Does Green It Matter?

Does Green IT Matter?

Edwin Ding

Agenda  Does Green IT Really Matter?  Green Success Stories  Today’s Take Aways:  Green Metric  Determining ROI of Green IT  Green IT Solutions & Action Plan

 Conclusion

Does Green IT Really Matter?  Green IT movement was nothing more than a clever marketing ploy  Green IT overpitched by vendors  Al Gore preaches it. HP, IBM, Sun and other tech giants sell it. And a good number of businesses are buying into it.  Green IT: Buzzword or strategy?

Does Green IT Really Matter?  In February’07, the UNIPCC released a summary of its Fourth Assessment Report. In the opinion of the UNIPCC there is more than a 90% certainty that global warming is occurring and caused by man's burning of fossil fuels.

Does Green IT Really Matter?  UNIPCC’s report also shows that Global warming in this case is said to be demonstrated by an increase of 0.75 degrees Celsius in average global temperatures over the last 100 years. It is now widely accepted that the activities carried out in pursuit of our daily lives are rapidly warming the climate to the detriment of habitation and the global climate.

Does Green IT Really Matter?  Analyst firm Gartner calculates that the IT and communications sector is responsible for approximately 2% of all global carbon dioxide emissions, the same amount as aviation, an industry vilified by environmentalists.

Does Green IT Really Matter?  The WWF published a report in May 2008 which shows how IT can contribute to one billion tons of CO2 reductions.

Does Green IT Really Matter?  Venture Capitalists Bullish on Greentech and Biotech, KPMG Study Says  Venture capitalists will largely direct their investments to the greentech industries in the coming years, according to a recent survey by the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG LLP.  When asked to identify the industry sectors that would receive the most capital over the next two years, 24 percent indicated greentech/cleantech, which was followed by biotech/ pharmaceuticals at 15 percent, Internet services at 13 percent, and mobile technology was cited by 11 percent.

Does Green IT Really Matter?  WSJ reports on the trend toward cost-saving green technology, especially in data centers.  A survey done by CIOInsight shows that half of the companies are launching green initiatives, and most say they’re doing it out of environmental concerns— not just the bottom line. When asked about their motivations for launching green strategies, 74 percent of IT executives claim environmental concerns. Following closely behind, though, at 73 percent, is cost savings.

Does Green IT Really Matter?  Biz-Tech 3.0’s Future of IT survey: when asked which technological developments will have the biggest impact in the next five to 10 years, IT execs overwhelmingly pointed to green IT. And the total (47 percent) spiked dramatically from 2007 (32 percent).  According to the Forrester report, as of October’08, 38% of IT professionals said their companies use environmental criteria in their evaluation and selection of IT equipment. Just six months ago that number was 25%. Cast a look six months prior to that, and the current shift is dramatic.

Does Green IT Really Matter?  Green IT tops Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technologies list for 2008, as defined by Gartner, they are technologies that could disrupt IT or business in the next 18 to 36 months if adopted too late. In other words, these technologies carry a high potential to shake up your job, big time, with comments from Gartner analyst Carl Claunch  A new EPA report shows that data centers in the United States have the potential to save up to $4 billion in annual electricity costs through more energy efficient equipment and operations, and the broad implementation of best management practices.

Does Green IT Really Matter?

Green Success Stories

Green Metrics  Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), which is known as the Green Grid standard. This measurement determines the effectiveness of your IT facilities by measuring the energy used by the IT equipment as well as the ancillary equipment.

 Total Facility Power (TFP) is the power being provided to the IT Facility / Data Centre  Total IT Equipment Power (IEP) is the power used by the IT equipment in the Data Centre such as Storage equipment, Servers, Networking equipments, Desktop, Laptops, KVM Switches, and Display Units etc.

Green Success Stories

Green IT Solutions & Action Plan  The low-hanging fruit  Measure your organisational carbon footprint using a recognised business CO2 calculator, allowing for further benchmarking, and success measurement of green initiatives undertaken.  Do not leave hardware on standby overnight, particular hardware items such as monitor, printers, and even chargers, have high-energy consumption rates even when idle.  Computers should be turned to standby (or ‘sleep’ mode), and monitors turned completely off when employees are away from their desks for a period of time. Screen savers should also be prohibited.

Green IT Solutions & Action Plan  Printers should be set to default to double sided, and employees encouraged in limiting their printing to only where it is necessary.  Recycling initiatives implemented where possible, particularly for items which can easily be reused such as printer cartridges, etc.  Where possible, the lifespan of hardware should be increased, if your firm normally upgrades PCs every two years, try increasing this to four years. The energy consumed in producing a PC is the equivalent to several years' use.

Green IT Solutions & Action Plan  Medium-term goals  Analyse organisation energy bills in order to gauge success of measures implemented.  From your own organisational benchmarks on energy consumption, analysis of potential suppliers’ environmental attitude, or the efficiency of prospective equipment purchases can be calculated. Use standards like Energy Star, EPEAT, which indicate governmental and private sector accepted environmental assessments on electronic goods, specifically IT equipment.

Green IT Solutions & Action Plan  Check the green credentials of all suppliers, and consider moving to a more environmentally friendly supplier. A change of energy supplier to a more environmentally friendly provider can prove to be a highly successful strategy; an incumbent telecommunications organisation hit their 60% reduction target (one million tonnes) of CO2 emitted within 10 years, by switching. This allowed them to hit their environmental targets far earlier than anticipated.  Revise procurement criteria and study suppliers' sustainability practices, favouring those with the greenest products and services.

Green IT Solutions & Action Plan  Favour products with smaller total carbon footprint in the manufacturing, packaging and distribution. Study supplier evaluations from third parties such as Greenpeace.  Put incentives and performance goals in place for teams and individuals within the organisation, to encourage them to conform to green practices and principles.  Assess potential for remote working, and reduce staff travel by introducing video conferencing, more remote staff and home working. Staff travel is a major creator of carbon emissions, and its reduction can greatly improve your carbon footprint.  Build measuring and management tools that, for example remotely turn off hardware if it has been left unused for a period of time.

Green IT Solutions & Action Plan  Long-term goals:  Virtualization & Consolidation of data centres and upgrading to more energy efficient servers. Most current applications only run at peak workload a fraction of the time, and average utilisation of datacentre capacity is between 5 and 10%. Server consolidation is where huge reductions in running costs can be achieved.  Gain certification with ISO14001 the Environmental Management Standard. Conformity to this internationally recognised standard designates a rigorous environmental model is followed by the organisation, acting as a superb indicator of your green credentials to stakeholders and potential vendors.

Green IT Does Matter  ROI of Green IT where ecology meets economy.  Moral Imperative. Ethical Obligation. Global Duty.  Sustainable Development for our future, our children.

Conclusion  The urgency of environmental damage control on our very planet.  Rising energy cost, diminishing supply and increased regulatory scrutiny.  The Triple Bottom Line approach that contribute to sustainable development is shaping the industry. As organizations begin to evaluate the true cost of going green, they begin to realize that the biggest advantage of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility is the cost reductions associated with it.  In the end, that's not a bad thing or even a cynical ploy. After all, doing good while doing well is a worthy goal for any company.

Thank You