Small Business IT Survey, Highlights Preference of Green Technology
Hong Kong, China - (The Hosting News) - January 31, 2008 - Global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for information, telecommunications, and consumer technology, IDC, has released the initial results of its ongoing Asia/Pacific Green Poll.
An end-user surveys assessing the buying behavior of IT executives with respect to Green IT, the study highlights that awareness and adoption of Green IT does vary a great deal depending on the maturity of the market. However, it is becoming clear across the board that end-users will be expecting vendors to take more responsibility in terms of bringing ‘Green’ products and services to market as well as improving their own internal ‘Green’ operations and practices in the future.
Philip Carter, Head of IDC’s Asia/Pacific Green IT practice, noted, ”It is interesting to see that IT executives are expecting vendors to take more responsibility in the area of Green IT. This is validated by the fact that 81% of organizations thought that the Greenness of their IT suppliers would become ‘much more important’ over the next few years. Today, 18% of the organizations surveyed considered the greenness of the IT suppliers before making a selection and another 30% expected to do so in the near future.”
Organizations in the more developed economies are looking to integrate ‘green requirements’ into ‘requests for proposals’ for procurement of IT products and services. In Japan for example, more than half (52%) of the organizations surveyed indicated that this is already part of their procurement process. The fact that this approach is still emerging in other countries highlights the varied adoption with regards to ‘Green IT ‘ in the region.
Also important for vendors is the fact that IT executives will be looking at their internal Green policies and practices. The Green Poll highlights that 70% of organizations across the region regard this as either rather important or very important. So for vendors, Green IT is not just about putting an energy efficient product on the shelf it is about having a Green supply chain, initiating recycling programs, and reducing internal carbon footprints.
M. Carter added, ”In most cases, the first phase of the adoption of Green IT will be about ‘Lean IT’ focusing on improving energy efficiency of IT equipment within the data center to reduce costs in the face of rising electricity costs. Initiatives like recycling, e-waste guidelines and paper management, which are perceived to have less of an impact on the bottom line, will not be focal points until sustainability is accepted as part of standard business practice. We also see governments increasingly playing a key role here in the region by way of introducing regulations for energy efficiency and e-waste to expedite organizations down this path.”
In emerging economies, it is very clear that cost savings is the primary driver for investment in Green IT, while the more developed economies like Australia, New Zealand and Japan are beginning to understand that corporate social responsibility will increasingly play a key role as the focus on sustainability becomes more prevalent. For now, however, the Green Poll has highlighted that the majority of the organizations do not currently have a Green Policy within their IT departments in place, which means that putting ‘Green’ into practice has not moved into mainstream yet.
Hence, the key takeaway for vendors is the need to ensure that they are making a business case for Green IT in the context of reducing cost in the short term. However, further down the line, as governments become more active in terms of regulating this area, IDC expects the broader notions of corporate social responsibility and sustainability to become increasingly important and drive both growth and financial benefits in this market.
IDC is a global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 900 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 90 countries worldwide. For more than 43 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company.
To learn more, please visit: www.idc.com.
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