CIO’s Green IT Survey: Cost Cutting, Social Responsibility Drive Environmental Moves

IT executives are slowly but surely going green (see, The Greening of IT.) An exclusive survey of 280 IT executives shows two primary factors driving change: cost-cutting efforts related to energy efficiency; and efforts to be more socially responsible corporate citizens. The survey also found that most organizations do not measure the impact their work has on the environment.

More detailed results follow.

Corporate social responsibility programs on the rise but there’s room for improvement.

Over half of IT executives surveyed (55 percent) say their organization has at least one corporate social responsibility program that includes “green” initiatives dedicated to environmental sustainability while one quarter are beginning to address the issue. But only half (54 percent) of respondents report that their organizations frequently participate in product take-back/recycling programs from vendors, or dispose of IT equipment in an environmentally safe way, 21 percent take this action only occasionally and 20 percent seldom or never take advantage of vendor recycling programs or dispose of IT equipment in an environmentally safe way. Additionally, one third (32 percent) of respondents seldom or never take into account whether or not the products they will purchase are energy efficient or produced and distributed using sustainable processes.

Social responsibility and reduced costs primary drivers for “greening” IT operations.

IT executives cite social responsibility (38 percent) and reducing operational costs (37 percent) as primary drivers for “greening” their IT operations. Activities organizations are currently undertaking or planning to implement to make their IT operations more environmentally friendly include reducing server power consumption (64 percent), educating users to turn off equipment at night (57 percent), configuring desktops not in use to enter sleep mode (49 percent) and upgrading or reconfiguring data center cooling infrastructure for improved efficiency (44 percent). Of the 63 percent of respondents needing to be in compliance with state electronics recycling laws, nearly all (92 percent) say their organization is currently in compliance with the required regulations.

Environmental sustainability goals and measurements are lacking.

Most companies still aren’t measuring the impact their organization has on the environment. 61 percent of respondents report their organization doesn’t currently measure its carbon footprint and only 16 percent are getting ready to do it. Of the nearly one quarter of companies that do measure their carbon footprint, only 11 percent include IT in the calculation. Only 24 percent of IT executives surveyed report that their organization monitors IT-related energy spending while half (46 percent) say their organizations have no environmental sustainability goals for IT. Not surprisingly given the lack of measurement, only 20 percent of IT executives surveyed have metrics to document their progress toward “greening” their IT department.

Methodology for the survey.

The CIO Green IT Survey was conducted online from November 27, 2007 to December 7, 2007with the purpose of understanding both how IT supports corporate initiatives for environmental sustainability and also green programs operating within IT. An email invitation containing a link to the survey was sent to a sample from the CIO customer database.

Survey findings are based on 280 responses from a broad range of industries including education/non-profit (12 percent), manufacturing (10 percent), finance/banking/accounting (9 percent), government (7 percent), government (7 percent), healthcare/medical services/pharmaceutical/bio-tech (6 percent), and wholesaler/retailer/distributor (6 percent). The margin of error on a sample size of 280 is +/- 5.9%. Percents may not sum to 100 due to rounding.

More than half (54 percent) of respondents are the top IT executive at their company or business unit. Eight out of ten (83 percent) respondents hold a director level title or higher. Company size distribution by annual revenue is as follows: less than $100 million in revenue (28 percent), $101 – $999 million (33 percent), and $1 billion or more (31 percent); 7 percent did not provide a revenue figure.

Green IT Survey Data

Does your organization have a corporate social responsibility program that includes “green” initiatives: i.e., initiatives dedicated to environmental sustainability?

Does your organization measure its carbon footprint?

Which of the following regulatory requirements does your organization need to be in compliance with?

Is your organization currently in compliance with the following regulatory requirements?

Does your organization have environmental sustainability goals for IT (for example, improved energy efficiency)?

What is the primary driver for “greening” your IT operations? (select one)

Is your organization currently undertaking or planning to undertake any of the following activities? (check all that apply)

Does your organization monitor IT-related energy spending?

Do you have metrics to document your progress toward “greening” your IT department?

When purchasing hardware, how often do you take into account whether the products are energy efficient or produced and distributed using sustainable processes? (select one)

How often does your organization participate in vendors’ product take-back/recycling programs or otherwise dispose of IT equipment in an environmentally safe way?