This month's Computing Business polls IT directors about how technology leaders and the government can help cut spiralling carbon emissions. Suggestions are mixed, as I will discuss at a later date.

But some businesses are already taking a strong stance, as outlined by Computing Business advisory board member JP Rangaswami, chief information officer at BT Global Services. Here's what JP had to say about his organisation's progress towards slashing carbon emissions:

BT is engaged in an ongoing drive to reduce its carbon footprint, using innovative technology to improve environmental sustainability. BT has already reduced emissions by 60 per cent between 1996 and 2006, and now aims to extend that reduction to 80 per cent by 2016 ­ the equivalent annual carbon emissions produced by 143,000 cars.

We began the project with an assessment of 90 legacy data centres. Combined, these data centres had 11,000 server racks powered by an average of 3,000 watts per rack and 25,000 physical servers. By using leading-edge technologies such as fresh air cooling, improved efficiency in energy transfer from the street to the data centre and virtualisation technologies, BT has saved £3.8m in electricity costs in nine months.

BT has also reduced overall power consumption by one per cent. Although this may sound small, BT consumes approximately 0.8 per cent of the total power in the UK and is one of the largest buyers of green electricity on the planet. BT’s data centre initiative reduces power consumption, reduces the amount of capital deployed in building data centres and improves resiliency by simplifying the power distribution systems.

Such initiatives illustrate how progress towards sustainability can be quickly achieved. But at a more general level, there is still much work to be done - with analyst Gartner recently reporting the world's data centres are responsible for the same volume of carbon emissions as the average European country.

Rather than looking bright, it would be fair to say that the future of the chief information officer (CIO) looks murky.

Technology leaders have always been forced to fight their corner, often struggling to receive wider company recognition and a place on the board.

But the tussle was bought into sharp focus recently, when high street giants Boots and House of Fraser announced plans to phase out the IT director role following major infrastructure overhauls.

Experts suggest they might not be alone, with other firms likely to stick with existing systems and place more responsibility on the chief financial officer.

Just 35 per cent of technology leaders now report to the chief executive, according to a recent survey from recruitment firm Harvey Nash and PA Consulting.

For technology leaders that are accountable to the chief executive, the pressure to perform quickly grows even stronger.

Research from service provider EDS and research specialist Populus shows the average CIO stays in position for just 38 months ­ hardly enough time to impress the boss with leading-edge business technology projects.

So where do such pressures leave the CIO? Are we about to see a reduction in the power of the technology leader?

This month’s Computing Business cover story suggests plenty of optimism remains, despite these concerns.

Take House of Fraser, whose chief finance officer, Stefan Cassar, says organisations can still benefit from having technology representation in the boardroom.

While Cassar has assumed responsibility for technology spend, he is now assisted by two new IT director roles ­ one for solutions and one for services.

Technology leaders should take note. In a finance-focused environment, CIOs should ensure they are able to drive the demands of the whole organisation.

Technology leaders ensconced in an increasing range of knowledge management initiatives and innovation projects will find themselves required to operate more as transformational leaders than IT technicians.

Such a move suggests a new function for technology; part of a broader, operational system ­where IT’s vital purpose within the company is finally recognised. There is no need to panic, then. While the future may look bleak for traditional IT directors, transformational leaders will help direct business operations.

Travelling as a business vegetarian can be a real pain in the rack-mounted server. A friend of mine travelled to Romania recently and the trip was apparently a big success, apart from the food.

My mate is vegetarian, you see. And his requests for non-meat-based meals were met with derision. "What no meat and just vegetables?" said the restaurateur, laughing like he had just encountered the craziest concept in the history of mankind. "Are you a real man? We will see to that - and give you lots of beef."

Poor chap. But when in Rome, of course, there is a small element of having to smile politely and accept the vagaries of Rome, so to speak.

My friend's solution was the refuge of many of a travelling vegetarian: "Thank the world economy for globalisation," he said. "McDonald's one night and an Indian restaurant the next."

Unless you have turned straight to the opinion page, you will have noticed that much of this week’s Computing is dedicated to our annual awards evening. The extravagant bash, held last week at the Battersea Park Events Arena in London, celebrated the outstanding projects and professionals in UK IT.

As ever, the Computing Awards show that the industry has much to be proud of, from innovative public sector projects to leading-edge private sector implementations.

Such progress, therefore, makes it disheartening to hear Gartner’s suggestion that chief information officers (CIOs) should create a backup IT budget for 2008.

The analyst says technology leaders should produce a contingency budget in case of a business slowdown.

In a time of credit crunches and sub-prime mortgages crises, such advice might seem farsighted.

But is there any IT director that does not already work with a contingency?

Surely every technology leader recognises that deadlines can be missed, projects can run over budget and the economic climate can turn sour?

It would appear not, with Gartner suggesting CIOs should target a decrease in IT spending of at least 10 per cent before the finance director makes his or her own cuts.

Ten per cent is quite a large amount ­ is the economy already in such precarious shape?

While a bit of preparation is all well and good, talk of such cuts could produce a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The economy is not in recession, but if we keep talking about a downturn, we could make it happen.

So how about a bit of optimism? Instead of talk about cutting projects, prepare for innovation within your existing budget.

Make sure the leading-edge mobility, integration and green computing projects are prioritised, rather than resource refresh initiatives.

A recent survey by the European Commission found that Europe’s research and development spending has been declining since 2000, standing at just 1.9 per cent of GDP ­and almost half the rate devoted to research investment in China.

