Going green is just like exercise—knowing you should do it and doing it are two different things. Price is typically sited as the biggest barrier to IT going green, according to a recent survey of more than 3,500 IT decision makers in 11 countries. For example, when the IT decision makers were asked to select the top two barriers to purchasing green hardware for their organizations, they ranked the barriers as:
- Price (38%)
- Disagreement internally/political (25%)
- Efficiency will not offset costs (22%)
- Brands not convincing us of ROI (18%)
- Brands not promoting importance of green products (18%)
- Green products not available (16%)
- No impact on environment (12%)
More than 70% of the IT decision makers said that they would probably or definitely increase their preference for purchasing green products if they were convinced there would be a positive effect on the environment and the business.
These are some of the interesting green computing insights found in a survey conducted by GreenFactor, a joint initiative between Strategic Oxygen, GCI Group, and Cohn & Wolfe to illuminate green marketing opportunities and further green-related research globally. The study looked at more than 20 IT brands to determine the IT decision makers’ perceptions of green IT products and the marketing of those products. In fact, the IT decision makers—a group that consists of CIOs, other C-level executives (CXOs), IT managers, and line of business (LOB) managers—were asked which brands they most associate with green technology. The results indicate that there isn't an IT brand perceived as the sole green leader because there isn't a statistically significant difference between the top seven brands of Apple, HP, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Sony, and Dell.
The IT decision makers were also asked whether their organizations will consider purchasing green versions of laptops, desktops, servers, storage, and network hardware in the next 12 months. More than 70% of the decision makers said they would probably or definitely look for green laptops and desktops. And more than 60% of them said they would probably or definitely look for green servers, storage devices, and network hardware. For the purposes of the study, green products are defined as those products that have efficient power consumption, use recyclable/reusable packaging, have recycling offers for older equipment, use nontoxic materials, or make investments in future green concepts (e.g., alternative materials).
The GreenFactor survey was conducted in first quarter 2008. For more results and information about how the survey was conducted, go to www.greenfactorstudy.com.
