20 Nov 2008

Businesses could adopt greener IT practices, expert says

IT firms could become greener as a result of the economic downturn as they look to improve their financial efficiency, an expert has suggested.

According to Michael Dean, group marketing manager at the National Computing Centre, businesses will have an economical motive - rather than just a green motive - to improve their technological infrastructure.

Mr Dean believes it is likely that many organisations will be able to identify under-used assets and reduce their IT overheads, as the difficult financial climate continues to promote improved budgeting.

"We are likely to see better asset management - companies reviewing what hardware and software they are paying for and who is actually using it," he said.

The trend could lead to more IT businesses considering green technologies such as virtualisation and cloud computing, which have been shown to cut costs as well as reduce emissions and energy usage in data centres.

Some 60 per cent of respondents to a recent survey by Kyocera Mita said that the economic pressure caused by increased fuel prices will encourage businesses to become more energy efficient.