A: To begin with, simple logic works best. IT organisations can and should look at practices that are really environmentally-friendly. Rising energy costs and recent legislation surrounding energy efficiency, toxic materials and green house gases are enough reasons to go Green. However, in order for ‘Green IT’ to make business sense, the initiative must be environmentally effective and economically efficient. Many CIOs wonder if this is hype around ‘eco-friend liness’ or do Green IT benefits really include potential cos savings and improved financial performance. Ultimately it is the return on investment (ROI) that drives a technology decision.

Over the last year, many end-user IT organisations have tried to leverage Green IT concepts to deliver value to their businesses. In fact, it has become an excellent opportunity for IT organisations to be role models for other function in the company. By incorporating Green into company’ culture, IT can transform from a service organisation into an enabler of business strategy and contributor to business results.

A: In many organisations, Green IT typically starts as a project - often focusing on the data centre with server virtualization and consolidation being the priorities. This is partly due to the quick ROI that can be delivered in these initiatives.

Green IT stretches beyond data center optimization and touches different aspects like unified communications, end-user computing and every other part of the IT infrastructure. It is about managing all of our projects and services mindful of energy and environmental impact. It must encompass our supplier relationships, roadmaps and technology lifecycle.

Green IT is not a project that has a specific end date, but a program that will need to continue over the years to unlock additional opportunities. IT organisations will have more success if Green IT strategies are a part of standard operating procedures. So, a CIO has to carefully select areas to work upon and not take it as ‘one’ project to be completed with a timeline.

A: Let’s take it one by one. To start with, CIOs can look at data centre optimization and build a foundation to go green. Improvement in cooling systems, better airflow through hot aisle/cold aisle alignment and selfcontained micro-environments can go a long way to reducing energy consumption. A reduction in the firm’s electricity bill is usually the most tangible and easiest green IT goal to calculate.

Secondly, without hampering your existing hardware and resources is to look at server virtualization. As part of  your server refresh cycle, consider using virtualization technologies for your future needs. Virtual servers are cost effective in development, testing and staging environments and they can be deployed much faster than new physical machines. Many production applications and services such as print services, floating license servers, intranet portals and many mid-tier applications can be moved easily into the virtualised environment.

Yet another effective way of looking at green IT is storage consolidation. Moving from direct-attached storage to centralised network attached storage (NAS) or storage area network (SAN) solutions offers optimised assignment of storage space to the applications. The newer storage solutions are more energy friendly and enable technologies such as data de-duplication that directly contribute to green IT goals.

A: End-user computing is often at very low priority for green IT initiatives. Perhaps because the cost of that energy is often distributed across departments and the per device energy requirements are low compared with the cooling and computing systems in data centers. But in large organisations, the collective energy used by end user devices is often greater than the energy used in a data centre.

There are several ways to reduce the energy requirements of end user devices as part of your technology lifecycle. Refreshing your PCs every three years with more energy efficient CPUs will not only help reduce electricity consumption, but also result in higher computing power and thus improved employee productivity. You can further reduce energy requirements by implementing more aggressive hibernation settings. Phasing out CRT monitors for LCD monitors provides better ergonomics, more usable desk space and lower energy consumption.

The introduction of technologies such as CAD Blades can enable desktop virtualization capability, moving the computing power from the end-user device to the data centre. This can allow end users to use standard laptops or desktops instead of CAD workstations.

A: Very interesting! A lot of energy is used in printers, faxes, scanners and copiers that often proliferate in a workplace. Not often the IT departments look into these smaller yet energy-guzzlers. Organisations can reduce  costs; streamline maintenance and lower energy consumption by consolidating these functions into multifunctional devices (MFD). The MFD’s also offer many opportunities to reduce printing through double- sided printing, option of secure print and detailed reporting that will allow IT to look for opportunities to further reduce printing and conserve paper. You can achieve additional cost flexibility with MFDs by moving to a managed services model for document management based on service-level agreements. CIOs can also look at technologies and solutions such as Unified Communications and Telecommuting. Deployment of solid telecommuting infrastructure with voice and video over IP can create a virtualised work environment. Many companies are aggressively adopting the drop-in centre concept. Under this arrangement, certain types of workers typically do not have an assigned office space. They use a shared workspace while in office and predominantly work from outside of the office. Telecommuting arrangements enable employees to have flexible work locations, reduce facility costs and save fossil fuels in addition to improving employee work-life balance. Such telecommuting programmes should be backed by comprehensive human resource (HR) policies and enabling technologies.

A: You’re right. Green IT isn’t just about the technology; it is also about employee behaviour. Creating a culture of  thinking green can help employees remember to minimise printing and turn off the PC and monitor when not in use. Employee education and awareness through newsletters, e-mail campaigns, new e-mail signatures promoting “green,” help maintain awareness. Activities like recognising ‘worst printer in the building’ also help change behaviour.

Another factor is extending these practices up and down the value chain - from suppliers to customers. Change your procurement criteria and policies so that green products and green suppliers are encouraged. If your sourcing strategy involves outsourcing part of IT activities, consider Socially Responsible Outsourcing (SRO). Outsourced vendor selection criteria can include factors such as vendor’s reputation on their social responsibility in the industry and their ability to demonstrate adoption of “greener” methods in service delivery.