University (Philipson, 2010). The framework contains four vertical pillars, each of which is further broken into specific areas of Green ICT; and five horizontal actions, which describe separate approaches to the verticals based on the G-readiness drivers of the G-readiness framework. This model became the basis of the worldwide survey conducted by Fujitsu (Fujitsu, 2010; Rowe, 2011). Sustainable ICT-Capability Maturity Framework (SICT-CMF) that was developed by the Innovation Value Institute (IVI). The SICT-CMF offers a comprehensive value-based model for organizing, evaluating, planning, and managing SICT capabilities. It fits within the IVI s IT- Capability Maturity Framework (IT-CMF) (Donnellan, Sheridan, & Curry, 2011). Green IT Maturity Assessment Program that is a result of a green IT assessment pilot program for Korean companies jointly conducted by the NIA (National Information Society Agency) and Accenture (Accenture, 2010). Green ICT scorecard that was designed in 2008 in conjunction with the CIO/CTO Council of the United Kingdom (McGregor, 2008). The scorecard is based on Gartner s Green IT scorecard (Tapuni, 2008). UK Government Green ICT Maturity Model that sets the overall target of achieving level 3 Maturity of UK Government by April This model does not include indicators, but describes the activities and outputs of each sub-category within each maturity level in detail (HMG CIO Council Green ICT Delivery Unit, 2012). To analyse these maturity models, the following criteria with regard to the research s aim were defined: Model structure Concept of maturity levels Target group of the maturity model Availability of the model description Focus on Green of ICT versus Green by ICT The structure analysis of maturity models in the Green ICT area is presented in Table 1. Each of the models has its own structure which is either hierarchical (SICT-CMF, Accenture, Green ICT Scorecard, UK Government) or matrix (G-Readiness, Green ICT Capability Maturity Model). Usually, there are indicators employed within the basic structure that are utilized for assessing maturity. The only exception comprises the UK Government Green ICT Maturity Model, which does not include indicators, but describes the activities and outputs of each sub-category within each maturity level in detail. Tab. 1: The structure analysis of Green ICT maturity models Model G-Readiness Green ICT Capability Maturity Model Sustainable ICT- Capability Maturity Framework Green IT Maturity Model structure two dimensions: Green IT dimension (perspectives sourcing, operations, services and end of IT life management), G-readiness (properties attitude, policy, practice, technology and governance), model focuses solely on Green of ICT 4 vertical pillars broken into specific areas; 5 horizontal actions ; based on the G-readiness model, but also extends its focus on the Green by ICT - pillar ICT as low carbon enabler 9 capability building blocks across 4 categories: Strategy and planning (Alignment, Objectives), Process management (Operations and life cycle, ICT-enabled business processes, Performance and reporting), People and culture (Adoption, Language), Governance (External compliance, Corporate policies) structure differs from other maturity models and corresponds rather with methodologies and frameworks for IT management 5 areas with items and indicators: Data Centres (15 indicators), Office Environment 26 JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1

4 GREEN ICT MATURITY MODEL FOR CZECH SMES Model Assessment Program Green ICT Scorecard UK Government Green ICT Maturity Model Model structure (15 indicators), Work Practice (16 indicators), Procurement (9 indicators), Corporate Citizenship (9 indicators) very pragmatic structure overly aggregated, inconsistent indicators within 3 categories of questions: Sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, Technology optimization, Green ICT policies 4 categories: Managing Services (Governance and promotion, Enterprise and solution architecture, Capacity planning, End user support, Information and data, Disposal), Managing Technology (Utilization, Consolidation), Changing Services (Investment decisions, Running projects, Solution design, Procurement), Exploiting ICT (Electronically enabling front line services, Travel reduction, Resource optimization, Energy optimization, Space optimization, Corporate reporting, Managing impact across the organization) Green ICT is linked with other management areas, Service Management and Enterprise Architecture, includes also investment management, project management and solution design A key aspect of each maturity model is to define the maturity levels. The original concept of maturity as already defined in the CMM model (Paulk et al., 1995) represents an assessment of maturity of the whole organization. In this concept, there are certain process areas determined for each maturity level that an organization must implement in order to achieve a