Alliance stresses simple approach to green IT

Going green doesn’t mean trying to meet revolutionary and often impossible goals, according to the head of a new Canadian-based green IT alliance. Instead, the key is to have a realistic plan that can immediately reduce your carbon emissions, electricity and water consumption.

Jean Jerome Baudry, spokesperson for the Think Green Alliance, said that too often companies are looking to see how they can cut down on their IT power and cooling costs in the long-term, rather than developing attainable short-term goals.

“The most important part of a green strategy, without sounding coy, is to simply stick to the fundamentals,” Baudry said. “Look for technologies hat can reduce your carbon footprint and power consumption today, rather than ten years from now.”

Baudry is also the founder and CEO of Toronto-based IT services firm Cybernomics Corp.

The Think Green Alliance aims to bring a wide variety of Canadian businesses together to provide an educational platform for businesses looking to implement green IT initiatives. By showcasing the companies that take action and make environmentally-conscious decisions in alliance-sponsored events and marketing initiatives, Baudry hopes more Canadian businesses will follow suit with their own green IT strategies.

The current roster of organizations onboard include: AutoShare, BOMA Toronto, Computer Room Services, Cybernomics, EcoLog, EPEAT, Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance, Hazmat Management Magazine, Info-Tech Research Group, Intel of Canada, iRecycle Computers, Jacques Whitford, Kyoto Cooling, Miller Thomson LLP, Our Cool Blue Architects, Rimrock Corporation, Solid Waste and Recycling Magazine, Steam Whistle Brewing, Terago Networks, Turtle Island Recycling, Whole Foods Market, and Zerofootprint.

According to Baudry, every company involved in the initiative has implemented a sound approach to making their IT operations more environmentally friendly through smaller, more practical steps. That means starting out small and then evaluating new energy saving technologies as they hit the market.

“We are using the basic concepts that we use in software development, and in IT with business systems, to adopt and integrate green strategies into the business DNA of our organization as well as our clients,” Baudry said. For Cybernomics, he said, that meant becoming an early adopter of commercially stable virtualization technology – costly at the time, but definitely worth the ROI in the long-run.

Despite all of this green IT hype though, some reports have indicated that a large number of IT shops aren't willing to sacrifice performance even if it does would help the environment.

San Antonio, Tx.-based hosting provider Rackspace Inc. surveyed 3,000 customers this year and last year, and found some results suggesting businesses are losing interest in green technology.