How Organization Adopting Green IT - Essay Example

How organization adopting Green IT Contents Why are Organizations adopting Green IT? 3 2.Legal and Ethical aspects of Green IT 7 3.Goals Organizations set for Green IT 8 4.PESTEL analysis for Green IT 9 Reference 12 1. Why are Organizations adopting Green IT? Being one of the emerging concepts in IT management, “Green IT” practices have been drawing a lot of interest from the IT organisations, manufacturers, service providers and suppliers. Green IT refers to making IT systems more energy-efficient and reducing the environmental damages that are associated with IT. With increasing volume of verification representing potential ROI from Green IT approaches, the leading organisations are implementing innovative solutions which reduce the utility bills and make the procurement procedure greener(CGI, 2010, p.1). As the public concern for climate changes and sustainable growth tends to intensify; most of the mid-sized organizations are taking a deeper look at green IT initiatives. A groundswell of advancement of technology is collectively contributing towards a smaller planet, enabling the mid-sized organizations to re-think about the ways in which they operate and thus compete by using leaner, more flexible and resilient computing systems in order to drive business. Reduction in carbon footprints and energy costs along with management complexity has also made it easier to achieve green IT goals. Computing capabilities, which were once considered to be the exclusive domain of the large enterprises, now acts as mainstreams and the mid-sized companies are investing mainly on intelligent tools which not just help to maintain competitive advantage and improve business agility but also contribute directly to the bottom line. Companies can leverage green IT initiatives in order to cut utility costs and take benefit of e-policy programs. Adhering to environmental laws and making the right decisions can have further impact on future success (IBM, n.d). The Global IT market is facing various challenges and among them, the most intriguing development is “Green IT.” From hardware recycling and reduced energy consumption to minimised packaging, companies are adopting ways to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Messages regarding “Green IT” solutions resonate with business owners, consumers and with everyone associated with IT and thus, it is not surprising to see that all the attention is being given to Green IT developments. Many reasons because of which organisations have adopted the Green IT are fairly intuitive but, at the same time, some are not so obvious. Energy saving can be obtained by using systems which require less power. In the current situation of rising costs, it becomes important for all organisations to take note of the benefits which organisations can avail with embedded processors which are much more power efficient. Thus the companies and the suppliers which want to compete in the industries should move up to more Green IT solutions. In addition to the direct benefits, various indirect issues are also driving organisation towards Green IT. Most important among these are the end consumers and the business partners who prefer organisations which have clearly stated policies on environment friendliness. The “green friendliness” has become an item on the checklist of some bids as the customers want suppliers to become more environmental friendly. Some of the broad factors that motivate the organisations to adopt the “Green IT” include the objectives to address the challenge of energy efficiency; and; to address the challenge of system management. Businesses and consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the threats related to energy. Stories related to global warming have heightened the awareness regarding energy consumption and also created awareness about carbon credits, consumption and other energy related issues. As a result, organisations are paying more attention to energy costs along with consumption of power by the devices being used in the organisation. Advances in management of devices can translate into savings, mainly for those organisations which have hundreds or thousands of devices. Similarly, the consumers are also demanding eco-friendly products from the IT companies. Thus, by using products which are energy efficient and with better and greener technology, companies can create better reputation and a green story of their own organisation (IDC, 2009). It has been observed that mostly the mid-sized organisations have been adopting the Green IT initiative. According to a survey, more than 60% of the companies have realised the benefits derived from Green IT and have adopted it. In the order of popularity, organisations have adopted Green IT mainly because of the following reasons: Decreased use of electricity Decreased consumption To increase functionality and features Decrease investment and expenses Meet up with the customers’ demand Realize credits or rebates (Info-Tech, n.d, p.4) Figure 1: Benefits from “Green IT” (Source: Info-Tech, n.d) Given above is an example of Infosys showcasing the adoption of “Green IT” in monitoring and controlling their carbon footprints along with developing and finding Green IT solutions? Such solutions aim to bring in the needed robustness in managing energy requirements of data centres, servers and networks. Infosys has adopted smart IT solutions such as IT virtualisation outsourcing and consolidation which has improved utilisation of resources and thereby reduced operational costs. Green IT initiatives have won Infosys “InfoWorld 100 award.” Infosys had initiated sustainable overhaul based on its “blade server rollouts, server and storage consolidation and virtualisation.” The company has leveraged the