Green IT Trends Up as Organizational Priority: CompTIA Study

Green IT initiatives will be gaining importance in the next few years as more organizations will commit funds and develop strategies, according to CompTIA (News - Alert), the non-profit association for the information technology (IT) industry.

Green IT initiatives, among organizational priorities, tend to rank around the middle. But the trend line is moving upward, according to CompTIA’s Second Annual Green IT Insights and Opportunities.

In 2009 only 9 percent of firms rated green IT as an organizational priority. In 2011, 37 percent companies rated green IT as organizational priority. It is expected to increase to 54 percent in 2013. The anticipated five-fold increase from 2009 is significant for the green segment.

“Given the intense cost-cutting focus during the tough economic times of the past few years as well as periods of high energy costs, it’s likely many firms eyed green strategies as a means to help the bottom line,” said Tim Herbert, vice president of research at CompTIA, in a statement.

According to the survey, one in five firms have dedicated budget allocated for green IT initiatives. Around 44 percent of the surveyed said they are moving in that direction. This reflects that there is a growing market opportunity for technology products and services that have a green component.

Around 35 percent of organizations have a green strategy for practices such as reducing energy consumption, equipment usage/design, recycling/product disposal, carbon footprint and employee behaviors. 42 percent firms said they have a partial green strategy, while 24 percent have no strategy in place, though these firms may still engage in some green behaviors.

Reducing energy consumption, cited by 67 percent of respondents, and the recycling of obsolete IT products or e-waste (63 percent) are the practices associated with green initiatives, according to the CompTIA study.

Recently CompTIA announced the creation of a Unified Communications (News - Alert) Community, a member-driven group focusing on the implementation and growth of unified communications.