Green IT Is Cheaper, European Businesses Catching on to Savings

Dell has sponsored what is the first "Green IT Barometer" survey of the state of green IT. Run by IDC, the survey found that nearly half of European companies have already awoken to how much better it is overall to run data centers and operations efficiently, and are incorporating efficient practices.

A full 34% have plans already in place, and 15% more have plans going up that will be acted upon within two years.

There are, however, obstacles that stand in the way, even after realizing that green is good – and cheap.

What Is Changing In Green IT
There are two areas in which European companies are pushing to go green. The first is compliance with regulations, always a powerful motivator. And the second is the need to save on costs through cutting back on energy use in data centers and operations. Saving money might be an even more powerful motivator than government and industry regulations.

The changes are being seen in areas like virtualization, changing customer and employee behavior, green printing, and green building controls.

What Is Standing In the Way of Green IT
But there are a couple big obstacles. First, there isn’t much industry guidance on just how, where, and by how much to cut back or push forward. Not only is there little industry guidance, but another obstacle is a lack of corporate incentives.

While it’s great to save, it’s also great to be rewarded for getting things done. With little more than a nub of a carrot on the end of a stick, there isn’t much to get people moving. However, with a growing awareness around the need to deal with carbon emissions, energy efficiency, and green image, it is likely that these obstacles will be overcome in the near future.

Via Greener Computing

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The TH Interview: Cassatt's Energy Efficient Software for Data Centers