In A Down Economy, Can Green IT Save Your Business Money?

The top motivation for pursuing green IT is to reduce costs — and in a down economy, every dollar helps. But CIOs should be warned: Without upfront measurement, you cannot credibly quantify these benefits. To plan for success, CIOs should calculate their green IT baseline — an annual estimate of the energy consumption, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and financial costs of operating IT. This data will not only offer a practical green IT starting point by exposing your most energy-taxing assets, but without it you cannot accurately quantify and report the benefits of your greening efforts to senior management over time.