Location: Framingham
Author: Vernon Turner
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Energy remains the dominant reason why U.S. companies have adopted green IT and sustainability strategies. However, a recent IDC survey found that energy is less of a policy factor today than it was twelve months ago, when 77% of U.S. companies identified energy as the primary reason for their green IT and sustainability strategy compared to 64% in 2009.
The most dramatic change among the factors driving green IT and sustainability policies was the increased focus on the growth of corporate IT infrastructure. In 2008, 31% of respondents identified as an important policy factor, placing it fourth overall. In the 2009 survey, it was the second most important factor according to 46% of respondents.
"IDC believes that IT executives are feeling the pinch of their budgets being squeezed," said Vernon Turner, senior vice president of IDC's Enterprise Infrastructure, Consumer and Telecom Research. "Because they understand that much of their expanding infrastructure remains underutilized – adding to their company's capital and energy costs – green IT policies can help establish a more comprehensive approach to utilizing their assets."
In the short term, survey respondents indicated that getting measurement and management systems into place are their priority. On-premise energy management systems, smart metering, and the integration of renewable energy were identified as the IT-enabled technologies and processes that will contribute to increased energy efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions in the next 2-3 years.
The survey also identified four green IT project areas with very strong change goals that respondents hope to initiate within the next 12 months.
* Change customer behavior from print to online (92 % of U.S. respondents)
* Migrate to a modular data center design (81 % of U.S. respondents)
* Implement a "Thin Client" or "Client Device" strategy (80% of U.S. respondents
* Deploy software for data center thermal dynamic modeling and control
Each of these project areas address business functions that consume a lot of energy. Success involves moving customers (both internal and external) from energy intensive practices to more efficient ways of conducting business. IDC believes that these should be on all Green IT & Sustainability project lists.
U.S. companies are also paying closer attention to the full life-cycle of their IT assets, including the energy efficiency of new equipment as well as the disposal of old equipment. More than 60% of the companies surveyed say they currently look to purchase products that conform to industry standards, such as Energy Star, EPEAT, etc. Similarly, 60% of the companies surveyed currently use a third party to help with asset disposal. Unfortunately, IDC believes that many of these assets are lost through broken or poorly managed corporate disposal processes.
IDC's third annual Green IT & Sustainability Survey was conducted across 10 industrial countries (Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States Of America) in July 2009. The survey was conducted online, with an appropriate distribution of small, medium, and large businesses (26%, 34%, and 40% respectively). In total 1,653 surveys were completed across industry sectors including Financial Services, Banking, Manufacturing and Construction, the Public Sector, Healthcare, Government, Distribution Services, Professional Services, Infrastructure Services, and Transportation. There were 300 respondents to the U.S. portion of the survey.
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