Green issues still low on UK enterprise agenda

UK companies continue to view environmental concerns as a distant priority when it comes to IT purchasing decisions, according to new research. 

A survey by Windows management software company 1E of managers at 100 large UK organisations indicated that the traditional considerations of cost and security continue to dominate the procurement agenda for technology infrastructure. 

This situation persists despite an increasing corporate and governmental focus on issues such as power consumption and carbon footprints.

Over 60 per cent of companies continue to regard cost as the key factor in IT purchasing decisions, while over 35 per cent view security as the primary concern.

Environmental concerns remain a distant third, with just three per cent of respondents citing these issues as a priority.

In another notable trend, more than two-thirds of those companies surveyed have yet to impose any kind of formal policy for the shutting down of company PCs during evenings and weekends.

A recent National Energy Foundation study estimated that 1.7 million corporate PCs are routinely left on at UK companies when not in use, wasting some 1.5kWh of electricity and generating around 700,000 tonnes of unnecessary CO2 each year. 

"Given the ever increasing focus on corporate carbon footprints, the findings of our latest survey clearly indicate the need to raise awareness of IT power consumption issues," said Sumir Karayi, chief executive at 1E.

"Companies face mounting pressure to reduce their carbon emissions from legislators, customers and indeed their own workforces.

"Employing a power management solution to manage PC energy consumption is one of the fastest, easiest steps enterprise IT managers can take to address this criticism."

Given the results of the survey, Karayi told vnunet.com that he struggles to understand why companies are not rolling out these policies.

"Implementing effective power management systems on desktop PCs can save companies around £40 per PC per year which, in large organisations, quickly adds up to a significant amount of money," he said.

Despite this apparent inaction from the corporate sector, the survey also indicated that legislative pressures may soon force many IT managers to clean up their act.

Around two-thirds of those firms surveyed plan to review the power consumption of their technology infrastructure based on the UK government's recent energy white paper, which proposed a carbon capping/trading scheme for businesses as part of its recommendations.