Green IT is becoming an essential business practice as an overwhelming majority of senior-level executives around the world are implementing green IT strategies to cut costs and improve environmental standing. These and other findings were made public Wednesday in Symantec's "2009 Worldwide Green IT Report," which surveyed more than 1,000 C-level IT executives, vice presidents and directors in enterprise companies located in 15 countries around the world regarding their green IT strategies. According to the survey, 97 percent of enterprise companies around the globe are discussing a green IT strategy, while 45 percent already have one in place. And despite the recession, spending on green IT solutions is on the rise. Executives said that one of the driving forces behind the renewed interest in green IT was the implementation of environmental legislation around the world that requires large firms to adhere to increasingly stringent regulatory standards. "Now firms have to deal with this," said Jose Iglesias, Symantec vice president of global solutions. "Twelve months ago, there was much more of a geographical disparity around the world." The study indicated that the surge of interest in green IT was largely attributable to its potential to reduce costs, with about nine out of 10 respondents reporting that reducing electricity and cooling costs were key drivers in adopting a "green" strategy. Symantec executives said that the study found that 83 percent of the IT administrators reported that energy costs were now cross-charged to their departments. "The electric bill for these firms is pretty significant," Iglesias said. "In the past, the facilities guys were paying the bill but they didn't know how to reduce it. The IT guys weren't aware of the magnitude of the bill. The CFO moved the responsibility to pay the bill or have the bill cross-charged to IT. Putting the onus on that group can make a difference." And despite the recession, the study found that IT budgets for green initiatives were expected to rise -- 73 percent of IT executives said they expected an increase in green IT budgets over the next 12 months, while 19 percent said they expected increases of more than 10 percent. Meanwhile, two-thirds of companies surveyed said that they were willing to pay at least 10 percent more, while 41 percent said that they were willing to pay at least 20 percent more for energy-efficient products. The study didn't indicate what kind of ROI companies expected in return for their increased investment in green IT infrastructure. "IT [departments] were willing to pay a premium for green gear," Iglesias said. "Now, 83 percent of IT departments are cross-charged for the [electricity] bill. They're on the hook. They have to look at this and try to reduce it. That's why they're willing to pay a premium." Some green IT initiatives companies have implemented include replacing old equipment, with 95 percent reporting new, energy-efficient equipment as part of their overall green strategies, followed by monitoring power consumption (94 percent), server virtualization (94 percent) and server consolidation (93 percent). In addition, more than half of respondents said they saw Software-as-a-Service as a green solution. Iglesias said that Symantec would likely use the information from the green IT survey to market and promote the company's own green software products and services. See original article on CRN.com
Issue: 277 | March, 2010