How green is your IT leasing company?

One might be tempted, perhaps, to consider leasing as an option when considering how to manage your company's IT portfolio with an eye to green issues.

In the sense that you'll keep a better lid on the age of your assets or maybe spend a little more on energy-efficiency features since you can better manage the costs over time, this is definitely true. Indeed, I know for a fact that Hewlett-Packard and IBM are just two of the companies that have put their massive leasing operations in close harmony with their disposal and refurbishment operationgs.

But Robert Houghton, president of asset disposition company Redemtech, cautions that not all leasing companies are created equal when it comes to what they do with your systems at the end of lease. Many of them have yet to outline their environmental intentions very publicly, so Houghton advises putting this issue on the table when negotiating lease terms.

"We suggest that as companies write new master leases, they bring them into harmony with environmental policies," Houghton says.

Technically speaking, if you don't OWN the equipment, you're not responsible for its disposal. But try telling that to shareholders who want to know what your company is doing about green IT. It can't hurt to ask the question anyway.

Redemtech's best practices suggestions for managing the end-of-lease process are included in a white paper that you can download by registering at this link.