Many IT departments want to undertake green IT initiatives, but don't know where to start. Use this research note to begin understanding green IT as an umbrella term, with many initiatives falling underneath. Next, learn the difference between victory projects, which IT can complete autonomously, and leadership projects, which require business collaboration but often result in greater cost savings and environmental benefit.
Then, craft and execute a green IT action plan by learning to:
- Set the IT department's goals, timelines, and major projects, taking organizational realities into account.
- Baseline energy and consumables use for the IT assets affected by projects.
- Execute and measure the results of initial projects which can demonstrate success and quantifiable impact to the business.
- Market IT efforts to the senior management, and build business cases for leadership projects that require unified management, cross-department buy-in, and aligned monetary incentives.
The environmental benefits and cost savings that result from initial projects will help prove that more extensive projects are both feasible and necessary.
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This was first published in April 2008