Does Green IT Matter?

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Visit this group Brian Watson of CIO Insight on his blog “Does Green IT Matter?” contests that regardless of business motivation, investment in eco-friendly technologies continues to grow fast. He leans on a study by KPMG, revealing that venture capitalists, bankers, entrepreneurs and other investors agreed that a quarter of new investments will go green, as to comply with the increasing demand by the consumers calling for environmentally friendly products. A McKinsey Quarterly survey reports that executives view climate change issues as important. 60 percent of global executives view climate change as important to consider within their companies’ overall strategy. Further, nearly 70 percent see it as an important consideration for managing corporate reputation and brands. CIOs are getting the message.  In the article Green IT mind shift taking hold a large percentage of IT Executives see the urgency in going ‘green’. According to CIO Insight article, Green IT – Buzzword or Strategy?, IT organization should draft a 'Go-Green' action plan. IT leaders must spearhead a cross-departmental effort that would involve all levels of the organization. Green IT Strategy guidelines according to the CIO article are: • Define an environmental policy, identifying and prioritizing the issues the organization wants to address. Do this within the context of the enterprise’s broader environmental and corporate social responsibility policies. • Have the IT organization be responsible for the energy efficiency of the data center and IT equipment. • Make the data center a priority, but understand the green IT strategy must extend beyond that. • Create an environmental performance dashboard based on the enterprise’s and IT organization’s environmental policy. • Use existing and emerging energy management tools, and address behavioral issues to decrease the power consumption of IT-related equipment.  Finally, Gartner, in 10 Key Elements of a ‘Green IT’ Strategy, contests that its not only customer demand that is going to drive IT departments to go ‘green’, but high energy costs along with regulatory pressures.