New research from networking vendor Brocade has revealed that green IT strategies, and in particular the reduction of power consumption, are more to do with saving money than a desire to be environmentally-friendly.
Over half of the senior IT decision makers quizzed for the survey said that they felt under pressure from their companies to reduce power consumption, with 45% of those blaming the need to reduce operational costs. Only 42% said it was because of green initiatives at the company.
Nearly 80% of respondents said that their companies spent up to a quarter of their total IT budgets on energy-related costs, compared to 44% who said the same when Brocade conducted a similar survey last year.
The survey revealed a worrying lack of coordination between IT departments and facilities management, with nearly 50% of respondents claiming that IT’s energy was not monitored because utility bills were the responsibility of the facilities department.
“Our research shows that facilities management owns the power budget in most cases, but that the IT department isn’t evaluating its power draw and effect on the organisation’s bottom line. But in these difficult economic times, with every line item being placed under scrutiny, the IT function must play its part and collaborate with facilities management to address rising utility bills,” said Paul Phillips, Sales Director for UK and Ireland at Brocade.
The research also suggests that energy efficiency is an increasingly important factor in IT purchasing decisions. Power consumption is now rated the fifth most important factor, after interoperability, performance, price and brand recognition.
“When we conducted this survey in 2008, ‘Green IT’ was seen as marketing hype but as this year’s research indicates businesses view it as a strategic concern,” said Ulrich Plechschmidt, VP EMEA at Brocade.
However, higher costs associated with energy efficient products was listed by 28% as a barrier to green IT adoption, followed by lack of knowledge (22%), lack of viable platforms (17%) and a lack of enthusiasm from management (15%).
The research quizzed 1,050 senior IT decision makers across the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, BeNeLux, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Dubai and North America.