given maturity level. Such a concept of maturity is called the staged representation and uses maturity levels to characterize the overall state of the organization s processes relative to the model as a whole (CMMI-DEV, 2012). When the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) was published in 2002, a so called continuous representation was included in the model. The continuous representation enables organizations to incrementally improve processes corresponding to an individual process area (or group of process areas) selected by the organization. The continuous representation uses capability levels to characterize the state of the organization s processes relative to an individual process area. Although, the staged representation is evaluated as far more popular and more frequently employed in the CMMI than continuous representation (CMMI-DEV, 2012), its application in Green ICT brings along certain problems. The Green ICT area is very young, rapidly developing and changing. Therefore, Green ICT practices are not yet settled. Further, Green ICT comprises a very wide area where individual activities or practices are to a significant extent independent and at the same time parallel. Thus, it is not possible to determine their sequence and mutual continuity. Moreover, the ratio between practices in Green of ICT and Green by ICT cannot be described as balanced. The focus is still oriented on direct impacts of ICT on the environment i.e. on Green of ICT. Simultaneously, the importance of Green by ICT is currently growing, but still far less examined. For such reasons, to define a maturity model of a whole organization, i.e. to determine a sequence of areas and their gradual implementation, constitutes a difficult task. That is why most of the researched maturity models of Green ICT assess maturity only in individual areas, i.e. equivalent of continuous representation, but not maturity of the whole organization. Table 2 presents a concept of maturity levels used in researched models. Tab. 2: Maturity levels definition analysis Model G-Readiness Green ICT Capability Maturity Model Sustainable ICT- Capability Maturity Framework Green IT Maturity Assessment Program UK Government Green ICT Maturity Model Concept of maturity levels model does not utilize a typical concept of maturity, but a concept of readiness 6 maturity levels: 0 No intention, 1 Initial, 2 Replicable, 3 Defined, 4 Managed, 5 Optimize 5 maturity levels Initial, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Optimizing for each maturity level key practices, outcomes and key performance metrics are identified six maturity stages (0 Incomplete, 1 Initial, 2 Repeatable, 3 Defined, 4 Managed, 5 Optimized) defined for each of 64 assessment indicators 5 maturity levels (Foundation, Embedded, Practised, Enhanced, Leadership) and 2 further levels (Not Appropriate, Ad hoc) JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1 27

5 ALENA BUCHALCEVOVA Table 3 shows overall analysis results of maturity models in the Green ICT area according to the following criteria: target group, availability of the model description and focus on Green of ICT versus Green by ICT. Most models are aimed at IT providers or do not have a defined target group. Target audience of the UK Government Green ICT Maturity Model represents government offices. As to the company size, the majority of models do not specify such a benchmark. However, principally medium and large companies took part in the assessment. None of the analysed models focuses on SMEs. Tab. 3: Target group, availability of the model description and focus Model Target group Availability of the model description Green of ICT Green by ICT G-Readiness more likely IT providers, company size is not specified but in an assessment mainly medium and large companies took part detailed description of indicators is not available x - Green ICT Capability Maturity Model more likely IT providers, company size is not specified but in an assessment mainly medium and large companies took part detailed description of indicators is not available x partially Sustainable ICT- Capability Maturity Framework not defined detailed description of indicators is not available x partially Green IT Maturity Assessment Program General, used for Korean companies company know how x partially Green ICT Scorecard not defined company know how x UK Government Green ICT Maturity Model government detailed description of the model is available x x Based on a literature review and internet search, several maturity models were detected in the Green ICT area. The analysis showed that with the exception of the UK Government Green ICT Maturity Model the maturity models are not described in detail, or are a part of a company s know-how. Therefore, they cannot easily be used for maturity assessment. The existing maturity models focus rather on Green of ICT than on Green by ICT area, which has a far greater potential. With regard to the target group, the existing models are concentrated more on IT providers and large companies or government institutions than on SMEs. The above stated facts led us to the development of our own maturity model. The scope of the assessment covers both the Green of ICT and Green by ICT areas. 