Computing is currently running a four-part special report on green computing – the aim is to concentrate on tangible business benefits, rather than the green wash.

The results have been good; lots of companies undertaking environmentally-sensitive projects using IT. But research suggests such approaches could, unfortunately, be rare.

Almost 40 per cent of European IT directors rate their organisation’s green credentials as “not at all good” or even “poor”. UK firms fare particularly badly, with nearly 60 per cent of respondents rating their company negatively.

The research is based on a survey of more than 8,000 European IT directors by data centre networking specialist Brocade. Other findings include:

• Only 38 per cent of IT directors are actually concerned about their company’s energy usage and carbon footprint, with less than a fifth actively seeking to purchase environmentally-friendly IT products. In the UK, the comparable numbers are 37 and 16 per cent.
• Overall, 44 per cent of respondents say they believe their companies devote up to a quarter of total operating expenses to energy. In the UK, the figure jumps to nearly half of respondents. Regardless of the actual sum, more than 60 per cent of respondents believe energy spend is "too much”. 
• Almost two thirds of respondents state that they are beginning to look at ways of reducing energy output, but that still leaves over a third of European businesses who are not.
• More than 75 per cent of respondents say they are as likely to look at reducing energy usage in the office as they are at home.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Depending on your point of view, breaking the one billion actively-used PCs barrier is either representative of the power of technology, or the waste of man. More than a billion PCs have now been installed worldwide, according to Gartner.

The analyst defines the installed base as the estimated number of PCs in use, as opposed to the number shipped over time. That is an important distinction. After all, how many of us have old desktops stored away in the loft?

Gartner says the answer runs into many thousands, with a little more than 180 million of the one billion installed PCs to be replaced this year.

Most stored PCs are stuffed with legacy files ­ or more importantly, personal data. The proliferation of unprinted holiday snaps and credit card details is likely to mean people are loath to dispose of their legacy equipment.

Additional pressure comes from legal and environmental concerns. The WEEE directive, for example, has increased pressure on providers and users to dispose of technology in an environmentally-sensitive manner. And organisations such as Computer Aid International have helped make best use of unwanted resources.

But regulation and charity can only soak up so much toxic waste. While some retired PCs are re-used and recycled, many millions are simply dumped into landfill. Estimates suggest as many as three million PCs are landfilled in the UK every year.

And the continual churn of computers means the problem is likely to exacerbate. Gartner reports the worldwide installed base of PCs is growing at a little less than 12 per cent annually. At that pace, it will surpass two billion units by early 2014.

Suitable solutions are not easy to find. Some users choose to dump old equipment on unsuspecting family, such as the 486 I lumbered my parents with ­- before my mum realised it was too slow to process a game of patience, never mind access the internet.

And while the billion PCs installed around the globe have helped spread information access, whether such access remains centralised in the hands of the West remains a moot point.

Pushing a green information revolution to the rest of the world is likely to rely on users finding environmentally-sensitive homes for the next billion PCs.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

My wife and I went shopping to our local Marks and Spencer yesterday afternoon. Stay with me, it gets better.

After half-filling the trolley, we went to the tills. My wife went to the car with our daughter, leaving me to make a total idiot of myself.

As I was pushing stuff down the conveyor belt, the woman at the till said: "Have you brought your own bags or do you want to buy some carrier bags at five pence each?"

Aaaargh! I forgot my 'bags for life'. Which left me with a choice: buy some extra bags, or stick the food straight into the trolley. I chose the latter option.

As I pointed out in a friendly and non-threatening manner to the woman at the till, making shoppers pay for bags is fine - as long as the retailer itself practices what it preaches. And oh look, my trolley is full on non-recyclable packaging.

"But the five pence goes to charity?" said the woman at the till. Which is nice, I guess. But it was too late now - I had made a stand and I was going to continue, even if I did look an idiot.

In fact, as I left the building with a trolley full of unbagged goods, I looked like a shop lifter. Then I saw my wife.

"So, you're going to empty the contents of the trolley on the back seat and then carry the goods bags into the house," she said, clearly pleased to have avoided my stand in the shop.

"Yes," I said. "I'm not that mad, you know. There must be other people that have taken a similar stand? Where are they? They are my kind of people."

And then we drove home. And I went to the house, picked up my 'bags for life' and emptied the contents of the back seat. Then I walked in the house.

