For some corporations, going Green has already gone red. Green initiatives, such as lowering energy consumption and recycling, have taken on a new sense of urgency in response to legislation, eco-conscious customers and investors, and/or ever-rising energy costs. While regulatory compliance will undoubtedly become more complicated on an international scale, greening the IT department is becoming steadily simpler.
Indeed, the green movement has overgrown the IT industry to such a degree that a corporation can, in fact, become significantly greener without making a specific effort to do so. This is good news for corporate leaders who face ever-tightening regulatory requirements while also grappling with still-too-tight budget constraints.
Going Green (even if you don’t call it that) has other benefits to corporations. Because far from being just a warm and fuzzy PR move, the benefits of going green are tangible and bankable.
“At a high level, going green can (1) improve the bottom line; (2) help a business earn new contracts, especially since Fortune 500 and government institutions are providing preferential treatment; (3) increase revenue by accessing a new customer demographic; (4) compliance with environmental law and ability to get rebates; (5) hire the best talent — more and more of the young, smart graduates want to work at a company with adequate corporate responsibility culture; and, of course (6) it’s the right thing to do,” says Marcos Cordero, chief executive officer and co-founder of Green Business Bureau.
It makes sense, then, for your governance and regulatory compliance, facility management, and public relations departments (among others) to start ticking off line items on the Must-be-Green list as the IT department goes about its daily business. To get you started, here are a few areas where you can expect to reap green points on almost immediately (and without even really trying). READ MORE