Do not let your IT department become part of the downward trend. And if your company’s finance director wants to cut your budget, fight for the innovative projects with all your might.

The winners of the Computing Awards show that technology leaders have a duty to strive for excellence, not just mediocrity.

As mentioned on this blog the other day, do not expect the trend for offshoring to slow - in fact expect the amount of countries involved in external service provision to increase.

I met Duncan Aitchison, partner at outsourcing advisor TPI, yesterday who told me that multisourcing - and offshoring in particular - remain the dominant sourcing fashions.

"I get calls from all over the world," he says. "Everyone across the world is looking at offshoring."

And from his recent dealings, Aitchison lists a collection of countries that have been been keen to join the offshoring bandwagon: Argentina, Uruguay, Philippines, Russia, Ghana, South Africa and Mauritius.

Despite such interest, he says India stills wins on every offshoring dimension – probably because of the high level of English skills.

So far this year, India-based service providers have won more than 24 per cent of all the deals on which TPI has advised, up from an average of 13 per cent during the previous four years.

IBM's agreement to buy Cognos for about $5bn creates more consolidation in the business intelligence market. The deal, which is expected to go through in early 2008, comes in the wake of SAP's offer for Business Objects in October and Oracle's purchase of Hyperion earlier this year.

In a press release, IBM said the acquisition supports its information on demand strategy, an attempt to enable business knowledge to be delivered to a broader set of people across the organisation.

IT directors struggling with the challenges of application integration, and providing knowledge on-demand to key business users, will hope such initiatives bear fruit.

As has been identified in Computing's recent Definitive Guide series, the integration challenge remains huge and will dominate organisations’ investment for the next five to 10 years.

And with a smaller amount of business intelligence vendors to help sort data challenges, IT directors will have to be on their toes as they help secure the best software deal for the company.

Everyone likes a bit of low-level spying and gossip. Be it furtively watching the next door neighbours from behind closed curtains, to having a chin-wag at the coffee machine with colleagues at work, the UK spends - or is it wastes? - a fair percentage of its time embroiled in scandal and hearsay.

And chief information officers (CIOs) are no different, despite their elevated status. Just because they're approaching the top of the corporate ladder CIOs are not immune to enjoying tittle-tattle.

How do you become the technology chief and stay there? The answer, quite obviously, is not by sitting back and avoiding everyone - while the statement, "no-one ever got to the top by being a nice guy," is cliched and hackneyed, it certainly has a ring of truth about it.

And in an age of social networking - both online and offline - where technology leaders are expected to meet and greet with skill and diplomacy, rather than just to tinker with technical tools, it will be the kings of gossip that rule.

Gartner's suggestion that chief information officers (CIOs) should create a back-up IT budget for 2008 is both obvious and depressing. The analyst says technology leaders should produce a contingency budget in case of a business slowdown.

But is there any IT director that does not already work with a contingency? Surely every technology leader recognises that deadlines can be missed, projects can run over budget and the economic climate can turn sour? To be fair, Gartner tightens its recommendations by stating that CIOs should prepare now before they are asked to reduce costs. The analyst says technology leaders should target a decrease in IT spending of at least 10 per cent.

But such cuts could produce a self-fulfilling prophecy. While the economy is not in recession yet, keep talking about a downturn and we can all watch the slump become manifest...

The forthcoming Computing Business (out 22 November) concentrates on the contested future of the chief information officer (CIO). The main feature - written by Joe Devo - profiles some of the UK's leading public and private technology leaders, and other business experts, including blue-chip financial directors.

The piece comes to a series of conclusions, which I'll discuss at length nearer release time - but in the context of recent decisions by leading retailers Boots and House of Fraser to phase out the IT director role, one thing is certain for CIOs: and that is, well, nothing is certain.

Do not draw sector trends from a couple of retailers making a radical decision. Other big merchants, such as Harrods, are ploughing on with big service-orientation initiatives led by a leading-edge IT director in David Llamas. But some firms - again, not necessarily dependent on sector - are placing power in the hands of a chief operating officer or finance director.

Where do such transformations leave the CIO? As ever, watching his or her back - and looking forward, searching out the next big change initiative. No-one ever said it was going to be easy.

With more and more companies scrutinising the effectiveness of the chief information (CIO) role, IT professionals keen to move up the career ladder would be well-advised to start impressing the boss.

Yes, there's the obvious business stuff, such as hitting service delivery targets, managing staff and keeping budgets on target.

But what about less obvious compliance issues? While the WEEE directive and an insane amount of finance laws are creating an increasing compliance burden for technology leaders, IT professionals should also pay attention to the puzzling code of the fashion bible.

The New York Times reports there are signs that companies, and many of their employees, are tiring of the informality caused by dress-down Fridays and are getting back to serious dressing. The article refers to job finder specialist CareerBuilder, which lists the big problems areas:

• Sportswear
• Rumpled clothing
• Shorts
• Micro-miniskirts
• Underwear as outerwear
• Sports socks with street shoes
• Extreme hair colours
• Grungy beards
• Overly revealing attire
• Bare midriffs
• Flip-flops

The sensible male (and female?) will concentrate on classic attire: plain white shirt, single breasted suite, black shoes and a simple tie.

So what about the increasing trend for brown shoes with a suit? Definitely a no-no. Wear a tie, if you want to look refined – but avoid cartoon characters and bold patterns: your personality should do the talking, not your clothing.

Just wait till the boss gets an eyeful of you, eh?