IT pros shirking green responsibilities

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Research released today has revealed that most IT professionals have a good idea of where technology can reduce carbon emissions, but few are doing anything about it.

Almost all (98 per cent) of IT professionals questioned about their attitudes to ‘green IT’ said they wanted there organisations to put more carbon reduction schemes into practice.

But the survey, carried out by the Bournemouth University-based Market Research Group on behalf of Parity Training, found only a third are actually doing something to initiate green changes.

Just under half (40 per cent) cited behavioural and cultural change as the greatest barrier to the implementation of green IT programmes. This came ahead of proving the value of a green IT project to the business, as well as the time or cost implications.

The research also revealed misconceptions about the potential for other elements of IT infrastructure to contribute to green strategies.

Most of the 304 IT pros questioned were aware of the importance of power consumption, hardware and cooling in contributing to reducing environmental impact. Despite this, only seven per cent consider IT business management processes an area in which significant improvements can be made.

By contrast, two-thirds of those surveyed thought service management processes were recognised as an area where IT could make a significant difference.

Rick Firth, Parity managing director commented: “It’s important that people have an accurate picture of how IT can contribute to their company’s environmental strategy, and for the overall vision to translate into individuals’ activities.“

He recommended that IT managers implement IT infrastructure library (ITIL) service management standards and training to gain better visibility of how IT-based processes can be streamlined to reduce corporate carbon footprints.

“By retaining only those processes that are most valuable to end users, and making them as efficient as possible, power consumption will be reduced,” he added.

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