I am not sure what I achieved. Nothing, I think. But I felt good.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Simon Pitt has been appointed head of corporate information services (CIS) at the Environment Agency, an organisation which sees green IT as a top priority. CIS provides the organisation’s IT services. As well as day-to-day IT support services, CIS also develops strategy to ensure technology meets the Environment Agency’s future needs.

A press release from the Agency states the CIS is currently undergoing significant change and the tendering process is under way to create "the most environmentally sustainable green government IT contract ever". Pitt says he is looking forward to concentrating on the organisation's green computing strategy:

“The Environment Agency has made some great progress over the past few years improving IT systems. However as the environmental stakes have got higher, the Environment Agency is under pressure to deliver more, better and faster IT in order to keep apace of the changing environment. I’m excited at having the chance to drive this change forward.”

Pitt will be responsible for overseeing 12,000 workers that provide IT systems and support across England and Wales. Prior to his appointment, Pitt worked at the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and was responsible for establishing the IT to develop the infrastructure for the 2012 Olympics. Before working at the ODA, Pitt was director of information management at London Underground.

Further reading

• CIO concerns: Rob Fraser switches Boots for CSC
• CIOs will need to transform to survive
• Career moves: Robin Terrell is John Lewis web MD
• Career moves: Steve Markwell is new NCC CEO
• Career moves: Carl Powell becomes Unipart CEO
• Modernise to beat IT and skills obsolesence

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Human civilisation will not survive the next 100 years. The reason? Take your choice from increasing strain on food systems, fears about energy production and continued environmental damage, according to research from Xerox and sustainable development charity Forum for the Future.

Our only hope, say European business leaders, is a significant change in behaviour from individuals, governments and companies.

More bad news, folks - 95 per cent of leaders believe businesses are not doing nearly enough to address social and economic problems. Jonathon Porritt, founder of Forum for the Future, says:

“We are facing a number of global challenges that mean we need to change how business is done. We need to find new ways to reduce carbon emissions, manage our natural resources and address inequality in a way that works with the planet and not against it. And we need to do this quickly – we have around 15 years to respond to climate change."

The clock really is ticking, then. The research does show more than three quarters (87%) of respondents believe taking responsibility for sustainability programmes will lead to new innovations that drive greater profitability. 

In other words, necessity will be the mother of invention. But with just fifteen years to save the planet, I wouldn't rely on that theory...

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

The world is close to destruction and it is the IT manager’s fault. Carbon emissions are rising and icebergs are melting all because of the technology organisation’s use of power-hungry resources.

Analyst Gartner estimates the IT industry produces two per cent of global carbon emissions, with ageing data centres heavily responsible.

Commonly suggested solutions to the problem include consolidation and virtualisation ­ – doing more with less. Other solutions include implementing energy-efficient server, cooling and power systems.

Such initiatives are all well and good. But new technology projects cost money, and in a downturn the finance director is unlikely to sanction big initiatives. So, here’s an idea: encourage your users to stop sending and saving information.

Information is meant to be the lifeblood of the organisation, the knowledge through which businesses  can gain a competitive advantage. The problem is, of course, that most of us are drowning in information, as users store increasing amounts of content.

Once again, the answer is meant to be provided by IT, often in the shape of integrated software tools. Sounds tempting ­ – but new technology requires new investment, and that annoying barrier otherwise known as the credit crunch looms large once again.

If money is too tight to mention at your gaff, round on your users. Instead of just encouraging employees to stop printing emails, stop them sending and receiving pointless correspondence in the first place.

I was recently away for a week and received close to a thousand emails. Not being able to respond ­ – or more crucially, to delete ­ – the ever-growing mail mountain created a new set of automated responses telling me my email quota had been reached.

All the unstructured email content had to be stored in resource-hungry servers. And you can multiply my experiences by the millions of workers receiving pointless emails everyday. The sum of all this maths is total information inefficiency.

Rolling out environmentally-sensitive hardware is crucial. But reducing users’ demands for information should be the first step towards green computing.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Big Blue has announced details of another big green strategy - this time, based around a supercomputer that is cooled by water rather than air. The IBM Power 575 supercomputer uses water-chilled copper plates located above each microprocessor to remove heat.

Traditional, power-hungry data centres that demand high levels of cooling are one of the IT department's biggest source of carbon emissions. For technology leaders looking for a green alternative, IBM scientists estimate water can be up to 4,000 times more effective than air-cooled computer systems.