3.3 Iterative Maturity Model Development The design of the Green ICT Maturity Model for SMEs (GICTMM4SME) is in compliance with design methodology presented earlier and consists of the following steps: Model architecture design Primary design of areas and indicators Maturity levels definition Relevance verification of indicators using Delphi method Establishment of the adjusted list of areas and indicators Definition of indicator s weights using Delphi method Based on the analysis of existing Green ICT maturity models presented in the section 3.2, the architecture of GICTMM4SME model was designed founded on the combination of several models and merging into a new one. Figure 1 shows the model architecture. 28 JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1

6 GREEN ICT MATURITY MODEL FOR CZECH SMES The model is divided into four Green ICT domains (Green of ICT, Green by ICT, People& culture and Governance), which are further decomposed into Green ICT areas, which have defined Green ICT items and their Green ICT indicators. The designed model includes not only traditional domains like Green of ICT and Green by ICT but also People & culture domain, which consists of indicators associated with defining roles of Green ICT, motivation and communication of information. Further, it also includes Governance domain, which covers internal and external indicators of Green ICT governance. Following the design of model architecture, Green ICT items and indicators within each Green ICT area were iteratively developed. Individual Green ICT areas and Green ICT indicators were determined based on the researched maturity models, their adjustment and completion. After several iterations primary proposal of Green ICT items and indicators was built comprising 81 indicators. Then, maturity levels for the GICTMM4SME model were defined. Most of the researched Green ICT maturity models assess maturity only in individual areas and not maturity of the whole organization. We did follow the same procedure. Maturity levels are defined for each Green ICT indicator. Based on weights of Green ICT indicators within the Green ICT area, maturity level of the Green ICT area is calculated. Likewise, maturity level of each Green ICT domain is computed founded on weights of Green ICT areas within the Green ICT domain. Therefore, the highest level where maturity is determined is the level of Green ICT domains. Fig. 1: GICTMM4SME architecture, source: author Then, maturity levels for the GICTMM4SME model were defined. As stated above most of the researched maturity models of Green ICT assess maturity only in individual areas and not maturity of the whole organization. We did follow the same procedure. Maturity levels are defined for each Green ICT indicator. Based on weights of Green ICT indicators within the Green ICT area, maturity level of the Green ICT area is calculated. Likewise, maturity level of each Green ICT domain is computed founded on weights of Green ICT areas within the Green ICT domain. Therefore, the highest level where maturity is determined is the level of Green ICT domains. We defined 6 levels of maturity while adopting the specification of maturity levels according to the Green ICT framework developed by Connection Research in collaboration with RMIT University that is presented in Table 4. JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1 29

7 ALENA BUCHALCEVOVA Tab. 4: Maturity levels of the Green ICT framework, source: (Philipson, 2010) Maturity level Description 0 No intention Never thought about it, no awareness 1 Initial Some awareness. Considered, but not implemented 2 Replicable Some ad hoc implementation, but no strategy 3 Defined Formal programs have been defined, but implementation is immature 4 Managed Methodical implementation of programs, with adequate measurement and management 5 Optimized All activities are monitored and managed for optimal performance. By defining a list of indicators in all areas and domains and a measurement scale, the primary proposal of the GICTMM4SME model was established. This primary proposal was then verified using the Delphi method. To select the experts, three criteria were established: Knowledge of Green ICT, Knowledge in the field of multi-criteria assessment and Knowledge of Czech, since the maturity model was primarily designed in the Czech language. Five experts were charged to verify relevance of indicators. After their evaluation, we worked out several updates, i.e. 21 indicators were removed, 6 indicators were updated and 2 indicators were added. As a result, an adjusted list of indicators was established that include total of 62 indicators. Last step in the model development process constituted a definition of indicator s weights. In this case, we utilized Delphi method again. Each expert had to define weight of each indicator within the Green ICT area and the weight of each Green ICT area within the domain using the Order method of the multi-criteria analysis methods. 