Green IT hits the CIO radar

Adoption of eco-friendly computing is fast emerging as a priority for technology decision makers. A report by independent market analyst Datamonitor, 2008 Trends to Watch: Green IT, predicts a surge in CIO interest and vendor initiatives in the green IT space.

It reveals that tighter regulatory measures and advances in technology are feeding renewed interest in green IT. In an independent survey conducted by Datamonitor, over 75% of respondent firms considered eco-friendly computing as an important element in their IT strategy and 15% rated it as their top IT priority.

“Green IT is now being driven as much by an element of business strategy as by a sense of corporate social responsibility,” said Vamshi Mokshagundam, technology analyst at Datamonitor and the report’s author.

“Whilst green IT practices such as energy-efficient hardware, hosted infrastructure and data centre virtualisation have all been around for a while now, it is only recently that companies have begun incorporating green IT in their core business strategy. Datamonitor’s survey shows that one in five firms have incorporated the green IT agenda in their business strategy, while a further third are set to roll out a similar strategy within the next two years.”