What is Green Computing or Green IT?
Bill Gates predicted many years ago of a PC in every home. He was widely considered to be simply promoting an unlikely scenario with the aim of boosting Microsoft's profits. However, how right he truly was. Not just at home but also virtually every commercial organisation of any size is heavily reliant upon IT. At home there is little we can do regarding our use of IT, other than not leaving our PC's switched on uneccessarily, but for organisations there is massive scope for affecting energy use, recycling, the public image, and profits through adopting a green approach to IT.
Why Do I Need A Green IT Strategy?
IT Executives are at last coming under increasing pressure to deliver a Green IT or Green Computing Strategy. Executive boards are finally recognising there can be a genuine competitive advantage in adopting green issues and signing up to a low carbon emissions footprint and this is not a policy only for do-gooders or those with little other commercial pressures. Having a Green IT Strategy can directly affect the view of the organisations customers. Customers will clearly continue to evaluate suppliers based on product/service offerings and their costs, however, if all else is equal, then choosing a supplier with a low carbon policy can be a key differentiator. Most people do want to support green issues and adopting suppliers with low-carbon strategies helps buyers to feel good about their decisions.
Green IT also brings with it direct cost benefits for the organisation, making it an easier sell to the more sceptical boards of directors. With a Green Computing or IT Strategy we can reduce equipment, power, air-conditioning, and support costs. This applies throughout the enterprise not just in data-centres or our server rooms but desktop computers as well.
Let's look at some objectives we might want to achieve through adopting a Green IT Strategy...
Core Objectives of