How are you prioritizing Green IT investments?

IT leadership understands the financial benefits of Green IT, which is why the top motivator for greener IT operations is financial. But the rolodex of Green IT projects available is seemingly endless. The data center itself is ripe with so much low-hanging fruit, that it’s not surprising organizations have been slow to moving Green IT efforts outside of it. And this could be a mistake given that recent Forrester research suggests more energy is consumed outside of the data center than within it – meaning that eco(nomic) benefits could be greater by, say, powering down PCs and monitors at night.

So how should IT pros prioritize Green IT investments? Forrester’s view is that before investing a single dollar, IT pros should first measure their Green IT baseline — an annual estimate of the energy consumption, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and financial costs of operating your IT within and outside of the data center. Without this information, IT leadership is at best placing lucky bets on projects that will hopefully payoff, and at worst investing time and capital in less value-generating projects.

To begin your Green IT journey on the right foot, Forrester has created a free online calculator tool to help IT pros calculate their Green IT baseline.

IT is perennially challenged to reduce cost and do more with less, especially in today’s challenging economic climate. So when approaching Green IT, do yourself and your business a favor by investing your time and capital wisely by first measuring your Green IT baseline. Not only will this data offer a practical green IT starting point by exposing your most eco-taxing assets, but without it you cannot accurately quantify and report the benefits of your greening efforts to senior management.