3.4 Conception of Transfer The GICTMM4SME model was created in Czech in a comprehensible form for the target audience and afterwards translated into English. The model is implemented as a web application accessible via internet. Thus, the companies perform a web-based self-assessment. 4. Evaluation of the Maturity Model The model has already been verified and the first wave of Green ICT maturity assessment was conducted as well. The target group represented companies which obtained a support for their ICT innovation within the Operational Program Enterprises and Innovations. The program also designates a basic separation of the population thanks to its focus on small and medium companies in defined activity areas. First, basic contact information was found for each identified subject in the sample. Subsequently, the companies were asked to fill in an electronic self-assessment form via . A survey request was initially sent to 397 enterprises on October 2nd, Then, a reminder was sent on October 15th, Overall, 77 self-assessment forms were filled in. However, only 43 forms were filled in completely. We thoroughly processed these 43 complete forms and calculated Green ICT maturity for each corresponding respondent. Thus, the presented results comprise the sample of 43 companies. Most companies (53 %) belong to the group of small and medium enterprises according to the EU legislation, as they stated they had 10 to 49 employees. 42 % of companies have more than 50, but less than 250 employees. Only 5 % of enterprises employ less than 10 employees and none of the sample companies have more than 250 employees (see Figure 2). 30 JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1

8 GREEN ICT MATURITY MODEL FOR CZECH SMES Fig. 2: Number of employees, source: author Average maturity of particular domains within the whole sample of 43 companies is depicted in Figure 3. The assessed enterprises reached a maturity level of in the Green of ICT domain and in the Green by ICT domain. This maturity value of Czech SMEs in major domains can be attributed to the maturity level 2, which signifies an ad hoc use of Green ICT practices without a comprehensive concept or strategy. However, far poorer result of maturity level about 1 was achieved in the People & Culture domain. This corresponds just to awareness of practices without their implementation. Such practices include e.g. an assigned responsibility for green initiative coordination, definition of rules for motivating employees in Green ICT and Green ICT issues communication to employees, provision of education programs covering Green ICT practices or green computing certifications for employees. Moreover, the Governance domain including indicators that address Green ICT strategy shows even lower maturity. Concentrating first on the Green of ICT domain, a more detailed view of particular areas within the Green of ICT domain is presented in figure 4. The highest score was reached in the End user computing printers & other electronic equipment area with the maturity level of This area comprises such indicators as Power shut off (printers), Power-saving sleep mode optimization (printers), Print management, Printer consolidation, Paper waste reduction, Use of recycled paper. Great deal of enterprises achieved maturity level 3 and higher, which testifies our hypothesis of a definition and implementation of formal programs in this area. Next, the End user computing computers area including indicators such as Replacement of desktop computers, Replacement of CRT monitors by LCD monitors, Device consolidation, Computer power management settings etc. demonstrated quite satisfying results (2.206) as well. Fig. 3: Average Green ICT domain maturity, source: author JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1 31

9 ALENA BUCHALCEVOVA Fig. 4: Average Green of ICT area maturity, source: author Even though the End of ICT use area scored the second highest with a maturity value of 2.36, we classify this result as unsatisfactory since we assumed that the organizations have already responded to the requirements of EU directives on waste and assured a much higher maturity in this field. Following the listed area, the Enterprise computing area, shows a bit second-rate result reaching a maturity value of Key indicator in this area and also in the field of Green ICT represents ICT power consumption measurement especially then for SMEs. Concerning this issue, Figure 5 depicts respondents responses to the following question divided into maturity levels from 0 to 5: Does your company measure or calculate ICT power consumption? Only 28 % of companies do measure ICT power consumption. Then, 