Forrester's latest green IT data shows big jump in enviro-software purchases

Although the whole concept of green IT as a priority seems kind of stuck within corporate America, certain portions of what you would call the green IT sector are starting to have a demonstrable impact, according to Forrester Research's latest batch of green IT data.

For me, one of the most interesting findings is this:

Close to 40 percent of businesses now have a plan for implementing an enterprise carbon and energy management system, or they have already done so. This compares with just 26 percent in the November 2009 survey. Here's the specific breakdown:

The survey reflects the responses of 531 IT "practioners" that hold roles across the IT department in operations, architecture and strategy. They represent companies larger than 500 employees (75 percent of the companies were greater than 1,000 employees) and across the world.

Here are some other intriguing statistics:

• Almost 60 percent of the respondents now include some sort of green environmental criteria in their procurement processes. This is up significant from just 25 percent in Forrester's initial green IT survey, but it is somewhat level with the last survey at the end of November 2009. This suggests that IT managers are having trouble balancing green IT with other IT priorities.
• Reducing energy bills remains the biggest motivator for anyone with a green IT strategy; only 30 percent stress the importance of doing the right thing for the environment. This is off from 50 percent in October 2007.
• One of the biggest barriers to green IT policy remains a lack of executive leadership. Only 10 percent of the responding companies had a chief sustainability officer, while another 13 percent had another level executive in charge of this sort of thing. Approximately two-thirds had no executive ownership for sustainability.
• Another big obstacles is other priorities: 57 percent of the respondents said they had too many things to worry about to prioritize green IT. Personally speaking, I think there are some green IT concerns buried in what was listed as the top priority: Improve the efficiency of IT. Surely, energy management is part of that concern? If not, why not?
• To end this post on a positive note: Almost 41 percent of the survey respondents are using some sort of PC power management to control energy efficiency at the client level. Another 21 percent plan to implement software for power management before the end of 2011.