Ecological Sustainability in Software Development : The Case of a Technical Consultancy Firm

Abstract: Sustainability in the software and Information Technology (IT) industry has previously been discussed by practitioners mostly with a focus on maintainability and extensibility. In turn, the ecological and environmental dimensions of sustainability have been neglected. Previous research has shown that there are obstacles in the industry in terms of knowledge, experience, and support. Lack of knowledge stems from a lack of tools to detect and determine factors that affect environmental sustainability in software development, such as energy consumption. Furthermore, examining employees’motivations, attitudes, and discretionary behaviours is important to understand how implementation can be enabled and sustained. The purpose of this study is to find practices and tools for achieving environmental sustainability in software development as well as understanding what factors are hindering software engineers from adopting sustainable practices and tools that already exist. A qualitative single case study was conducted with semi-structured interviews as the primary method for data collection. The interviews were performed with individuals with various roles within software engineering as well as their managers. The findings show that the focus on environmental sustainability in software development is insufficient as for now. Practices, such as, reduction of CPU cycles and inactivating idle programs are suggested as environmentally friendly. Additionally, the findings display hinders in areas such as responsibility, requirements, and knowledge. Organizations and their stakeholders have to prioritize and work against these hindrances in order to succeed with environmental efforts.