Springboard: Most Asia Pacific firms lack green IT strategy

Less than 10 percent of 1,200 surveyed firms across Asia Pacific have formally implemented a green IT strategy despite widespread awareness of green IT's ability to cut carbon footprint and improve ROI, said Springboard Research Thursday.

According to the survey result, 60 percent of all firms without a green IT strategy in place plan to implement one in the next 24 months.

Springboard's study also revealed that the economic crisis will have a limited impact in delaying green IT initiatives, with nearly a third of enterprises indicating their green IT plans will actually accelerate during the economic downturn. The survey was conducted in greater China, India, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

"Green IT may not have yet reached the level of a strategic priority for Asian enterprises, but it is growing in importance and we see the trend shifting from a movement to a market in the next two-three years," said Jonathan Silber, research manager at Springboard Research. "The good news is that both in spite of, and because of, the economic crisis, a considerable number of companies are recognizing the value and payback of Green IT initiatives."

Discrete green IT initiatives abound

According to the research firm, a vast majority of enterprises are found to have implemented discrete green IT initiatives despite not having formal strategies in place.

Further, although enterprises regard social responsibility and business advantages as prime motivators for going green, it is actually a reduction in energy costs that is viewed as more beneficial outcome of a green IT implementation, rather than helping the environment, Springboard said.

"Increase in focus on energy-efficient PCs, servers and storage systems seems to be the most common trend and it represents the majority of surveyed firms' green IT investments," said Silber. "Of the organizations that have plans to implement new green IT initiatives over the next year, the largest percentage have plans to invest in virtualization, whether it be for server, storage, or desktop."

Adoption hurdles

When asked for reasons for not implementing a green IT strategy, nearly one in five respondents felt that there was no need, while an equally significant fraction said that they had other priorities at the moment, said Springboard.

For those willing to consider green IT, finding the right skills tops the list of challenges, ahead of implementation and budgetary concerns, the research house added.

The study's findings also indicate that the market also needs aggressive education as nearly 15 percent of respondents claimed that they do not how or where to begin with regard to green IT, Springboard noted.

"The definition of green IT varies from vendor to vendor and the absence of unique and consistent Green IT standards had so far created a disparity in levels of green IT understanding across companies, and also diminished the value of green IT efforts to a degree," said Silber. "Fortunately, all this is changing now as business benefits of green IT are being formalized and standards being developed."

No unquestionable green IT market leader

The study's respondents named IBM as the leader in Green IT mindshare, significantly ahead of HP and Dell, said Springboard.

However, respondents didn't consider any one global IT firm to be the unquestionable green IT market leader when questioned specifically about green software, hardware, services, and communications, the research firm noted.

Besides, IT vendors with strong green marketing campaigns and credentials have substantial influence over purchasing decisions with a large percentage of the respondents indicating that they consider green credentials when selecting an IT supplier, Springboard added.