The press release states the water-cooled Power 575 requires 80 per cent fewer air conditioning units and can reduce typical energy consumption in the data centre by 40 per cent. Nice work - but the most interesting part of the release concerns continuing developments by IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory and its aim to create a 'zero-emissions data centre':

The IBM Research team is working on the next steps: getting the water even closer to the chip - not with a copper plate, but actually inside the chip. Then, once captured there, the water can be routed out of the computer and pumped into the heating system for re-use.

Chips with water? For IT managers looking to act green, they might even be tastier than chips with curry sauce. And that is saying something.

• Read more about the research project: http://www.zurich.ibm.com/news/08/zed.html
• Read more about IBM's Project Big Green strategy: http://www.computing.co.uk/2196219

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Britons are a wasteful bunch and local government organisations are fed up with residents that fail to recycle their household junk. From free newspapers to consumer packaging, UK bins are overflowing - and local tips, the refuge of the wasteful, are heaving with demand.

One of the key problems is IT waste and Britons have failed to reuse or recycle 12.5 million unwanted PCs or laptops in the last five years, according to IT supplier Fujitsu Siemens Computers. The research suggests up to 25 per cent of of people dump computing waste at their local tip.

Last year's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive says computer suppliers must provide facilities for recycling equipment, but public awareness of the regulations remains poor. The research from IT supplier Fujitsu Siemens Computers also highlights how IT equipment makes up 39 per cent of the 1.8 million tonnes of waste generated every year in the UK.

There are alternatives to the local tip, including not-for-profit organisation Computer Aid which is the world’s largest supplier of professionally refurbished computers to developing countries. Louise Richards, chief executive of Computer Aid, says the time is right for joined-up thinking and that public sector bodies and recycling specialists, like Computer Aid, need to work together:

“Given that electrical and electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK, we are urging producers and local authorities to work with us to find a practical solution to increase the reuse of PCs taken to the local tip and are already talking to a number of local authorities about how we can support their reuse efforts.”

Still, it's not just consumers and local government organisations that need to have a long, hard look at their recycling processes - and many businesses could create a more proactive strategy for IT reuse. How are your green credentials? Does your business reuse and recycle old IT equipment?

Recycling strategies will become increasingly crucial, too, with NCC suggesting today that the number of business laptops will increase by 57 per cent in the next two years.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Almost three quarters (73 per cent) of UK IT professionals are still unaware of the requirements of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, according to data recovery specialist Kroll Ontrack.

Which is strange for any number of reasons; I'll give you a couple. First, the initiative was implemented over a year ago - and the build-up to the launch took forever. Computing writers wrote hundreds - well, tens - of 'What is the WEEE directive?' box-outs alongside analysis and feature stories. In fact, the continual need for WEEE box-outs became a bit of an in-house, editorial joke (yes, folks - we are literally that funny at Computing).

Second, how can IT professionals have avoided the WEEE directive? Despite its ridiculous acronym, WEEE has good intentions and tough requirements - requirements that have helped drive much of the current debate on green computing and the need to reduce carbon emissions in the IT department.

But don't be surprised if your colleagues have learnt to ignore the obvious. I now accept that quite a lot of people are stupid, if you will excuse the sweeping generalisation. Take, for example, the following comment I overheard on the way back to the Tube last night: "Have you noticed that nobody ever smiles on the Underground?"

What, really? I felt like shouting: "You know, you might well be the first person to ever notice that," before issuing a massive, ironic wink. Which would, of course, have made me look odd. But not as weird as if I'd got on the Underground and starting smiling at complete strangers.

You see, there's a reason people don't smile inanely at people they don't know - and that's because it makes them look like some kind of mentalist. Some kind of mentalist? That sounds like a really bad spoof of a 1980s Brat Pack film. And that really does have nothing to do with the WEEE directive.

Further reading

• Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
• Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
• Green computing hype needs smarter approach
• Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
• JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

In a business world driven by a desire to hype anything green, it is good to know that some initiatives are helping firms take direct action and create tangible benefits. The best projects often pre-date the current green wash, such as recycling charity Computer Aid International, which recently celebrated its tenth birthday.

It has been a busy decade. Computer Aid has so far shipped more than 100,000 PCs to not-for-profit organisations in more than 100 developing countries.

The total is particularly impressive given that the media’s obsession with all things environmental has only gone stellar in the past 12 months.

