In a world experiencing a deep digital transformation, organizations face a dual challenge:
innovating to remain competitive while doing so responsibly toward the planet.
Sustainability has moved beyond being a "nice-to-have" in IT. In 2025, sustainable
Information Technology management—also known as Green ITSM—is not merely an
ethical trend, but a strategic necessity. Environmental commitment is increasingly
becoming a business, regulatory, and market requirement, as well as a key factor in
attracting and retaining both talent and customers.
According to various studies, organizations that adopt green IT practices can reduce their
carbon footprint by up to 40%, while simultaneously optimizing costs and strengthening their reputation. Gartner (2025) predicts that by 2027, 75% of large enterprises will require sustainability metrics from their IT providers, including cloud service vendors.
Leading organizations are even creating a new role within IT: the Green IT Service Manager.
This role typically reports to the CSI Manager (Continual Service Improvement Manager)
and shares objectives with both the CISO and the CFO.
This is why the most widely used IT management frameworks are incorporating
sustainability into their scope:
| Framework / Standard | How Sustainability Is Integrated | Practical Use Cases |
| ITIL 4 | The guiding principle ‘Optimize and Automate’
includes energy efficiency. Service Design mandates sustainability for new services. | Most widely used for Green ITSM in Latin America and Europe |
| ISO/IEC 42001 (AIMS) | Annex A includes controls on environmental impact of AI systems and ML energy efficiency. | Most widely used for Green ITSM in Latin America and Europe |
| ISO 14001:2015 | Certified Environmental Management System Management System applied to data centers and IT. | Commonly combined with ITIL 4 in Europe |
| COBIT 2019 (ISACA) | APO domain APO13 ‘Manage Sustainability’. | Ideal for audit and corporate governance |
| FitSM (light europen version) | Part 6 ‘Sustainability Management’ for energy, assets and reporting. | Widely used in European public sector and universities |
| VeriSM | Includes ‘Responsible’ as a core value related to environmental impact. | Commonly combined with ITIL 4 in Europe |
| SIAM (Service Integration and Management) | Includes ESG criteria into supplier contracts. | Commonly used with AWS, Azure and Google Cloud |
| TOGAF 10 (Enterprise Architecture) | Chapter 44 ‘Sustainability in Architecture’ and Green Enterprise Architecture guide. | Designed for cloud‑first architectures |
But how do you embark on this arduous journey? Where do you begin the transformation and align your digital strategy with caring for the planet?
For organizations ready to take this path, several initiatives stand out as strong and proven
sustainability improvement trends:
| Area | Share of IT Carbon Footprint |
| Data centers and cloud | 45-50 % |
| End‑user devices | 25-30 % |
| Network and telecommunications | 15-20 % |
Once energy optimization, cooling, and waste disposal measures have been established, some of the metrics that can guide the post-implementation audit are:
| Metrics |
| PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) ratio |
| Percentage of renewable energy used in data centers |
| Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE) kgCO₂e/kWh |
| Carbon footprint per user (kgCO₂e/user/year) |
| Percentage of devices under reuse or lifecycle extension policies |
| Energy savings through automation (MWh/year) |
Once sustainable policies and strategies have been established, and improvements have been implemented and measured, companies can share their status either through certification such as ISO 14001 or through platforms specializing in auditing and providing external seals, such as SBTI or Ecovadis.
In the words of Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet:
“In the age of AI, energy efficiency is no longer just an environmental goal… it is the new Moore’s Law. Any company that fails to optimize watts per operation will become obsolete as quickly as a 1990s processor.” — Sundar Pichai, Google I/O 2024