The recession has not impacted the IT sector’s moves towards embracing green IT solutions, according to the Symantec 2009 Green IT Survey out today, with green IT budgets rising and firms willing to pay more upfront for energy-efficient solutions.
The 2009 Green IT survey released by Symantec today shows how IT executives globally are continuing to spend on green IT initiatives, with over 68pc of UK executives expecting to see an increase in green IT budgets over the next 12 months.
Survey data reflects how senior-level IT executives are reporting significant interest in green IT strategies and solutions, but there is a shift from implementing green technologies primarily for cost-reduction purposes to a more balanced awareness of how adopting such a green IT strategy can impact a company’s environmental standing.
According to the survey, 83pc of respondents state they are currently creating or have a green IT strategy, with only 6pc of those surveyed saying they had no plans to introduce such a strategy.
The key drivers for IT decision-makers to go down the green IT route are to: reduce electricity consumption (85pc); reduce cooling costs (82pc); and corporate pressure to be green (84pc).
“Over the past 12 months, IT has emerged as a new driving force in implementing green initiatives, not only for energy-saving benefits, but also as a result of widespread desire to implement environmentally responsible practices,” said Jose Iglesias, vice-president of Global Solutions at Symantec Corporation.
“The pendulum has swung both ways, and IT is now taking a balanced approach that is more integral to an organisation’s ‘green’ strategy, proven by the fact that the vast majority of respondents are now responsible for the energy costs of their data centre.”
While 68pc of IT executives expect an increase in green IT budgets over the next 12 months, 19pc expect increases of more than 10pc.
At the same time, the IT sector is willing to pay a premium for energy-efficient products. Some 57pc said they would pay at least 10pc more, while 40pc are willing to pay at least 20pc more. Additionally, 77pc of respondents said IT product efficiency is either important or very important.
Furthermore, 91pc think IT should play an important role in green efforts, and 82pc have a corporate green advocate, with nearly one-third focusing exclusively on IT initiatives.
In terms of core green IT initiatives, replacing old equipment is the most popular strategy, with 93pc reporting new energy-efficient equipment as part of their strategy, followed by monitoring power consumption (92pc), server virtualisation (93pc) and server consolidation (95pc). Additionally, 49pc of respondents see software-as-a-service offerings as green solutions.
Symantec’s Green IT Survey is the result of research conducted in March 2009 by Applied Research, which surveyed enterprise IT executives, including vice-presidents, directors and C-level IT executives. The study included 1,052 respondents in the US, Canada, France, Italy, the UK, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, New Zealand and China.
To read the green IT report in full, visit: www.symantec.com/content/en/us/about/media/GreenIT09_Report.pdf.
By Carmel Doyle