Computing has developed a close working relationship with the charity. Between 2004 and 2006, we ran a nationally recognised campaign that encouraged users to donate end-of-life PCs ­ – and more than 50,000 computers were pledged.

In the intervening couple of years, IT directors have been bombarded with a series of regulatory and environmental concerns that have made Computer Aid’s activities seem even more tempting.

First, technology leaders face significant pressure to comply with environmental regulations, most notably the WEEE directive.

Second, a growing awareness of the role technology plays in rising carbon emission levels has led IT directors to source environmentally sensitive approaches.

So the time seems right for Computer Aid to garner support from an even wider pool of technology leaders.

To mark its tenth anniversary, the charity has launched its largest-ever appeal. It is asking UK businesses to donate 50,000 end-of-life PCs during 2008.

If that sounds like a tough call, remember that donations to the charity have already helped enrich education and improve medical care in the developing world.

Finally, spare a thought for Computing’s editor Bryan Glick, who has just spent 10 days cycling up and down the hills of Cuba on behalf of Computer Aid.

Glick joined publisher Robin Booth and recruitment sales manager Jonathan Cooney in a challenge that aimed to raise more than £40,000 to fund the distribution and setup of refurbished PCs.

Yet another example of Computer Aid and its supporters taking direct action and creating material benefits.

Further reading

• Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
• Green computing hype needs smarter approach
• Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
• The green IT rules from Gartner and Forrester
• JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Credit crunch, downturn or recession - call it what you will, 2008 is likely to be a difficult year for the UK and the global economy. How should chief information officers (CIOs) best prepare for the changing nature of economic conditions, and how will their preparations help to improve business efficiency?

This month's Computing Business (out Thursday, 22 February: see Further reading, below, for issue index ) polled a panel of business technology experts for their opinions. The results suggest six key tips for recession planning in 2008:

1. Technology leaders will need to work even more closely with line-of-business managers to decide on priority projects
2. Leading-edge CIOs will be change managers, prepared for various scenarios
3. Metrics management will be crucial to ensure all suppliers are providing best value at all times
4. Several processes will be increasingly fundamental during the belt-tightening period, notably virtualisaton, consolidation, outsourcing and green computing
5. Regional variations in economic performance will mean CIOs will need to be able to quickly switch activities and priorities between countries
6. CIOs will have to be make tough decisions to save the business cash, such as delaying capital investment, cutting staff and cancelling projects

Here are some of the responses from the panel. The full results can be found in the further reading list below (Putting IT to good use in a recession). 

"I work closely with our business domain experts to understand their evaluation on how the economic situation may impact business. Using such insight, I can generate a minimum of two alternative portfolios to match potential circumstances. Also, there are likely to be projects I want to complete to drive the planned benefits; for example, cost reduction or business generation. And depending on business priorities, I may need to expedite specific projects to deliver the benefits sooner rather than later."
Jeff Roberts, chief information officer, Norton Rose

"Our members plan to make more of virtualisation technology and increase the level of outsourcing. What differentiates our leading CIO members is their ability to deliver. Vanguard CIOs will always be well-prepared and able to accommodate business change. They will have thought through various scenarios and worked plans through with their executive-level colleagues."
Alistair Russell, development director, CIO Connect

"While nobody should be in doubt that tighter belts will mean CIOs paying close attention to supplier performance metrics, it will not be simply the case of the thumb screws coming out once the share price falls. That said, users will prepare for the future by looking carefully at their tactical supplier relationships ­ such as offshore providers ­ and ensuring that commoditised services provide the best value."
Ollie Ross, director of research, The Corporate IT Forum

"For businesses with global reach, we note that the clouds are gathering rapidly over the UK, US and Japan, but some other parts of the world are doing fine. CIOs should anticipate and plan for business leaders rapidly switching activities and priorities towards growth regions. Do not set your 2008 project portfolios in stone, but do warn your management team to expect changes at short notice. For example, the project to expand server capacity in China might be accelerated, while the laptop upgrade in the US is postponed."
Mark Raskino, research vice president and Gartner fellow

"Understand exactly where your cash goes and then meticulously attach costs with a self-funding programme. Also, look at the software tools you use, what can you lose and can you break from the payments? Green computing is helping technology leaders realise considerable benefits, and you should consider environmentalism, even if only for the most inefficient elements of your infrastructure."
John Proudlock, transformation director, Vertex Financial Services

