Green IT now essential practice globally

Source: Greentechnologydaily.com

Green IT is taking root, whether you're looking at specific practices from power management to virtualization or taking a top-level look at corporate sustainability goals, according to a report released by Symantec.

In this year’s annual Green IT Survey, Symantec has found that Green IT has reached critical mass. Virtually all the companies surveyed are discussing their Green strategy.

They are not just talking, either. Green budgets are on the rise and IT is more than willing to pay a premium on energy efficient products. Additionally, IT finds itself leading the way in corporate Green policy, which is not surprising given the price they find themselves paying for energy.

In addition to having a seat at the corporate Green table, IT is also involved in a bevy of Green IT initiatives.The company's 2009 Worldwide Green IT Report follows on the release of the State of the Data Center report, a portion of which looked at how far corporations had come in specifically greening their data centers.

The results at the time were par for the course: most firms were looking at green IT largely as a cost-savings tool.No longer, according to Jose Iglesias, Symantec's vice president of global solutions.

"Perhaps in the past [green IT] was a wish-list item, it's now essential for almost all the companies we surveyed," Iglesias explained in a phone interview. More telling is that the survey found that budgets for green it have been rising: "Most IT budgets are declining or staying flat; so the fact that these numbers are rising is pretty remarkable," he said.

The survey, conducted in March 2009, polled top-level employees at 1,052 large companies around the globe, and found some surprising -- and surprisingly positive -- results. The first notable result is that budgets for green IT practices are on the rise.

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