As part of that drive—which is likely to attract regulatory and shareholder scrutiny sooner rather than later—using energy more efficiently will play a key role. As data centers are often major users (and sometimes the major user) of electricity in many enterprises, CIOs are increasingly going to have to find ways of using electricity more efficiently—and prove it through metrics.
In this podcast, Steve Nunn, Accenture's global green IT lead, talks to Bob Melk, publisher of CIO, magazine, about the question of making the data center green. Nunn argues that CIOs should not confine their thinking to the data center, but take a strategic view of the innovative role that IT plays in a high-performance business. Nunn maintains that IT can help a business as a whole reduce its carbon footprint substantially by enabling different work styles that consume fewer scarce resources like gas or paper.
Nunn emphasizes that the broader question of green IT should not be seen solely as one of reducing environmental impact, but must be harnessed to drive business benefits. By taking this approach, green can make a real contribution to the enterprise’s drive to achieve high performance.