"Most technology leaders know where to look for savings in the IT budget: delays in capital investment in equipment; cutbacks in contractors and consultants; cancelling projects with marginal returns on investment; re-negotiation of vendor contracts; and greater use of efficiency tools, such as outsourcing or consolidation. Calculate potential savings and risks, then identify projects or investments that need decisions now."
Andrew Bartels, vice president and analyst, Forrester Research

Further reading

• Computing Business, Issue 20: Full article index
• Computing Business: Putting IT to good use in a recession
• IT needs to show the boss it means business
• Depressed technology professionals need a boost
• Is IT always a business issue?
• The adventures of a technology career

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Analyst Garther has issued a bunch of predictions for business technology, basically a series of areas where executives and IT professionals will need to take action in 2008. Apparently, the full impact of the trends may not appear this year, but executives need to act now so that they can fully exploit the opportunities.

“Selected from across our research areas as the most compelling and critical predictions, the trends and topics they address this year indicate a strong focus on individuals, the environment, and alternative ways of buying and selling IT services and technologies,” says Gartner managing vice president Daryl Plummer. “These areas of focus imply a significant groundswell of change that may in turn change the entire industry.”

Lots of change, then - meaning big alterations for everyone. But wait a minute... Gartner only announced the ten technologies that will have "significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years" back in early October (see Further reading, below: The future of technology, according to Gartner). So, such critical predictions are a bit ten-a-penny. But that doesn't stop:

1. Me writing about them
2. The predictions being interesting

The new predictions are apparently selected from more than 100 predictions (keep up) that Gartner presents and reviews every year. These predictions (the new predictions, OK?) focus on general technology areas, rather than on specific industries or roles. This year’s predictions (the new ones, right?) include:

• By 2011 - Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe unit market share in computers. Gartner says Apple’s gains in computer market share reflect as much on the failures of the rest of the industry as on Apple’s success
• By 2012 - Fifty per cent of travelling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices. Even though notebooks continue to shrink in size and weight, travelling workers lament the weight and inconvenience of carrying them on their trips
• By 2012 - Eighty per cent of all commercial software will include elements of open-source technology. Many open-source technologies are mature, stable and well supported
• By 2012- At least one-third of business application software spending will be as service subscription instead of as product license. With software as service (SaaS), the user organisation pays for software services in proportion to use
• By 2011 - Early technology adopters will forgo capital expenditures and instead purchase 40 per cent of their IT infrastructure as a service. Increased high-speed bandwidth makes it practical to locate infrastructure at other sites and still receive the same response times
• By 2009 - More than one third of IT organisations will have one or more environmental criteria in their top six buying criteria for IT-related goods. In the future, IT organisations will shift their focus from the power efficiency of products to asking service providers about their measures to improve energy efficiency
• By 2010 - Seventy-five per cent of organisations will use full life cycle energy and carbon dioxide footprint as mandatory PC hardware buying criteria. Most technology providers have little or no knowledge of the full life cycle energy and carbon dioxide footprint of their products
• By 2011 - Suppliers to large global enterprises will need to prove their green credentials via an audited process to retain preferred supplier status. Organisations with strong brands are already helping to forge the first wave of green sourcing policies and initiatives
• By 2010 - End-user preferences will decide as much as half of all software, hardware and services acquisitions made by IT. The rise of the internet and the ubiquity of the browser interface have made computing approachable and individuals are now making decisions about technology for personal and business use
• Through 2011 - The number of 3-D printers in homes and businesses will grow 100-fold compared to 2006 levels. The technology lets users send a file of a 3-D design to a printer-like device that will carve the design out of a block of resin

In short - increasing consumerisation, personalisation, software as a service provision, energy efficiency and open standards.

Further reading

• The future of technology, according to Gartner
• Gartner reveals top 30 offshoring destinations
• Twelve confusing content predictions for 2008
• Eight technology trends to help change business
• 2008 - The year of multisourcing and offshoring

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Tony Lock, programme director at analyst Freeform Dynamics, writes a piece for next week's Computing that adds further context to some of the sentiments expressed in yesterday's post - which is short, were:

1. Every IT manager knows green computing is an issue and understands the basics
2. Every IT manager is suffering from green computing overkill - and could probably do with a break
3. Every IT manager needs to know about the business benefits of technologies, not just about cutting carbon emissions in isolation

I think point two is crucial - but to further understand the reasons why green computing overkill is becoming manifest, further context is required.

