Firms Going Green with IT Expansion

A news release said the survey found that 32% of respondents have a formal Green IT program while 34% are planning to launch one within a year.

Further, nearly three in five respondents say their company has at least 5% of their IT budget set aside for Green IT projects and more than one-third of companies say they’ve allocated 15% or more to Green IT.

“Green IT is undoubtedly playing an increasingly important role as both a target and enabler of enterprise sustainability,” said Lynda Pak director with Deloitte Consulting LLP and Green IT lead for Deloitte U.S.’s Enterprise Sustainability Group, in the news release. “Beyond the proven benefits of reduced energy use and associated costs, IT is becoming a key mechanism for enterprise-wide sustainability measurement, reporting, compliance and risk management related to regulatory uncertainty and other risk factors. However, there is room for improved communication and collaboration across the enterprise.”

Forty-percent of IT respondents, 43% of business unit respondents, and 60% of finance respondents answered in the negative when asked if their companies have complete, accurate and timely information on IT’s impact on the environment. Two-thirds of respondents say their company has a formal program in place for measuring, monitoring and improving its environmental performance.

Additional findings from the study, according to the news release, include:

• More than nine out of 10 companies have made at least incremental – if not aggressive – efforts to reduce their impact on the environment.
• Forty-percent of respondents have not established a baseline for IT’s environmental performance.
• Three-quarters of respondents say a formal review of business impact on the environment has been conducted in the last two years.

The study surveyed 353 senior finance, IT and business unit executives at companies with revenues of $500 million to more than $10 billion throughout Europe, North America and China.

More information is available at www.deloitte.com/us/nextwavegreenit .