53 % of enterprises do know about ICT power consumption measurement, but do not employ this measurement within their organization. On top of that, 19 % of companies are not familiar with such a possibility at all. Fig. 5: Maturity of ICT power consumption measurement indicator, source: author Czech companies are in a similar position as enterprises researched in the international survey (Rowe, 2011). However, the proportion of businesses measuring energy consumption reached 40% among international companies (Rowe, 2011). We believe that the businesses are still in their infancy regarding this area. Furthermore, we see a necessity of a radical improvement in an energy consumption expertise, because if there is no notion about the actual consumption, then it is very difficult to carry out other activities of Green ICT, as a general management rule indicates: what I do not see I cannot manage. We recommend applying appropriate practices to reduce energy 32 JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1

10 GREEN ICT MATURITY MODEL FOR CZECH SMES consumption and thereby achieve both cost savings in ICT operation and also reduction of carbon or ecological footprint. Lastly, the ICT procurement area (value 1.3) scored the lowest maturity among Green of ICT areas. The following indicators were assessed within this area: Preference of environmentally friendly ICTs, Consideration of environmental friendliness of ICT vendors and Utilization of environmentally friendly ICT delivery. About 60 % of enterprises do not use ecological labels such as ENERGY STAR or EPEAT when purchasing ICTs. Moreover, 37% of enterprises do not prefer environmentally friendly ICT delivery. Concentrating now on the Green by ICT domain, figure 6 provides a more detailed view of particular areas within this domain. The highest maturity among Green by ICT areas was reached in the Smart energy area with a value of This area was represented by the question: Does your company monitor energy consumption and energy savings? On the contrary, the Carbon emissions management area achieved the lowest maturity (0.581) where 93 % of enterprises do not implement information systems for monitoring an enterprise s carbon footprint. Maturity level 2 was demonstrated also in the Dematerialization area where indicators such as Replacement of paper by e-services, Video-conferencing & telepresence, Teleworking and E-commerce were examined. Fig. 6: Average maturity of specific Green by ICT area, source: author 5. Summary and Outlook This paper presented the design of the Green ICT maturity model aimed at maturity assessment of the Green ICT capability in SMEs that figure as users of ICT services. The design was carried out according to the procedure of maturity models design defined by Becker et al. (2009). Based on the literature review and internet search, six maturity models in the Green ICT area were detected and further analyzed. The analysis showed that these maturity models cannot be used for maturity assessment in non-ict SMEs as the models are concentrated rather on IT providers and large companies or government institutions than on SMEs and as the detailed description of models is not publicly accessible. The paper introduces both the process of model development and the description of the resulted model. However, a detailed description of indicators is beyond the scope of this paper. The Green ICT maturity model is implemented as a web application enabling company s self-assessment via internet. The first wave of the assessment (sample of 397 companies) has already been conducted and selected results were presented in this paper. The assessment of maturity represents the first step on the way of a continuous improvement. To help enterprises manage their improvement and accomplish possible benefits, we have prepared JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1 33

11 ALENA BUCHALCEVOVA roadmaps for Green ICT areas that define how to achieve a higher level of maturity and also described benefits of such an achievement. References Accenture, 2010: Assessing Green IT Maturity among Korean Companies, &Flag=100, accessed Buchalcevova, A.& Gala, L., 2013: Green ICT drivers and inhibitors perceived by the Czech SMEs. Journal of Systems Integration [online], 4(2) pp ISSN URL: Becker, J., Knackstedt, R., & Pöppelbuss, J., 2009: Developing Maturity Models for IT Management A Procedure Model and its Application, Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 3, doi: /s CabinetOffice, 2010: Greening Government ICT. Efficient, Sustainable, Responsible. accessed CabinetOffice, 2012: UK Government ICT Strategy resources accessed Chandar, K.S., 2009: Computing Practices: Going Green. SCMS Journal of Indian Management (4): Choucri, N., Maugis, V., Madnick, S., & Siegel, M., 2003: Global e-readiness - for what? Readiness_177.pdf, accessed Innovation Value Institute, 2012: accessed Chitra, S., 2011: Adopting Green ICT in Business. In: Unhelkar B (eds) Handbook of Research on Green ICT. IGI Global, pp CMMI-DEV, 2012: Carnegie Mellon University. accessed Crosby, P., 1979: Quality is Free. McGraw-Hill, New York Curtis, L., 2008: Environmentally Sustainable Infrastructure Design. The Architecture Journal. Microsoft, 18 Donnellan, B., Sheridan, Ch., & Curry, E., 2011: A Capability Maturity Framework for Sustainable Information and Communication Technology. IT Professional. 