But clearly I'm now going to write even more about green computing - which seems a bit self-defeating, but I hope it isn't. Because I'm trying to understand wider misunderstandings of environmentalism and the use of technology within a business context.

And unless you've been locked in a datacentre for the last 24 months, you'll be aware that Western business needs to make changes to its operational activities in order to rectify problems created through increasing carbon emissions.

In his piece, Lock says attempts to make best use of existing resources illustrate how energy optimisation and green initiatives are on the radar of many technology managers. However, he says evidence shows many organisations are far more focussed on energy reduction than genuine green projects:

It is probably fair to say that for many managers, both inside IT and in the wider business, energy consumption, optimisation or minimisation is now a synonym for green, which is a misunderstanding of the fact that environmental initiatives should really be looking at wider, impact minimisation projects.

So, while IT managers are probably suffering from green computing overkill, many of the media-attention grabbing protects that business are implementing are focussed on just reducing energy, rather than looking for real, green alternatives.

Further reading

• Green computing hype needs smarter approach
• Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
• The green IT rules from Gartner and Forrester
• JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
• SMEs lead the way on green computing
• Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Smart client - I'll define the technology later - manufacturer Cranberry says using a secure and efficient computer offsets carbon emissions that are equivalent to a two and a half hour business flight every year.

Which everyone knows is important, because the world is (literally) melting: “Business struggles to make energy savings and there is growing awareness of the environmental implications of IT," says Simon Ponsford, chief executive of the aforementioned Cranberry.

Thankfully, to quote the press release, a "solution is available today". And here's the previously promised definition - the new Cranberry Smart Client SC20 (pictured left), which just happens to be the industry’s most energy-efficient alternative to a desktop computer. And the facts are impressive:

No bigger than a paperback book, the SC20 consumes on average only 9 watts of power compared to a mid-range PC that has an average power consumption of 175 watts. As well as being 19 times more efficient, the SC20 comes with management software to further reduce power consumption by automatically turning off unused powered-on devices overnight.

To put the energy-efficiency of the SC20 into context, Cranberry’s research calculates that an average office PC in use 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year is responsible for 176kg of carbon dioxide each year. A Smart Client would produce just 9kg, a 95 per cent reduction. If applied to the 12.6 million office PCs in the UK today, this is a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 6.3 million people taking an annual return flight from London to Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon or Rome.

And here's the rub, the smart client technology clearly promises a bunch of environmentally powerful impacts - such as consuming less than 10 per cent of the power of a standard PC.

So why dress the technology up in a context that says: "Hello, IT manager - you won't understand the potential of our technology unless we tell you the world is about to die and, thankfully, suggest our SC20 is the answer." By now, it must be pretty basic knowledge that:

1. Every IT manager knows green computing is an issue and understands the basics
2. Every IT manager is suffering from green computing overkill - and could probably do with a break
3. Every IT manager needs to know about the business benefits of technologies, not cutting carbon emissions in isolation

As if to exemplify the above points, Cranberry chief executive Simon Ponsford also says on the press release: "Our new computer can instantly save power use and emissions while improving the bottom line. This is a fantastic win-win situation. The Smart Client will make businesses operate more effectively while providing a greener, more efficient office environment.”

There is hope, then - but saying that, I did get sent the press release six times this morning and I wonder how much carbon emissions five unrequired PR emails creates...??

Further reading

• Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
• The green IT rules from Gartner and Forrester
• JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
• SMEs lead the way on green computing
• Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers

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How much influence does the chief information officer (CIO) wield when it comes to green computing? In a column commissioned for this week's Computing (out Thursday), CIO Connect managing director Nick Kirkland says green inititiatives are invariably driven by the wider organisation - typically the board, finance, human resources and compliance functions set overall policy.

Kirkland says an important consequence of the top down approach, however, is few IT departments have their own specific green computing policy. Results from a recent CIO Connect poll suggest just a quarter (28 per cent) of technology leaders currently have a formal policy to ensure that IT systems become more environmentally friendly.

There is some good news, though. The CIO Connect research also found that a third of chief information officers (CIOs) are sufficiently concerned about green IT that they are starting to explore the use of energy and heat efficient servers in the data centre.

And Kirkland is hopeful that 2008 will be the year that every CIO makes green computing best practice a matter of course: "Although organisations recognise the reputational value of being seen to be environmentally friendly, it is cost savings that could and should be adopted as a true driver for green IT activity."