blade technology and virtualisation in order to consolidate about 200 servers. The project had transformed the legacy IT infrastructure to “green IT” system which has helped the company to achieve energy saving, pre-empted investment and reduction in carbon footprint. Green IT initiative has benefited Infosys in many ways that are both operational and financial. The operational benefits have helped in streamlining the IT infrastructure management, reduced cost of IT manpower, high reliability as well as availability of virtual infrastructure and rearrangement of IT teams. The financial benefits obtained by Infosys include the fact that it has managed to save direct cost of US $130,000 which accounted to annual savings of US $70,000 and annual energy savings up to US $ 100,000 (Infosys, 2013). Therefore it can be concluded that with the adoption of Green IT, organisations can reduce the environmental footprints and generate cost savings in the use of energy, purchase, support and management along with environmental benefits. Besides, some of the initiatives might address the stakeholders along with their needs and demands. 2. Legal and Ethical aspects of Green IT Environmental legislation along with governing bodies tends to have greater enforcing power as compared to social opinions. For instance, in Australia, it is legally compulsory for organisations to emit more than 150 KT of carbon in order to calculate as well as report to the government on an annual basis. The legal requirements make it mandatory for the organisations to comply with the requirements of carbon emission forcing companies to implement environmental measures within its business. Therefore development of environmentally responsible strategy is undertaken to guarantee organisation compliance with legal requirements (Unhelkar, 2011, p. 50). Green IT ethics are meant to provide guidelines through which interpretation of the right and wrong can be derived. The ethical code of conduct needs to be highlighted on seven areas which include efficiency, effectiveness, integrity, confidentiality, availability, reliability and compliance as the organisation proceeds with Green IT. A green IT code of conduct has the potential to support and augment the behaviours and expectations of the employees and also in consulting professionals and organisations which subscribe to the code of conduct. Honesty in reporting and communication is another important area wherein Green IT ethical code of conduct would be useful. The need and requirements is to understand the terminologies like renewable energy, energy efficiency and others such as carbon neutral. Ethics along with code of conduct for Green IT can control activities such as misinformation and bring clarity, resulting in trust and reliability, into green data; knowledge and information. Thus, from an ethical point, Green IT should ensure the transformation of the organisation into green organisation, which would contribute towards society as well as human beings. The process of green transformation ensures ongoing fulfilment while evaluating the IT systems, analysing the risks and considering their impacts. It is significant to foster trust among the professionals, consumers and users with respect to Green IT. A publicized ethical code of conduct goes a long way in maintaining and establishing high ethical standards within the promising area (Unhelkar, 2011, p. 260). 3. Goals Organizations set for Green IT For organisations going for Green IT, initial goals are primarily to reduce carbon footprints, reduce cost and save substantial investments which would eventually help the world become a better place, free from hazardous environmental problems. Every organisation tends to work towards a common goal to increase environmental sustainability in order to reduce use of energy along with carbon footprint throughout the ICT lifecycle. Green IT refers to the study of designing, using, manufacturing and disposing the computer servers effectively and efficiently with no or minimal harmful impact on the environment. Thus, the main goal of organisations is to become more energy efficient and contribute in reducing the energy dependence of the country. On the other hand, with global warming being the most prominent environmental issue, it has become increasingly common for organisations to set up goals to reduce carbon emission. Beyond carbon emission, organisations have sensibly identified the goals which are related to major ecological impacts or even to their business. Given the prime attention which e-waste seems to attract, electronic manufacturers like Dell and HP have set up electronics recycling goals. Companies, which are into service and manufacture products, tend to set goals with regard to the environmental impact which their customers face while using the product or the service. Another important goal of “Green IT” is to promote recycling, and in the process, organisations and individuals make several positive contributions such as avoiding dumping of harmful components through landfill sites. Mercury and lead are both involved in the manufacturing process of computer hardware. Salvaging as well as re-using the parts can help to reduce the cost involved in new manufacturing. Controlling cost is among the strongest factors which drive all the initiatives. Under the cost saving initiative, organisations tend to benefit from four factors as shown in figure 1. Therefore, goal of organisations to implement Green IT are mainly due to various reasons, but mainly, organisations implement them because of energy efficiency and reduction of cost. In the process of setting goals, it is essential to know where in the organisation the goals are actually set. Some of the organisations take it in the top down approach where the goals are officially