Survey: 16% Of IT Pros In ‘Anti-Green Camp’

January 22, 2008

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Forty-one percent of corporations have deployed virtualization or server consolidation strategies to save on energy cost, according to a Harris Interactive survey of 300 IT decision makers.Attitudes for adopting Green Thinking are diverse among the IT professionals surveyed. About 16 percent might be put in an “anti-green camp,” saying that corporations should be environmentally friendly only if they can do so and achieve their profitability goals. However, 71 percent might be described as “pro green”, believing that corporations should go beyond governmental requirements in their efforts to be environmentally friendly (39%) and that they should be environmentally friendly even if they have to sacrifice some of their profitability goals (32%).

Among those IT professionals that either have implemented a going green strategy or are in a pilot phase, fifty seven percent say “Going Green” is good for business. Fifty-five percent say that “going green” reduces their energy costs, thus improving profitability, while 53 percent say that being environmentally friendly is a corporate value. Only 27 percent say that the decision to implement this strategy is due to top management, and 21 percent say that the implementation is due to government regulatory requirements.

On the flipside, for those that have not implemented a “green strategy,” the reasons for not implementing are varied:

-Twenty-six percent says that they “fully comply with current governmental regulations for environmental safety”, while -25 percent says that they have other pressing corporate needs;
-One quarter isn’t sure of what actions that they must take to “Go Green” in the most cost effective way;
-Twenty percent indicate that they don’t have the funds to implement a “Going Green” strategy;
-Sixteen percent feel that they are already environmentally friendly.

Nevertheless, despite the positive attitude toward “going green” efforts, the plot thickens when asked about the firms’ actual actions in becoming “a green company” and when focusing on the actions that are underway. Ultimately, there appears to be a lot more bark than bite, since most of the action is in recycling programs and very few firms are doing the heaving lifting that includes adopting alternative power solutions and designing energy efficient buildings.

Only nine percent say they have a fully implemented plan across all areas of their respective companies and about 32 percent say they are in “pilot mode” or have partially implemented something in departments considered appropriate. Nearly one-quarter (23%) say their company has no plan at all.

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Reader Comments

There are SO MANY different options for IT professionals to consider when going green, it can be quite intimidating. The most successful green IT departments are prioritizing projects that deliver significant green impact while significantly cutting operating costs, and cutting down the cost of operating desktops. Call it “go green to make green”, which also gives the IT department a big win against the bottom line, starting immediately.

Matt Heinz | January 23rd, 2008

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