Rethinking the digital divide - now that's a mighty big agenda, especially in the context of attempts to increase access to learning technology for a range of disadvantaged individuals across the globe.

Such attempts include Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop per Child project, recently profiled in Computing (see link 1 at the end of the post) - and charity organisation Computer Aid International, which helps send reconditioned computers to the developing world (see link 2).

But in the context of such progress, rethinking the digital divide is the theme for the 2008 Association for Learning Technology (ALT) Conference this September.

ALT chief executive and general all round good egg Seb Schmoller contacted me yesterday to say the conference call for papers has already begun. Schmoller says issues surrounding the digital divide are multidimensional, rather than just concerning access to technology.

Keynote speakers will include, David Cavallo, chief learning architect for One Laptop per Child and head of the future of learning research group at MIT Media. The ALT conference will focus on the following dimensions:

• Global or local - What are the dichotomies between global and local interests in, applications of and resources for learning technology?
• Institutional or individual - How can the tensions between personal and institutional networks, and between formal and informal content, be resolved?
• Pedagogy or technology - How do we prevent the enthusiasms of developers from skewing development away from the needs of learners and are pedagogic problems prompting new ways of using technology?
• Access or exclusion - How can learning technology enable access rather than cause exclusion?
• Open or proprietary - Can a balance be struck, or will the future be open source and open access?
• Private or public - What are the respective roles of the private and public sectors in the provision of content and services for learning?
• For the learner or by the learner - How can technology empower learners and help individuals take ownership of learning?

The closing date for submissions of full research papers is 29 February 2008. Full details of the ALT conference are available at: http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2008/

1. Nicholas Negroponte talks about OLPC: A laptop for every child
2. Betfair uses Computer Aid International: Are you a green CIO?

Green computing is likely to dominate CIO agendas in 2008 - but where as 2007 was the year of theory and postulation, next year will see leading-edge technology leaders creating far-reaching strategies that help the business cut carbon emissions.

Mark Raskino, research vice president and Gartner fellow, presents the analyst's estimates and suggests IT directors looking to cut carbon emissions should use technology to target three areas - lifecycle management, monitoring policies and societal behaviour:

"Gartner calculates that business IT and telecommunications contribute about two per cent of carbon emissions worldwide. That might not sound like much, but it is about the same as global aviation and if left unchecked it will grow faster.

"It is also a conservative number for IT which excludes consumer electronics devices, like set-top boxes. Broadly speaking there are three areas where IT leaders can help. First, reduce the direct impact of IT operations by setting specific targets for electrical efficiency improvement and equipment lifecycle management.

Second, propose ways IT and communications systems could help to better monitor, measure, manage, curtail and control polluting business processes.

Finally, for those who are truly visionaries in long-term industry and public policy, consider IT as a possible way to re-shape societal behaviour to meet environmental goals. For example, do we really need planners to permit more large out-of-town shopping complexes now that e-commerce is so well established?"

With Raskino suggesting emissions have the potential to grow faster, such visionary targets should be seen less as far-sighted ideals and more as the basic principles of good IT management.

Euan Davis, principal analyst at Forrester Research, says latest estimates calculate that energy consumption globally from IT accounts for between two and four per cent of carbon emissions - and in the UK between 10 per cent and 12 per cent. He says that IT definitely has a role to play if the UK government has any chance of hitting its ambitious climate change goals:

"CIOs must work to reduce the environmental impact of computing right through the business from back-office data centres to the corporate desktop. Carbon audits, reconfiguring data centres, deploying equipment with power consumption sensors, upgrading power supplies all help but only scratch the surface of what needs to be done.

Long-term goals around server and infrastructure virtualisation, data centre outsourcing, thin client computing, tough supplier benchmarking and even building incentive schemes that reward IT for low energy consumption, should appear on the CIO agenda.

The UK government has a role to play and should give closer consideration to actions currently in play by a number of US states and public utilities that offer fiscal incentives such as tax credits and energy-efficient product rebates."

IT directors, then, will need to attack the big resource-sapping areas: data centres, desktop computing and power supplies. As this blog has already identified, certain technology leaders are already taking steps to address such areas (JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT).

Are you in line with JP's targets - which includes reducing BT's emissions by 60 per cent between 1996 and 2006 - or do you have a longer road to travel? If the journey seems more circuitous, 2008 will be the year to give your green computing strategy more direction.

