Green software services: From requirements to business models

Abstract

In recent years, green software research is gaining momentum because of the acute need for sustainable development. Most past research has been focused on the definitions, metrics and technical solutions for green software, but few has addressed green software from the business perspective. In this paper, we present the analysis on three key elements of Green Software Services (GSS)-stakeholders, their requirements, and business models. The stakeholders of GSS are detailed with the services each stakeholder can provide and consume, thus clarifying their interests to GSS. Based on this analysis, we present the domain-independent, high-level requirements to GSS that cover diverse needs of different stakeholders. Six business models are then proposed to promote collaborations of stakeholders on the delivery of GSS. In the end, the relationship between GSS and cloud is discussed and a GSS marketplace is envisioned.