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April 9, 2008 
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The State of the Art in Sustainable IT
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Sustainable Business Strategy Should Drive Green IT
Smart businesses are adopting green strategies to drive shareholder value (about 75% of firms with $10 billion in revenues now have a sustainability policy in place, according to The Economist's count). What does this have to do with green IT? Everything.
If your business has green ambitions, so should IT. To quote management guru Michael Porter: "Every firm is a collection of activities that are performed to design, produce, market, deliver, and support its product. [Activities] generate cost and create value for buyers; they are the basic units of competitive advantage."IT is one of Porter's essential business activities. And with green business on the rise, every activity across a firm's value chain is subject to "greening." We at Forrester like to say, "In the past, your business depended on technology. Now, your business is embodied in technology." This means two things for the role of IT: As always, IT is still a "solid utility" expected to support the business. But going forward, IT is also expected to be a "partner player" to drive business innovation and growth. Green IT is a poignant example of this symbiotic relationship. If your business has stated green objectives, translate them into actionable goals that green IT can support. If your business has yet to take on green goals, IT should take a leadership role and make the first move. So how can you leverage green IT for competitive advantage? Watch this space... ~Doug Washburn, SLM Advisor What do you think? Post Your Comment Here! This Week's Top Stories... New Ecos Desktop 70% More Efficient than Energy Star Standard 
Researchers at Ecos, an energy-efficiency consulting firm, have built an office desktop that consumes up to 70% less energy than Energy Star-labeled computers - no fancy electronics required. The machine uses only technologies that are currently available. Read more...
Climate Savers Backs EPA's Energy Star Specs for Green IT 
The business-led Climate Savers Computing Initiative has chosen the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star certification as its baseline technical recommendation for energy-efficient computer equipment. Over the next three years, the two groups will collaborate on technical specifications and work together to promote the adoption of Energy Star-certified PCs and servers. Read more...
Array Networks' New AppVelocity Platform Uses 60% Less Power 
Array Networks is touting the energy-efficiency of its new line of application delivery controllers - datacenter network devices that reduce load on web servers by taking over some of the functions commonly performance by websites. The company's AppVelocity products reduce network bandwidth by 30% while using 60% less energy. Read more...
Purchasing Departments Hold More Sway over Green IT Decisions 
Attention IT managers: It may be time to cozy up to your company's purchasing department. As more businesses adopt green procurement policies, these executives will have an increasing role in selecting IT equipment and vendors based on environmental performance, according to Forrester's "Five Green IT Trends That Will Impact the IT Infrastructure and Operations Professional." Read more...
HP Snags EPEAT Gold Rating for Entire Workstation Line 
Hewlett-Packard's line of personal workstations has become the first in the category to achieve the coveted Gold rating from the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). With the addition of the workstations, HP now has the largest number of EPEAT Gold-registered products in the industry. Read more...
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Five Ways IT Can Help Your Business Save Energy 
Huge cuts can be made to bills and emissions with technology already at our disposal. (ClimateChangeCorp) Read more...
Jonathan Steel on Green IT 
Jonathan Steel, CEO of technology analysts The Bathwick Group, offers his take on the state of green IT and energy consumption. (Smart Planet) Read more...
Top Headlines from Other SLM Channels Office Depot Launches Green Office Products Line Tiny Fuel Cells Headed for a Greener Gadget Near You Report: Smartest Companies Have Greenest Supply Chains HP Releases New CSR Report, Names Top Suppliers Companies, Beware of "Radical Greening" Dell Powers Global HQ with 100% Renewable Energy Half of Wal-Mart Suppliers Still Foot-Dragging on Packaging Scorecard CFOs See Business Value in Sustainability, But Question Metrics Xerox's New Online Calculator Shows Business Benefits of Eco-Efficiency Who’s New This Week! Find Peers and Partners If you haven’t already joined the fastest growing online sustainable business community, create a profile now and start connecting. Advertise on SLM! Become a Sustainable Life Media advertiser or sponsor and reach thousands of business leaders looking for product or service solutions to help them build their sustainability story. Click here to learn more. Have a story you want told? Send it to us! |
This work is licensed under a CreativeCommons License. Copyright Sustainable Life Media Inc. 2008
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