As VP and CIO at United Technologies Corp. (UTC), John Doucette thought he had heard every complaint. But getting blamed for trash, as he was during a PC refresh four years ago, was something new. “At every business review, the guy who managed waste would say that he was over target,” Doucette remembers, “and he’d blame me.” Hardly surprising, considering that every computer arrives in a box, wrapped in plastic or packed with styrofoam peanuts, among other packaging. “You don’t realize how much trash is left behind,” he says.So Doucette vowed that the next technology refresh would be boxless. He’s in the process of deploying 33,000 computers at 700 sites, and three-quarters of them will be shipped box-free. He’ll use the rest of the boxes to send old computers back to his vendor, CSC.Here’s how the process works: Computer maker Dell ships the computers to a middleman, who removes and reuses the packaging. The middleman installs about 60 percent of the hard drive’s image on the UTC systems and puts them in specially designed crates, then ships them to UTC. UTC completes the software installation.The process isn’t waste-free yet. Keyboards and mice are too delicate to be shipped in their birthday suits. But still, Doucette’s efforts have saved significant time, money and resources. (CSC has incorporated the savings into UTC’s contract.) “Smaller and less is better from everyone’s perspective. From a waste standpoint, a cost standpoint, with the cost of raw materials going up, our focus is on making this process less wasteful.” Related content brandpost Sponsored by FPT Software Time for New Partnership Paradigms to Be Future-fit By Veronica Lew Dec 06, 2023 5 mins Vendors and Providers brandpost Sponsored by BMC Why CIOs should prioritize AIOps in 2024 AIOps empowers IT to manage services by incorporating AI/ML into operations. By Jeff Miller Dec 06, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership opinion Generative AI in enterprises: LLM orchestration holds the key to success In the dynamic landscape of AI, LLMs represent a pivotal breakthrough. Unlike traditional AI, which demands frequent data updates, LLMs possess the ability to learn and adapt in real-time. This mirrors human learning and positions LLMs as essential f By Shail Khiyara Dec 06, 2023 10 mins Generative AI Artificial Intelligence brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks How gen AI is joining the holiday shopping season One year after the launch of ChatGPT, the retail industry is embracing generative AI to deliver a variety of benefits By Elliot Markowitz Dec 06, 2023 4 mins Generative AI Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe