How to measure the maturity of your green IT goals

The Object Management Group is leading a project to develop a Sustainability Assessment Model that organizations can use to assess, monitor and report on their progress in achieving green goals. Although the model is in the early stages of development, it will likely include a series of maturity levels that organizations can use to organize and track their efforts, similar to the maturity model for software development.

Here is how such levels might work in the green context.

Level 1: Ad hoc
The organization has some understanding of green and sustainable goals, but no formal initiatives exist.

Level 2: Defined, documented and architected
The organization has established a common understanding of green objectives and communicated it across the enterprise. The organization has also developed a green/sustainability architecture with specific plans and actions.

Level 3: Repeatable and governed
The organization applies the green model to business operations and supporting processes. It has defined a governance model and policies and has made compliance with those policies mandatory and measurable.

Level 4: Optimized and extensible
The organization has optimized the model for use and expanded it by adding dimensions and metrics relevant to various business needs.

Level 5: Demonstrable return on investment
The organization has monitored and embedded the ROI into existing and future green initiatives.