Marketers are increasingly worried about two kinds of green – the type that fills cash registers and the sort that represents a cleaner environment. Big Green, an energy efficiency initiative from IBM, is geared toward increasing the supply of both verdant shades.
IBM is “eating its own cooking,” as Elaine Lennox, VP of marketing at IBM Systems and Technology Group put it. The company is committed to doubling its data center capacity during the next two years, without a corresponding increase in energy use. It has created a 1,000-employee energy specialist green team that operates across IBM’s various units. And it has created a roadmap that will help its clients address green information technology concerns.
There is a great deal of potential for energy efficiency, Lennox said. Seventy percent of the energy used in data centers is expended cooling the systems, as opposed to helping with processing functions. And the waste doesn’t stop there: For every 100 units of energy used, only 3 serve a productive IT purpose, she added. The IT sector accounts for 2% of the world’s man-made CO2 emissions, and IT energy usage will double during the next four years.
If those figures aren’t enough to make data firms consider going green, she also noted that potential employees, especially younger workers, are increasingly asking about a company’s eco-friendliness, and given two equivalent job offers, a company’s record can determine whether it lands a prized recruit or not. Customers, as well, are taking note of whether potential vendors recognize these needs.
And yes, given the right upgrades to physical plants, companies can realize energy cost savings.
All this adds up to potential business for IBM’s consulting services, of course – altruism and saving the planet only go so far when bottom-line concerns enter the picture. Lennox offered several suggestions regarding what companies could do to legitimately call themselves environmentally friendlier, including:
* Setting substantive goals for the company (customers will see through “greenwashing” --
efforts that are more lip than substance);
* Being transparent about these goals (they should be easily researchable by outsiders) and having them verified by an independent agency;
* Using these goals to show leadership within the industry – it is, Lennox said, okay to use these goals (once accomplished) to burnish the company’s public image.
Granted, several constituencies within any company considering such actions must be appeased. CEOs will need to have the benefits to the company’s image and brand explained, Lennox said. CIOs will want a good handle on operational concerns. And IT managers will simply wonder what these programs will cost, and whether they will be harder to manage than their current programs.
Lennox offered her observations, and her company’s services, during a keynote session at DM Days New York, which ended yesterday.
