News
Firms rated low on green credentials
July 2008 by Brocade
As concerns for the environment and the looming energy crisis drive international debate, new research based on a survey of more than 8,000 European IT directors and board-level decision makers shows that nearly 40 percent of respondents would rate their organisation’s “green” credentials as “not at all good” or even “poor”. France was higher than the European average, with nearly half of respondents rating their companies negatively.
However, only 38 percent of these same respondents overall said they are actually concerned about their company’s energy usage and carbon footprint, with less than a fifth reporting that they actively seek to purchase environmentally friendly IT products. In France, the comparable numbers were 73 and 21 percent respectively.
The survey, commissioned by data centre networking solutions provider, Brocade, polled qualified respondents from the UK, France, Germany, Benelux, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland.
The respondents also acknowledged that energy inefficiency was an issue, believing that their companies spend a significant portion of their overall operational expenditures (OpEx) on energy costs. Overall, 44 percent of the respondents across Europe said that they believe their companies devote up to a quarter of their total OpEx on energy. In France, this figure jumps up to nearly half of the respondents (46 %). Regardless of the actual sum, however, more than 60 percent of the overall respondents agreed that the OpEx spend on energy was “too much”.
Ulrich Plechschmidt, Brocade Vice President of EMEA, commented: “It is worrying to see the lack of concern over green credentials, considering the amount of recent industry pressure and media attention that has been given to this subject. From our perspective it is a concern that people have energy worries, and are not taking aggressive steps to buy more efficient, environmentally friendly products. This is one of the simplest steps that companies can take to not only reduce their carbon footprint, but also reduce costs.”
However, it is not all doom and gloom. Almost two thirds of respondents stated that they are beginning to look at ways of reducing energy output, but that still leaves over a third of European businesses who are not. Italy seems to be trailing Europe in terms of proactivity, while the Germans are flying the “green flag” the highest with nearly a quarter of respondents stating they educate employees to be more energy conscious and buy energy efficient products.
“It is widely acknowledged that IT consumes a large amount of an organisation’s energy resources – data centres alone use two percent of the world’s electricity - but business leaders do not need to sit back and let this continue. There are technologies available today that have been specifically engineered to deliver significant energy savings, and businesses should seek these out wherever possible. Putting some effort into researching these solutions now will reap huge rewards in the long term,” concluded Plechschmidt.
Overall, more than 75 percent of respondents stated that they are as likely to look at reducing energy usage in the office as they are at home, suggesting that the work environment is as important to Europeans business leaders as their domestic lives.
Plechschmidt concluded: “A lot of the time it’s simply about reviewing one’s IT environment and looking at ways to create greater efficiencies. There are a number of solutions on the market that provide organisations with a low risk way to evolve their IT infrastructures for maximum performance, flexibility, and investment protection, while enabling operational success. From our experience, consolidation platforms make it extremely easy for companies to implement and gain greater performance, scalability and cost savings. Reducing the number of physical appliances deployed automatically reduces energy usage, thereby saving money. It’s simple maths.”
