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This is the
optimistic conclusion of Forrester Research whose recently published
report entitled “Green Progress in Enterprise IT” highlights an
increasing awareness for ecological issues by companies in the IT
sector. According to its report, 38% of IT professionals surveyed in
October 2007 said that their companies were taking environmental
criteria into account in the evaluation and provision of IT
equipment. This figure had risen from 25% in an April 2007 survey.
More generally, Forrester revealed that the concept of Green IT had
been gaining ground in company processes. In the October survey,
only 6% of firms were ignoring green issues altogether compared with
13% the previous April. Furthermore, by October 2007, environmental
issues were rated by 59% of interviewees as “important” and 35% as
“very important”.
This progress must nonetheless be set in context. Whilst Forrester’s
research confirms the advancement of the principles of green
computing amongst businesses, it also points out a lack of direct
action for the majority of those surveyed. So whilst it is 'top
marks' in terms of good intentions and awareness, it is a resounding
'could do better' when it comes to implementation. Of all the
companies surveyed (130), only 15% had rolled out true environmental
action plans, 25% were in the process of crafting theirs, 39% are
vaguely considering their options and 22% have nothing planned at
all. These figures are considered “encouraging” by Forrester, in
particular the growing number of projects in the development phase.
Reducing costs and saving the environment
Predictably, the opportunity to cut costs through greener IT, such
as reducing the company electricity bill, remains the greatest
motivational factor in the implementation of a green action plan
(55% of those questioned). More surprisingly perhaps,
straight-forward concern for ecological issues came runner-up. (50%
of the companies surveyed said they wanted to “do the right thing
for the environment”).
This could be an indication that financial and ecological factors
are working in tandem – a combination which should continue to
propel green computing in 2008.
See the graph below for the top motivations reported to Forrester
for pursuing greener IT operations.
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Question: "What are your organisation's top three motivations for
pursuing greener IT operations?"
Source: October 2007 Global Green IT Online Survey (Forrester)
Note: Respondents listed their three most important motivations
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