1 (2), Educause, 2009: Green IT: (Survey instrument), Accessed , accessed Essmann, H., & Preez, N., 2010: An Innovation Capability Maturity Model Development and initial application. International Journal of Social Sciences 5 (1), European Commission, 2012: ICT Information and communication technologies. Work programme ISBN Forge, S., Blackman, C., Bohlin, E., & Cave, M., 2009: A Green knowledge society: An ICT policy agenda to 2015 for Europe s future knowledge society. e_society.pdf, accessed Francis, K., & Richardson, P. (2008) Green Maturity Model for Virtualization. The Architecture Journal. Microsoft. (18), 9-15 Fujitsu, 2010: Green IT: The Global Benchmark: A Report On Sustainable It In The USA, UK, Australia and India. accessed JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1

12 GREEN ICT MATURITY MODEL FOR CZECH SMES Fujitsu, 2010: Green IT: The Global Benchmark: A Report On Sustainable It In The USA, UK, Australia and India. Accessed GeSi, 2008: SMART 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age. accessed Global Action Plan, 2009: Green ICT Handbook: A Guide to Green ICT accessed Hart, S. L., 1997: Beyond greening: Strategies for a sustainable world. Harvard Business Review, 85 (3), Hevner, A.R., March, S.T., Park, J., & Ram, S., 2004: Design science in information systems research. MIS Quarterly 28(1), HMG CIO Council Green ICT Delivery Unit, 2012: UK HM Government Green ICT Maturity Model accessed Innovation Value Institute, 2012: Accessed Jokela, T., Siponen, M., Hirasawa, N., & Earthy, J., 2006: A survey of usability capability maturity models: implications for practice and research. Behaviour & Information Technology. 25(3), Loeser, F., Erek, K., Schmidt, N., Zarnekow, R., & Kolbe, L., 2011: Aligning Green IT with Environmental Strategies: Development of a Conceptual Framework that Leverages Sustainability and Firm Competitiveness. In: Proc 17th AMCIS. Detroit, Michigan, USA. Paper Accessed Marmaridis, I., & Unhelkar, B., 2011: Collaboration as a Key Enabler for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Implementing Green ICT. In: Unhelkar B (eds) Handbook of Research on Green ICT. IGI Global, pp McGregor, C., 2008: UK GOV Where are we? Cabinet Office CIO / CTO Council Green ICT Delivery Unit accessed Mickoleit, A., 2010: Greener and smarter: ICTs, the environment and climate change. OECD, Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy, accessed Molla, A., & Cooper, V., 2009: Green IT Readiness: A Framework and Preliminary Proof of Concept. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 16(2), 5-23 Molla, A., Cooper, V., & Pittayachawan, S., 2011: The Green IT Readiness (G-Readiness) of Organizations: An Exploratory Analysis of a Construct and Instrument. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 29(1), Molla, A., Pittayachawan, S., Corbitt, B., & Deng, H., 2009: An International Comparison of Green IT Diffusion. International Journal of e-business Management, 3(2), 3 23 Murugesan, S., 2010: Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT. Creating Business Value and Contributing to Environmental Sustainability In: Unhelkar B (eds) Handbook of Research on Green ICT. IGI Global, pp Paulk, M., Weber, C., Garcia, S., Chrissis, M., & Bush, M., 1995: The Capability Maturity Model: Guidelines for Improving the Software Process. Addison-Wesley PEAF Overview, 2012: accessed Philipson, G., 2010: A Comprehensive and Practical Green ICT Framework. In: UNHELKAR B (eds) Handbook of Research on Green ICT. IGI Global, pp Project Management Institute, 2008: Organizational project management maturity model (OPM3) Second edition. ANSI/PMI Reimsbach-Kounatze, C., 2009: Towards Green ICT Strategies: Assessing Policies and Programmes on ICT and the Environment. OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 155, OECD Publishing. accessed JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1 35

13 ALENA BUCHALCEVOVA Rowe, A., 2011: ICT sustainability: The global benchmark Fujitsu. s.fujitsu.com/global/solutions/sustainability/fujitsu-ict-sustainability-theglobalbenchmark2011- Report.html, accessed Sherringham, K. & Unhelkar, B., 2010: Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT. In: Unhelkar B (eds) Handbook of Research on Green ICT. IGI Global, pp Sustainable IT, 2010: 30 tips for going green with IT operations and equipment. University Business. accessed Tapuni, M., 2008: Gartner and Green. Accessed JEL Classification: Q50, M15, 36 JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 2015/1