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.

Good news - possibly. Analyst Gartner has unveiled what it believes will be the top 10 strategic technologies for 2008. It's good news, I guess, in that chief information officers should have a heads-up about the technologies that - to quote the analyst - will have a "significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years".

Which is always helpful, especially if you're planning on spending a big wedge of the finance chief's cash. Gartner suggests proactively planning in the following areas:

1. Green IT: Which is common sense, really - both from a strategic and public relations perspective.
2. Unified communications: Gartner suggests 80 per cent of companies are already involved in trials and refers to unified communications as the first major change in voice communications since the digital PBX.
3. Business process modelling: Service-oriented architecture is tough - BPM helps executives make the most of software resources.
4. Metadata management: Firms keep creating and pumping out increasing amounts of content. Metadata management helps chief information officers make the most of their information, creating consistency and integrity.
5. Virtualisation 2.0: Just when you getting used to the concept of storage emulation, along comes virtualisation 2.0 - stronger, fitter and altogether sleeker. Includes a whole lot more resiliency and real-time automation.
6. Mash up and composite apps: Gartner says mash up technologies will evolve significantly during the next five years - get wise and formulating an enterprise strategy.
7. Web platform and web-oriented architecture: Basically, the web is going to become the standard service delivery model. Prepare for that development, too.
8. Computing fabric: The future of servers - a move beyond blades to create a larger, single system that is the sum of its components.
9. Real world web: Informal term, referring to places where information from the web is applied to the particular location, activity or context in the real world. It is intended to augment the reality that a user faces, not to replace it as in virtual worlds. Gartner says businesses now need to seek out new applications and revenue streams from the web in a real-world situation.
10. Social software: Web 2.0 will experience considerable flux, with continued product innovation and new start-ups. Expect significant consolidation.

Yesterday, I questioned the amount of progress being made by senior IT manager with regards to green computing. An answer of sorts of comes in a survey from archiving specialist Plasmon and independent researcher Vanson Bourne, which shows that as much as 86 per cent of technology leaders expect to be responsible for reducing power consumption in IT infrastructure within 3 years.

Which is all well and good, I suppose. But dig a little deeper and you find that just a third of IT managers (34 per cent) have already reduced consumption - and just another 26 per cent expect to be given the task during the next twelve months.

Which means that despite a concerted amount of media and customer pressure, a large proportion of technology leaders remain slow off the blocks when it comes to responding to environmental concerns. As an aside, financial services IT managers apparently lead the way, with 47% of respondents already working to reduce IT power.

This column tends to champion the case of the technology leader, suggesting where the UK's big spending chief information officers are both forging ahead and struggling.

But for today, the concerns of the chief information officer (CIO) can wait. For twenty-four hours - or until I post again, at least - the issues of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will dominate.

There are more than 4 million SMEs in the UK, accounting for more than half of the country’s employment and turnover - hardly small fry, then. More importantly, small firms are actually taking a lead on environmentalism.

More than 85 per cent of UK SMEs claim going green will be a part of their business strategy during the next five years, according to research from ISP Eclipse Internet.

Which is more than can be said for some high-spending CIOs. As mentioned recently in this blog (see end of post for link), analyst Gartner estimates the IT industry has a carbon footprint as big as the airline industry and accounts for two per cent of all global carbon emissions.

As was stated in this blog, it is time for CIOs to drop the suspicion and make time for environmentalism. A couple of years of media and consumer pressure have left the CIO with a stark choice: be seen to care about the environment or risk losing business, or even your job.

The Eclipse research shows SMEs are already concentrating their green efforts in a number of areas: recycling (76 per cent); reducing waste (67 per cent); and encouraging staff to turn off equipment when not in use (30 per cent).

Such forward-thinking - with regards to IT usage - by small firms is paying off, with suppliers beginning to target specialist deals at the SME community.

A new report from researcher Datamonitor concludes that although small firms have previously been under-targeted by vendors, large suppliers have noticeably increased their SME coverage in order to gain market share during the last twelve months.

With vendors looking at SMEs to increase market share and small firms taking affirmative action on environmental concerns, CIOs could be well-advised to take a very close look at the actions of their smaller cousins.

Time for CIOs to become more environmentally aware - Act green or lose your job

A contact suggested to me recently that there is no point in studying technol