set by the CEO and other top management. Other organisation sets it through bottom up approach. Dell is an example which follows bottom up approach. It sets up sustainability goals in regards to science and takes inputs from engineering teams along with product road maps from its partners (Green Research, 2012). Companies going for “Green IT” should consider that most of the green IT implementation has been successful. Companies have adopted initiatives such as remote conferencing, storage consolidation and telecommunication projects, all of which yield immediate reduction in cost and also reduction in environmental footprint. In about 65% of the Green IT projects, the initial goals of the organisations have been met or exceeded. It can also be said that businesses accomplish the goal they set out and also realise the additional benefits which were unexpected (Info-Tech, n.d). 4. PESTEL analysis for Green IT Organisations adopting Green IT have the potential to derive various benefits but predominantly they will improve sustainable operation, reputation and reduce costs. The key factors of Green IT include political, environmental, social and legal factors and it will act as forefront of organisations’ willingness and thus promote it as a modern day and conscientious organisation. Organisations today are seeking to have Green credentials acknowledged publicly. Countries which are encouraging organisations to adopt the Green IT initiatives follow certain policies along with certain goals and objectives pertaining to Green IT. Every country is encouraging practice of Green IT and enjoying the benefits earned from it. Government of UK and EU legislation has laid out certain policies along with goals and objectives with regard to adoption of Green IT, which include, “Eco Design of energy using the product, restriction of dangerous substances, energy performance of building directives and regulation of UK, Code of conduct of EU, ISO14001, BSI PAS 2050, EPEAT, Energy star” and others (QA, 2013). Various countries interpreted the need to reduce carbon footprint. Such variations are usually based on various factors such as demographics, physical location, and public opinion, political will of the government (Unhelkar, 2011, p.228). The economic value along with the cost benefit of Green IT can be realised in many different ways. In the past few years’ businesses felt the negative impact of the economic climate. The superiors in the organisations have surveyed that the businesses go for willingly attainable cost savings in order to compensate for the already decided and tightened budgets, along with profit margins. The IT departments are on the hunt for new initiatives which would trim down costs without compromising on the business value. Most of the organisations have discovered that the initiatives of Green IT tend to offer cost saving benefits, and, in the mean time, reform the organisation, meet with the demands of stakeholders and comply with all the rules and regulations (Info-Tech, n.d). In consideration of social factors, the consumers, along with the business partners, are increasingly looking for organisations which work towards sustainable development of the environment. Organisations, thus feeling the pressure from the customers and stakeholders, have begun to make improvements in their environmental performance and have recognised that if they are not able to deliver effectively, it will translate into negative impact on the profit of the organization. Technology plays an important part in Green IT. Organisations which have adopted the Green IT initiative have successfully implemented new technology. Servers like consolidation and virtualization, storage consolidation have helped to improve cost benefits as well as increase energy efficiency. Green IT itself suggests technology which has the opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint as well as costs. The main purpose for adopting “Green IT” is to protect the environment and to bring in sustainability to the environment. Most of the mid-sized organisations have realised the importance of Green IT and have adopted the processes through which carbon footprints are reduced to a very large extent. With global warming and other environmental factors at rise, it has become increasingly essential for the organisations to do something which will help save the earth. Thus, Green IT is a step towards sustainability of the environment leading to efficient use of energy and reducing carbon footprint. Reference CGI, 2010. Emerging Trends in Green IT. [Pdf]. Available at: < http://www.cgi.com/files/white-papers/cgi_whpr_84_emerging_trends_green_it_e.pdf> [Accessed 16 Feb. 13] Green Research, 2012. Setting Goals for Environmental Performance. [Online]. Available at: < http://greenresearch.com/2011/04/29/setting-goals-for-environmental-performance/> [Accessed 18 Feb.13] IDC, 2009. The Benefits of Adopting Green IT across Vertical Industries. [Pdf]. Available at: http://communities.intel.com/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/3326-102-1-5478/The_Benifits_of_Adopting_Green_IT_Across_Vertical_Industries.pdf > [Accessed 18 Feb. 13] IMB, No Date. Green IT initiatives offer a framework for growth, efficiency. [Online]. Available at: < http://www-304.ibm.com/businesscenter/cpe/html0/195802.html> [Accessed 16 Feb. 13] Infosys, 2013. Product Engineering. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.infosys.com/engineering-services/product-engineering/Pages/infoworld100-award-greenIT.aspx> [Accessed 18 Feb. 13] QA, 2013. ISEB Foundation Certificate in Green IT for Lecturers. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 18 Feb. 13] Unhelkar, B., 2011. Green IT Strategies and Applications: Using Environmental Intelligence. Taylor & Francis US. Read More