Green Software Development

Tags: collaboration, environmental impact, local suppliers, locally developed software, slow consulting, SMC, Software, software costs, software outsourcing, software waste

Today we have the honor to welcome our guest bloggers, Mr Måns Sandström and Mr Joakim Holm, Adaptiv Sthlm AB.  Read their interesting blog about how to green Software and make IT more usable.

Re-interpreting Green IT for Software Development

When reading about Green IT you may get the impression that itʼs only about IT hardware products or, possibly, manufacturing services related to hardware. We submit that this is not true. There is  also a large quantity of services surrounding the software running on those IT products.

One such example is own domain: Software development, the design and development of tailor-made or off-the- shelf software. It seems obvious to us that the process you employ when designing the software as well as the actual design of the software has a major environmental impact. Therefore, it saddens us to report that as software practitioners and craftsmen we see IT resources (people, computers, energy) employed in a wasteful manner every day.

#1 Waste: Creating Unwanted Solutions

One great waste in software development is all the energy spent creating functions and products that nobody uses. One study from the Standish Group [JJ] showed that on an average 19% of the features in a given system was used rarely – 45% never. That is approximately 2/3 of the total number of functions. The number of software developers in the U.S. alone (2008) was estimated to 1.3 million. Hence, we may estimate the total number of developers globally to 5-10 million (and growing rapidly). Can you imagine 2/3 of them are wasting time, money, and energy creating ”stuff” nobody really wanted? The need for improved collaboration between clients and suppliers is acute.

In recent years, outsourcing software development to low-wage countries has become popular with larger companies. What these companies fail to understand is that outsourcing software development not only makes the communication slower, but also worse. The possibility of achieving that vital collaboration between customers, users and developers is severely hampered. Consequently, outsourcing works as a catalyst for the problem of creating unwanted solutions. This may be illustrated by a simple thought experiment: What if the situation was reversed? Imagine that you are a Swedish software developer given the task of developing a ticket system for an Indian travel company. What difficulties would you encounter?

#2 Waste: Creating Unwanted Problems

Another major waste today is that we almost always develop systems of poor quality. Keep in mind that software quality is not only what the user perceives, the external quality, but also the internal quality, how defect-free it is and how easy it is for future developers to understand and maintain the product. This latter part is what drives the rapid increase in cost of software maintenance.

Back in school, we were taught that there are no error-free programs. Since then we have learned that it is indeed possible to write programs that behave correctly. Contrary to what people often intuitively believe, it is both cheaper and faster to develop high-quality software. This is sometimes called the General Principle of Software Quality [SMC]. You see, the time spent on fixing bugs is always greater than the time spent on avoiding them. Quite unnecessarily, suppliers deliver low-quality software in a haste, thinking that they are saving money, when in fact the opposite is true.

“Slow Consulting”

We believe that Green IT should be given a higher priority in procurement in general, including procurement of IT services like software development. There are huge, hidden costs of outsourcing development – not to mention the effects on our environment. Outsourced software development is riddled with long lead times, misunderstood needs, and failure to change direction as we learn. This is of course in addition to more wellknown costs like increased documentation needs, coordination, meetings and travels. How many companies take the effect on the environment into account when they plan their outsourcing? We think they should.

Furthermore, we believe that priority should be given to selecting local suppliers for software development. On the surface this may seem more expensive, but when taking the hidden costs mentioned above into account, the ROI calculation for outsourcing looks less attractive.

“Slow Food” is a movement focusing on using local produce, craft skills and health thinking in cooking. We can use the same thinking in software development. We thought about calling our ideas “Slow Consulting”, but we would probably run the risk of a less flattering interpretation. However, it is evident to us that certain goods and services may work well from a distance while others, like developing businesses or software, do not. We are convinced that a locally developed software product is both right for the environment and yield the best results.

Måns Sandström & Joakim Holm Adaptiv Sthlm AB

PS If you are interested in reading our proposals on how to deal with these challenges, read here  (in Swedish). References: [JJ]” Johnson, J. (2002), Keynote speech, XP 2002, Sardinia, Italy [SMC]” McConnell, S. (2004), Code Complete, 2nd ed, pp. 474-475

A new Lenovo takes center stage

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Of all the major brands launching new products during CES this year, Lenovo was clearly a standout with a range of new products, like the new Ideapad hybrid Notebook / Tablet PC and  their company-wide focus on the ”reduce, reuse, recycle” theme. Check here for some interesting insights from Lenovo President Rory Read.

Universal charge of your mobile phone and the planet

Tags: carbon dioxide emissions, charger, energy saving, Mobile phones, usability

According to an agreement with GSMA, an operator association within TU, International Telecommunication Union, there is now a great chance for all mobile phone manufacturers to equip their phones with a charge function through micro- USB, according to an agreement called UCS, Universal Changing Solution.

This is great!!  The goal with UCS is to decrease the manufacturing of chargers by 50% per year and be far more energy efficient.  This will  decrease the carbon dioxide emissions.  This will also in the future eliminate all specific chargers as you will be able to charge your phone directly through your computer.  And our Usability habits will surely change in a positive direction.

read more www.gsmworld.com/our-work/mobile_planet/universal_charging_solution.htm

Is Industry Collaboration the Future of Green IT?

Tags: carbon footprint, CO2 emissions, energy saving, environment, Green IT, IT products, save energy, sustainability, sustainable IT

While major electronics brands compete to develop more eco-friendly PC products, some areas of Green IT are actually shifting towards greater industry collaboration. A couple of recent stories caught my attention. Firstly, at CES I attended an Electronics Takeback roundtable, hosted by the US EPA and featuring senior environmental managers from Panasonic, Best Buy and L.G. When discussing the challenges of implementing a cohesive takeback infrastructure,  industry reps agreed there is a need to work together to create a common eco-system and create efficiencies in how takeback is handled across multiple product categories.

Second, the Green Touch project was announced this week in a cross-industry effort to reduce PC processory energy use 1000-fold. In real terms, this would mean being able to run the world’s communications networks, including the internet, for nearly three years using the same amount of energy it currently uses in one day. The Green Touch project kicks off in February. More details here

The Best of Green at CES

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Companies at CES this year unveiled a ton of creative electronic products to help us manage our power consumption and make life more convenient at the same time – talk about usability and environment going together ! Check out some of these innovative solutions here

Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas – mobility and green take center stage.

Tags: CES, Green IT, ICT products, USA

ust back from the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Mobility, social media and eco-friendliness were key themes among many of the product lines on show.
Of particular note was the number of tablet PCs that were creating a lot of attention – offering consumers a more powerful PC than a netbook, but more versatility than a larger sized notebook. Touch screens were also a popular trend, with some netbooks featuring multi-touch technology allowing for maximum flexibility for the user to manipulate the image on the screen. Social media applications were everywhere, with facebook- and twitter-friendly technologies gaining a lot of attention. Microsoft and HP even organized a spontaneous “Tweet and Greet” event on the show floor, relying exclusviely on the social network to spread the word and gather attendees.

Environmental features continue to be a big story in consumer electronics. Energy efficient LED backlit TVs and Notebooks are growing in poularity and several products featured motion sensor technologies that set the screen into sleep mode once the user left the room, and even a TV that can detect whether a viewer is or doing another activity, and adjusting the brightness of the TV automatically.

Overall, industry reps we talked to at CES are looking to these new technologies to help drive the economic recovery. Click here for more product reviews and news from CES.