Going green is a hot trend for the business and IT world because it helps the environment and gives companies an excuse for updating their IT managed services. Techcrunch.com talks about how businesses are branching into conservation and what technology advancement steps they are taking to make it happen. By using cloud computing or other virtualization, people can save large amounts of resources and money. Check out a clip of the article below.
The number of American businesses with formal green programs in place increased 54 percent last year according to new research from Buck Consultants (a subsidiary of Xerox). Of about 120 businesses surveyed — including hardware and other technology firms, government offices, consultancies, non-profits, hospitals, and the makers of consumer packaged goods — 69 percent said they took deliberate measures to improve their environmental and social impact in 2010.
What motivated companies to go green, officially?
Fifty-eight percent said they started their programs to create “community goodwill,” and 46 percent said they did so to improve stakeholder perception of their business. During the recession, however, 78 percent of companies with green programs came to view cost savings as the top, desired return on investment.
Over 90 percent of companies realized cost savings as a direct result of their green programs: 78 percent of them saved on electricity, 68 percent on heating and cooling, 68 percent on paper, and 60 percent saved on water. About 9 percent of companies with formal green programs said they failed to save money thanks to their initiatives in 2010.
Spending may have exceeded savings in some cases; big-ticket items like electric vehicles for company fleets, or the installation of solar canopies and rooftops, and building-wide, networked lighting systems that use sensors and LEDs (light emitting diodes) can cost a company in the short-term, for example, but lead to savings on fuel or electricity over the longer term.
Do you think that going green is a good idea? If you were to go green, would your first steps be to reduce your paper usage by investing in an IT cloud infrastructure? Or, would you invest in total virtualization of your business?
